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To test your ballast resistor you need an ohm meter or multimeter set to ohms. Remove the connectors from both sides of the resistor. The ohms should read between 1.8 and 5 ohms. You should be getting 9 volts to the positive side of the coil.
Measure the voltage (or check with a test light) the voltage between the single wire and ground. If there is power there, the ballast resistor is likely bad. Reconnect the wires and measure the voltage at the positive side of the coil. If you see 8-13 volts, you may have a bad coil.
The duty of the ballast resistor is to limit voltage to the ignition coil. … A quick and easy way to diagnose ballast resistor failure is to bypass it by running a temporary jumper wire from the battery to the coil. If it starts and remains running, you’ve found the problem.
To increase the life of the ignition coil, we need to reduce voltage. and to fulfill this purpose, we connect a ballast resistor with the ignition coil. So, to test the ballast resistor, we can measure the voltage across the ignition coil.
One probe of the multimeter should touch the hot wire connections, while the other touches the neutral wire connections. If the ballast is good, an analog multimeter has a needle that will sweep to the right across the measuring scale. If the ballast is bad, then the needle won’t move.
To measure it, set your digital multimeter to around a thousand ohms resistance setting. Connect the black leads to the white ground wire on your ballast. Afterward, test every other wire with the red lead. When you do this test, a good ballast will return an “open-loop” or max resistance.
Fluorescent lamps use a ballast which transforms line voltage to a voltage to start up and operate the lamp(s). Newer fluorescent ballasts are usually rated for both 120 volts and 277 volts. Some are rated for only 120 volts, others for only 277 volts (used in commercial environments).
Resistors are blind to the polarity in a circuit. … Thus, you don’t have to worry about installing them backwards. Current can pass equally through a resistor in either direction.
If a 6 volt ignition system is converted to 12 volts and a Delco style 12 volt coil with an internal resistor is installed as part of the conversion, no external resistors are required. The 12 volt battery must be connected so the negative (-) battery terminal is connected to ground.
The resistance through the ballast resistor varies with current flow which varies with engine rpm. This naturally causes the resistor to expand and contract from heat. That’s why they eventually fail.
Trent, one of the biggest reasons for blower motor resistors to have shorten life is actually because of faulty blower motor drawing too many amps, some times melting wires/plugs, heating up resistors shortening their life.
The resistor getting warm IS a normal occurance. If you have a voltage source (12 volts) , a complete path for current and difference of potential (any ground will do), current will flow.
Recommended when a new coil is installed. Using a heavy duty porcelain resistor and threaded terminal connectors, this resistor is rated at 200 watts and 0.75 (cold) – 1.5 (hot) ohms.
While simply swapping burned out bulbs in an existing ballast is deemed “ballast repair” by many – and can offer advantages in longevity and energy savings – sometimes this simple “fix” is not enough.
The ballast itself can go bad, which causes lights to flicker or even appear to be burnt out, when in fact they aren’t. They require maintenance and energy to power, on top of the power used to light the fluorescent bulb. They are a large part of the equation when using fluorescent lamps.
In a fluorescent lighting system, the ballast regulates the current to the lamps and provides sufficient voltage to start the lamps. Without a ballast to limit its current, a fluorescent lamp connected directly to a high voltage power source would rapidly and uncontrollably increase its current draw.
A dead fluorescent can be caused by lack of electrical power (tripped breaker or blown fuse), a dead or dying ballast, a dead starter or a dead bulb(s). … defective starters, defective bulbs or a defective ballast. IMPORTANT: Flickering fluorescent tubes can cause the ballast to overheat and fail prematurely!
A common source of these odors is the fluorescent light ballast. When called to such an incident, you typically will find an electrical odor or a haze of smoke. … Overheating ballasts often exhibit symptoms. They may cause the bulb to flicker, shine, dim, or not work at all.
For optimum efficiency, you should replace your magnetic ballast every 2-3 years. Digital ballasts last much longer, and have a consistent output over their life. They only need replacing if they stop working, which can be 10+ years.
Input Voltage | 120V |
---|---|
Input Current | 0.80 to 1.65 A2 |
Ballast Type | Electronic |
Starting Method | Rapid Start |
Lamp Connection | Series |
Preheat Operation Lamp electrodes are heated prior to initiating the discharge. … Ballasts for instant start lamps are designed to provide a relatively high starting voltage (with respect to preheat and rapid start lamps) to initiate the discharge across the unheated electrodes.
When you hold the coil so the plug wires are to the left (like standard shovel or evo mounting, mounting holes at the rear), the negative side is on the top and the positive is on the bottom.
The simple answer is no, the coil case does not have to be grounded for the ignition to work properly.
Electronic ignition systems, whether factory Mopar or aftermarket, don’t utilize breaker points, thereby not actually needing a ballast resistor to control amperage through the pickup coil.
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