mallory ignition with ballast resistor question?

Discussion in 'Technical' started by pipman76, Oct 4, 2010.

  1. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    i have just installed a mallory unilite distributor and ballast resistor ,my question is before i hooked the igniton hot wire up to the resistor with the test light it lite up very bright but after hooking it up to the resistor with the switch turned on the light is very very dime .Is this normal ?i hanet been able to try starting it up yet i have no oil or fluid in the tranny ,this has been a long drawn out project that take a little money at a time this week ill have fluids in it but for now just wanted to see if this was normal . IO thought since it being hooked up to the resistor makes it dime like that
     
  2. Fordmaster169

    Fordmaster169 Member

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    Yes that is normal, thus the name "Resistor". It is designed to drop voltage to about 9 volts.
     
  3. rthomas771

    rthomas771 Member

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    Ford used a resistance wire to drop the voltageā€¦no need for a ballast resistor.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    so the lead wire i have desnt need the resistor?1970 maverick!!willl it be ok to leave it hooked up or will it make any difference
     
  5. Bryant

    Bryant forgot more than learned

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    measure the voltage coming from the resitor wire. i think it should be around 9-10 volts. if it is then leave the balast resistor out. if its battery voltage (12+ volts) then use the resistor
     
  6. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    i im not getting any fire to the spark plugs i just put a new coil i purchased from Jegs their brand coil ,great rice by the way!!! i was wondering if the coil is bad ?i took the coil wire off and laid it against metal and had my wife turn the switch over and dont see any fire coming out of the coil
     
  7. dkstuck

    dkstuck Member

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    Are you wiring the unilite EXCACTLY per Mallory?
    I`m on mobile and unable to check instructions, been some years since I wired unilite. Make sure all is done as they say!

    I think your dim test light was due to power being hooked up to your coil,, lots of test lights show little difference in brightness with the resistor voltage drop.

    did you buy a new unilite? Lots of them sold with the module blown out, some looking as just outa box,,,
     
  8. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    i bought a used unilite on ebay ,It was supposed to have a new module repalced in it.odd thing about it is it has a module made by accel ,i wrote the guy who i purchased it from he said mallory is made by accel and the accel modules are actually better than the mallory so i dont know if all is true or not.NOw far as wiring it all up i did so just like a the diagram shows i printed off line.im kinda dumb lol lol so i may have a dumb question here ok here goes If the module is bad in the unilite,even if i pull the coil wire off and turn the start switch i wont see any fire arching from the coil ,im just trying to pin point the problem so i can repalce the right part or parts.Where do most people grond the brown wire which is the ground i scraped paint off on eof my valve cover bolts and secured it their now the valve cover is aluminum .Could it be grounded in the wrong place if so where on the blcok sould i do so thanx for any help im ready get this project up and running before winter sets in
     
  9. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    is my mallory unilite module bad???

    im still trying to get my 70 maverick project up and running ,i have another brick wall. i have a 302 ford with a mallory unilite distributor and a jegs brand coil. The unilite was boughtused on ebay ,when i recived it in the mail i noticed it had a accel module in it not sure if these are all that great or not.but anyways im no getting in fire threw my coil and of course no fire to the plugs ,everything is wired as a mallor y diagram shows.the brown wire is grounded on 1 of the valve cover bolts which is aluminum.could it not be grounded god enough? or could it just bethe module is bad ,i dont have a volage checker any thoughts
     
  10. Dave B

    Dave B I like Mavericks!

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    You need a voltage tester.
     
  11. MNTony

    MNTony aka Godzirra

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    I used Unilites for years and in my experience you either have a good one or a bad one. There seems to be no in between on these things. Which in a way is a good thing since they don't go intermittent. But sometimes it takes a while to find a good one. Once I did, the thing just went on forever. But I always kept a spare, maybe that's why it worked so long! LOL
     
  12. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    i checkedthe voltage on the coil with the switchon the positive side and negative side both have 11.11 volts .the battery showed 12.02 and the alternator was at 12.02 also soooo im assuming my module is bad???
     
  13. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    the postive side of the coil and negative side both have 11.11 volts number showing this is with the balast resistor in place as well sooo do y athink its the module bad????
     
  14. pipman76

    pipman76 Member

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    i also ran a jumper wire from the battery to the positive side of the coil and place a credit card in from of the eye of the module and the voltage didnt drop down below 2 so this also makes methink the module is bad
     
  15. courier11sec

    courier11sec Member

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    I think just one thread is enough for this question.
    Threads merged.
     

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