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Ballast resistor or not?


anthonym

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perhaps I should link that one to this one, and my "blog" entries where I was trying to ramble "off balance sheet".

Having explored fitting the new parts it seems I might well have to remove the carbs (which I just finally got right) again for access. In which case I am inclined to move to plan B which was for a later episode and is to replace the whole Lucas 43D (no vacuum advance) dizzy with a vacuum advance version (Lucas 45D type). But that's another thread.

<rant mode enabled> " "Finding the response needed" Yes I have an issue with the new site here, it blocks editing so I (one) (probably and for sure eventually, even blogs) cannot return to the opening post (a) to provide what the outcome was and (b) fix wrong content... <rant mode disabled>

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13 minutes ago, anthonym said:

Having explored fitting the new parts it seems I might well have to remove the carbs (which I just finally got right) again for access. In which case I am inclined to move to plan B which was for a later episode and is to replace the whole Lucas 43D (no vacuum advance) dizzy with a vacuum advance version (Lucas 45D type). But that's another thread.

What carbs do you have? I thought you had a BDR which i'd guess would use DCOEs or delortos - if you want to use vacuum advance you need to get into a world of tubes and pulse reservoirs to get a stable vacuum. What you really need is an incomplete project of mine that replaced (non destructively) the innards of a lucas distributor to turn it into a trigger wheel and a matchboxed sized ecu for mapped ignition. Which is a conversation for another day - one problem at once etc.

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Anthony

Does your igniter just power up the coil for a few mS? The main problem with running a coil made for ballast resistor would be when the engine is not running but the contact points are closed. This would fry the coil in a very short time if the ballast resistor was not there. But if your igniter controls the dwell time you'll be fine even without a ballast resistor although the coil was made for having one.
On old VWs with ballast resistor this was shorted during cranking to give a healthy spark even when the voltage dropped because of the current draw from the starter motor. Ballast resistor was omited when electronic igniters were introduced.
The resistor connected to the master switch is a dump resistor to prevent frying the alternator when cutting the master switch. Nothing else, and has nothing to do with your ignition system at all.
Hope this helps.
 

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Posted (edited)

thanks rj.. yes helps me understand. Check the damage to the inside of the dizzy cap just spotted with mike7 on the phone FOR AN HOUR - Thank you Mike.

 

Edited by anthonym
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