----- Original Message -----
From: "John T. Blair" <jblair@exis.net>
To: "Tom Harvey" <tom@tomh.demon.co.uk>
Cc: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 2:05 PM
Subject: Re: Coil - Ballast?
> At 06:31 PM 7/13/03 +0100, Tom Harvey wrote:
>
> >.....
>
> >After a pleasant day in the sun (although a little burnt), surrounded
by
> >a miriad of other Triumph beauties (and ogres etc) I am now home, and
> >still confused. I have driven about 50 miles with the replacemnt
coil,
> >and noticed no problems. I understand vaguely how a coil works, but
can
> >someone tell me in idiot terms what a ballast coil is, what
difference
> >there is to a non-Ballast coil, and whether using one that isn't, or
> >vice versa, will cause any problems? Should a 1500 have a Ballast
coil?
>
> Tom,
>
> For a better understanding of the ignition system and the ballast
resistor,
> you might want to check out this article:
IIRC according to my haynes, the ballast resistor is easily spotted as
it's connected directly to one of the low tension terminals on the coil.
As I understand it it's basically down to whether it's a 6v coil or a
12v coil. For a 6v coil, the resistor is necessary to use up the spare
juice, since the power supply is 12v. I assume when you see "ballast
coil" it means "this is a 6v coil to be used in a 12v machine with a
ballast resistor". I don't think a "ballast" resistor is different to a
regular resistor, it's just that it's there for "ballast" or
"counterbalancing".
Somebody chime in if I'm off down the wrong path altogether here.
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