The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay hot wire batt-coil starting ... how long ?

finally got my 59 fleetside running after hot wireing. what a great feeling to have the truck start right up and run good after so many little steps to figure out what was going on.
i think its the ign switch but not sure.

anyway , until i find why it wont start with the key . i was wondering how long i can run the motor with straight hot wire batt-coil set up.
thanks
paul

Are you running the stock point-type ignition system, or a HEI? By simply adding a ballast resistor to your hot wire, you can run it for years. The HEI doesn't need a resistor, so it can be run indefinitely, also. The only danger is if you run a point-type system without a resistor.
Jerry

sorry for the lack of info...
yes its a regular old 235 points.
do i just put the ballast resistor in line with my hot wire ?
thanks
paul

Yes, just be careful that you don't grab the resistor after it's been running awhile. There's a reason that it's got a ceramic housing- - - - -they get hot.
Jerry

ok
i can use the ceramic one on my firewall ?

i would like to ask another question.
i have a coil (i think it came off of a series 60) that has a attached metal case (same size as stock resistor on fire wall) with 2 leads. one lead is red and is hard wired to metal case and attaches to + coil terminal. dont know where the end of the resistor goes in its normal application.
anyway looking sideways at the back of this resistor it looks like a long fuse like thing that has heavy coiled wire spiraling around it that goes from one terminal to the other terminal of the resistor.

my question is - is this indeed a resistor?
and if so could i just use this coil and resistor instead of messing with the resistor on my firewall.
this coil tested out at:
1.5 primary
8.7 secondary
i tested the resistor for continuity and my tester beeped which is supposed to indicate a short ! is that normal for this ?
thanks in advance
paul

It sounds like you have either a Ford or Chrysler/Electric Autolite ignition ballast resistor. You should be able to measure resistance with your ohmmeter on the X1 scale- the same range you used to measure the coil primary resistance. The resistor should read about 1.5 ohms, about like the coil primary. A little more or less is alright.

The winding you see inside the case is the resistor element. It is nichrome wire wound usually around a fiber glass core.

Harvester

1.9 ohms
thanks.
so to be perfectly clear.
can i run the pos batt to one end of the resistor then the other end of the resistor hooks up to the + coil terminal and i am good to go !

paul

Yes, hook up with the resistor in series with the coil primary and you're good to go. With the power connected and the points closed, you should be able to measure battery voltage on the upstream side of the resistor, and about 9 volts at the coil + terminal. As soon as the points open, you'll see battery voltage on both ends of the resistor because no current is flowing to result in a voltage drop.
Jerry

appreciate it.
thnk you
paul