The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Ballast Resistor

The Tech Tip here on Stovebolt regarding converting a 6V system to 12V indicates need to install a ballast resistor. I am learning as I go on all this stuff, so bear with my ignorance, please.
I checked my '37 that a PO converted to 12v. All the wiring was traced looking for a ballast resistor anywhere in the circuit between the coil and ammeter, none was found. I think what I am supposed to find is a ceramic block wth two lugs? The truck is very basic and other than typical needs to run, lights, horn and a single electric wiper there are no other accessories needing power. The truck runs fine. The truck uses a 12V generator (converted), a 12 V coil and converted 12V solenoid starter.
What am I misunderstanding?

the PO likely installed an internally resisted 12V coil, no external ballast resistor required then

Bill

There are two ways to run the coil when converting to 12 volts. You can use a 12 volt coil that doesn't require a resistor or you can use a coil that requires one with a resistor. One of the advantages of the resistor setup is using a resistor bypass when the starter is engaged. This provides a full 12 volts to the coil while the starter is cranking over the engine. It sounds like you have the setup without the resistor and it is working fine. I bought a coil like that last year and it had writing on the side that stated it didn't need a resistor.

Thanks guys. The more I learn about this stuff it seems the less I know or should know.

If you're running without a resistor on an original-equipment Delco "12 volt" coil, the life of the points will be measured in hours of running time, not days or weeks. Points simply can't stand the current flow of a non-resistor coil for very long.
Jerry

I checked the coil this morning and found no indication of make, etc. Since it has not been changed in the 12 years I've owned it and put some 10,000 miles on it, I can only assume it must be a 12 volt and have an internal resistor.