Remove the ballast?

I have a 53 Chevy and recently put in a points eliminator kit in the distributor. Do I still need to keep the ballast on the firewall that has a wire from behind the dash coming to it, then the other wire from the ballast goes to positive on the coil? Can the ballast just be eliminated?

 

You should be able to remove it. The ballast is there to cut down voltage to the points to prevent burning of the contacts. No more points = no more ballast.

 

what did the instructions in the points eliminator kit say?

 

Not sure on those but your coil may not be happy with a full 12V all the time either.

 

Get you a coil that doesn't require a ballast. I just converted my 6v system over to 12v and used a coil that had the ballast inside of it.
cwmoss

 

Yes, remove the ballast! You don't want your electronics to be reduced voltage.

 

I had a '32 3 window which was fiberglass. A shop recommended converting over to electronic ignition, using an old chevy distributor, to keep the traditional look. It had an HEI. I agreed and they installed one. They called me when it was ready, then called again to say the module was no good. They installed a new one and the same thing happened. The modules were burning up. I asked them if they installed a ballast resistor, they said no. I told them to try it and it quit burning up modules. I guessed at the problem and it seemed to cure it.

 

Ditto squirrel and cmoss.

4TTRUK

 

I thought this was gonna be a thread on divorce.

 

But now your coil will be over-voltaged. The ballast resistor is to ensure your coil works to full capacity when the engine is being cranked over, not to protect the points. It is switched 'in' when running, and switched 'out' when cranking.

The ballast resistor is switched in line with the coil when your motor is running, so your coil gets 9v. This is done because when you crank the motor over the voltage drops to about 9 volts, and a 12 volt coil would not run properly.

So, if you take the ballast resistor out you need to make sure you have a 12 volt coil in there.

 

I just installed an MSD dist. in the roadster and yes, you eliminate the ballast resistor, as you no longer have points to protect from the full 12 volts. You do not want to reduce the voltage to your electronic module, it's kinda the whole idea behind switching over, to get more ignition power. I also put in a blaster 40,000 volt coil.

 

WOW!!!, THIS DISCUSSION IS YES-NO-YES-NO.

My experiences say : Use the ballast as it is.....
On some modules they say not to use the ballast and on others they say use the ballast.
Kinda depends ( doesnt matter whose module it is) on the internal resistance of the ignition coil.

Unless you have written material saying no to use a ballast always use 3.0 ohms on a 12 volt system just to be safe.....

I have seen every controller made today blown up and it always due to excessive heat caused by a incorrect primary working resistance!!!

 

My Accel kit ( same as Mallory) said to run a ballast resister.

Blue

 

^^^^ what he said... my pertronix kit said to run one too!

 

Bubba the Buda of dizzy's has spoken. Need this continue on

 

Once you understand what the ballast resistor actually does, what it is for, you should be able to work out whether you need it or not.

 

I think different models of Pertonix may have require or allow ballasts, but some do not.

It's not very manly, but I try to RTFI

 

Best laugh of the day,THANKS!

 

If that was a stab at Bubba or a comment on the direction of the thread, either way it failed miserably and made you look silly.

I like the comments on divorce, ex wives are just that, ballast.

 

I think that sums it up perfectly ...

I was getting different answers from different licenced mechanics on whether or not to use the ballast resister when adding Petronics ignition on my Cadillac 331 engine ...

When in doubt ... Read The Instructions ...

Its been 5 years trouble free with the origional ballast resistor now ...

 

I believe the OHMs measurement of the coil is critical with Pertronix, as well as the voltage.

 

It really depends on the coil you are running and to some extent the brand of module. PerTronix Ignitors like to see a full 12 volts at the Ignitor, BUT we also specify a certain ohm resistance at the coil.
In the case of a 12v 8 cylinder with the original Ignitor we like to see either 1.5ohm coil or a 1.5 ohm resistor on a non resisted coil. With the Ignitor II that number is .6Ω and with the III it is .32Ω It is different for 4 and 6 cylinder applications or 6 volt.
We are actually looking to limit the amps in the system, but the Ω rating is the easy way for most folks to get it right without having to measure resistance and do the math.
If you are running a ballast resistor to get there, the Ignitor hooks to the input (full 12v) side of the ballast and the coil to the output or resisted side of the ballast.
Other brands may look for something else.
Don from PerTronix