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RE: Ballast vs non-ballasted ignition system

To: Triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Ballast vs non-ballasted ignition system
From: Randall Young <ryoung@NAVCOMTECH.COM>
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 13:42:00 -0700
Cc: seah@sunyit.edu
Ed :

Your setup is probably fine.  The Lucas Sports coil (at least the most
common variety) does not use an external ballast resistor when operated with
either points or the XR700.  The Crane coil does use an external ballast
when used with either points or the XR700.  The XR700 will work fine with
either coil, it's the coil that determines whether the ballast resistor is
needed or not.

If you were using a coil that needed a ballast but didn't have one, the
engine would run fine until the XR700 overheated, then it would not run at
all.

However, I'm not certain what the XR700 would do if you had an unneeded
ballast resistor.  Most likely the same as with points, ie hard starting and
poor fuel mileage.  The later TR6 had a ballast incorporated in the wiring
harness, I don't know if the early ones did or not.  To find out, connect a
jumper wire between the coil '-' terminal (which should have the yellow wire
from the XR700) and ground.  Turn the ignition key on, but don't start the
engine.  Now measure the voltage across the coil (you can get a voltmeter
for under $10 from Harbor Freight).  If it's around 12 volts, then there is
no ballast present.  If it's around 6-8 volts, there is either a ballast
present, or you have a really bad connection somewhere.

Note that this discussion does not necessarily apply to other electronic
ignitions, the Crane XR3000 for instance requires an external ballast type
coil, used with no ballast.

Randall

> I currently have the Crane XR 700 Electronic ignition on my TR6.
> I am also
> running a Lucas Sports Coil. I noticed in the most recent Moss
> catalog that
> the Lucas Sports Coil works with non-ballasted ignition systems only. On
> the same page it shows a Crane Ignition Coil which complements the Crane
> XR-700 Ignition kit and includes a ballast resistor. I'm getting more and
> more confused as to what I should be using.
>
> How does the car run if you have a miss-matched system? Does it
> skip, burn
> oil, run rough, what?

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