Ballast resister

[IvaTiger]

Enclosed is a picture of the inside of a ballast resister, it looks good to me but does have some rust on the coiled wire The wire is well away from touching ground Any suggestions?

 

[KenF]

No grounding is good in this case. I'd try it as is. Mine smoked pretty good for a minute when first powered on after 30 some years of sitting. It's still working fine.

 

[IvaTiger]

Will be a while before I am ready to put power to it , many things to check before energizing the 57 year old wiring harness which is in excellent condition I assume the ballast resistor is only used to reduce the voltage to the tachometer?
Thanks for your input

 

[ABSunbeams]

That’s it’s only purpose is to reduce Voltage. When I put a new one in mine it smoked for about 30 seconds. You may notice that the ceramic will get hot with the key on. That’s normal. If you have a petronix conversion they recommend using the full 12 volts. Seen a wire soldered to bypass the heating element.

 

[Warren]

Ho yah, too bad it's not letting Lucas smoke out

 

[IvaTiger]

Maybe it will in 10 years when I will possibly finish the electrics 😬

 

[Theorangetiger]

I assume the ballast resistor is only used to reduce the voltage to the tachometer?
Thanks for your input

Tony, The resistor reduces the voltage to the coil down to about 10 volts with the ignition switch on. In the start position, the resistor is bypassed and the coil gets the full 12 volts to help with starting. Running 12 volts constantly will burn up the points.

 

[IvaTiger]

Thanks for the clarity

 

[Austin Healer]

Should measure about 1.6 ohms across the terminals. they all smoke the first time!