Previously........
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I recently installed an Allison (Crane) breakerless ignition in my 1974
Spitfire, replacing the points setup in the Delco distributor (with vacuum
advance from 1968 Spitfire I owned previously). In addition to the
breakerless setup I installed the "Crome" coil. These were purchased from
Victoria British (they had it in stock).
Easy setup, etc. Fired it up, adjusted the advance, etc, took about 20
minutes of running to make sure it was AOK. I then touched the coil and it
was very HOT.
I know it requires a ballast resistor, and I believe there is a resistor in
the low voltage wiring, since the stock coil I removed had a sticker on it
mentioning the use of a resistance with it. There is no ceramic resistor to
be seen, it must be a resistance wire.
I called the Crane tech support line and the technician told me to measure
first the battery voltage when running (this case 14.4 volts) and then from
the negative pole of the battery to the + terminal on the coil (this case 9.5
volts) when running. If there is about a 4 volt drop (there was) then there
is a ballast resistor in the circuit and everything is OK.
SO... Everything is OK and the coil is Very HOT, in fact, the crome is now
off color and rather dull looking (you know what I mean, right??).
The car runs fine, I've driven a few 50-100 mile jaunts with no problem, but
it still seems wrong. I'm going to set up a thermocouple on the coil and
check it out that way.
Any Ideas??
Clark Nicholls
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Part 2
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Called Crane tech support again, different tech...
Told him the above.
He reccomends:
A second ballast resistor in series with the wire in the car to bring the
coltage down to the 7 volt range.
Mount the coil vertically so the oil will circulate and cool the coil
properly.
Discolored chrome meant the coil was about 400 degrees F
Getting this hot can make the coil explode or "baloon" (bulge).
Yikes!
I picked up a ballast resistor as described in the installation paper (1.2
ohms) and will install it this weekend. I also am brining home an electronic
thermometer to measure the temp of the coil. I don't understand why i'm
going to end up with 2 ballast resistors, but I'll find out.
Will keep you all posted!
Clark
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