Ballast resistor
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 573
Likes: 6
From: Gold Coast Queensland Australia
Ballast resistor
Hi Guys,
I need a quick fix for a buddies 62.
I'm going to buy a generic ballast resister but are there different resistance resisters available and if so what resistance do I need.
Thanks for any help.
Mark.
I need a quick fix for a buddies 62.
I'm going to buy a generic ballast resister but are there different resistance resisters available and if so what resistance do I need.
Thanks for any help.
Mark.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,869
Likes: 196
From: Maryland
Original ballast resister was .03 ohms. A service bulletin later came out to address customer compliants of premature point failure due to high amperage across the point contacts.The new ballast resister called for 1.8 ohms.
Race Director
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 12,712
Likes: 2,271
The parts catalog refers to one ballast as ".03 ohms', but that's an error. It should be 0.3 ohms.
You can measure yours with a digital meter, but the only replacements are about 1.8 ohms, which is the "standard ballast", and they are visually different than OE, but you should be able to find a used 1.8 ohm unit at a junk yard or e-bay, etc.
A TSB was written on the 0.3 ohm ballast in 1963 because of a high incidence of burned points. The TSB recommended swapping out the 0.3 ohm ballast for a 1.8 during the winter. Yeah, right! I'm sure a lot of people did that.
The ballast's resistance is temperature sensitive. Higher temps equals higher resistance and vice versa, so burning points in cold weather was more common.
As a running change in '63 Chevrolet limited the 0.3 ohm ballast to SHP/FI engines and this continued for '64. For 1965 OE use of the 0.3 ohm ballast was discontinued.
The old service replacements were basically identical in appearance to original and each other! They were differentiated by a "black dot" on the 0.3 ohm unit and "blue stripe" on the 1.8s. The marks were made by what looked like a felt tipped pen and may not be that durable. Some claim that plant installed ballasts were so marked, but I'm somewhat skeptical of this claim.
The sure fire way to identify them is with a digital ohmeter, and take the reading at room temperature.
Duke
You can measure yours with a digital meter, but the only replacements are about 1.8 ohms, which is the "standard ballast", and they are visually different than OE, but you should be able to find a used 1.8 ohm unit at a junk yard or e-bay, etc.
A TSB was written on the 0.3 ohm ballast in 1963 because of a high incidence of burned points. The TSB recommended swapping out the 0.3 ohm ballast for a 1.8 during the winter. Yeah, right! I'm sure a lot of people did that.
The ballast's resistance is temperature sensitive. Higher temps equals higher resistance and vice versa, so burning points in cold weather was more common.
As a running change in '63 Chevrolet limited the 0.3 ohm ballast to SHP/FI engines and this continued for '64. For 1965 OE use of the 0.3 ohm ballast was discontinued.
The old service replacements were basically identical in appearance to original and each other! They were differentiated by a "black dot" on the 0.3 ohm unit and "blue stripe" on the 1.8s. The marks were made by what looked like a felt tipped pen and may not be that durable. Some claim that plant installed ballasts were so marked, but I'm somewhat skeptical of this claim.
The sure fire way to identify them is with a digital ohmeter, and take the reading at room temperature.
Duke
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 6,158
Likes: 395
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada NS
I'm using a ballast resistor that I picked up at my local Canadian Tire Store... I've been using it for 20+ years and told it was originally designed for 1960's Mopars as the store did not have any for early Chevys....
Can't remember the specs....
Can't remember the specs....
