Gary Lewis Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Sounds like you have things lined out. I do...I think! One more question then... What would happen if I installed this coil with 4.6 ohm primary into a Bullnose truck with a 1ohm resistor in the coil wiring? (PS: I just check the resistor that came with the Painless wiring kit, and it is reading 0.8 ohms). I guess what I'm trying to say is, if I install the resistor, and it technically isn't even needed, will there be a negative effect on the ignition? Can you think of a reason why an aftermarket coil would have such a high primary resistance? Would there be a reason for them to engineer it that way?, assuming the system it's being install in, like a Bullnose, doesn't require it. The downside of having too much resistance is too little current to adequately charge the coil. So you'd have a weak spark. But I don't know why a coil that supposed to fit a vehicle with a ballast resistor would have such a high resistance. That makes no sense. Which is why I'd measure current rather than resistance and see how much it pulls. It may be just fine w/o the ballast resistor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 The downside of having too much resistance is too little current to adequately charge the coil. So you'd have a weak spark. But I don't know why a coil that supposed to fit a vehicle with a ballast resistor would have such a high resistance. That makes no sense. Which is why I'd measure current rather than resistance and see how much it pulls. It may be just fine w/o the ballast resistor. Cool, thanks Gary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 Yep, I see that it works almost exactly like EEC fuel pump controls. Should be fine since a typical 'Bosch' relay is only using milliamps to pull closed. Edit: just saying how it has been done in other Bullnose trucks. I'm going to do just that Jim, thanks! I bought the controller to protect the pump (and for other safety reasons), but it will serve as a fine trigger for a choke relay. Any idea how many amps or milliamps a typical Holley choke pulls? I sent my spare Holley choke off to George, but I'll have a look at their website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 I sent my spare Holley choke off to George, but I'll have a look at their website I have some updates...one of which is a major milestone for me: I finally got my Painless full vehicle harness pulled through the cab and bolted in the fuse box last night. The wires are all still loose, but the fuse box is attached and I can start organizing things. I made a bit of a mistake buying the harness that I did. I bought the generic "hotrod" key-in-dash harness, assuming it was the correct one for me. I didn't realize until I started reading the instructions last night that painless actually makes a Hotrod Pickup harness as well. They're basically the same thing, it's just that the car full harness has the tail section wires running in the interior, and the truck harness has the tail section wiring going through the firewall. I know it doesn't seem like much, but they have the harness pre-made in sections, so I'll have to redo some of my "car" harness to convert it into a truck harness. Not a big deal really. I've finished installing the Painless Duraspark II harness (mostly). It's finished on the engine/coil/distributor/ignition module end, but needs to be finished up on the firewall end. I went and bought another coil that was confirmed to be for a ballast resistor system, and had the correct input/output numbers to help relax my brain LOL. I mounted the ballast resistor on the aluminum frame above the power steering pump. Next up is the Derale fan controller. I read about this on here...I think Scott mentioned it a while ago, but it really appealed to me. I much prefer the PWM control over hard on/off control. One thing bugs me a bit about it though...and I've been emailing them about it this week. The temp sensor attaches to the upper radiator tank with a strong 3M adhesive pad. That in itself is fine, but I asked the question: What happens if I need to remove my radiator for any kind of service. Their recommendation is to buy a new temp sensor and splice it in. I think I'll just add a connector plug now during installation instead. It comes preset to 180F, and I'm running a 195F thermostat, so I asked about that also. They recommend I run the controller 10F above my t-stat temp, so 205F. I can only adjust the set point with the unit all installed and powered up, which is fine, but 205F seems high to me...maybe it just seems that way, I don't know, but I'll have to play around with it. I think I'll set it a little cooler to start. Any thoughts from the electric fan crowd? https://derale.com/product-footer/electric-fans/fan-controllers/pwm-controller/16797-detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 I have some updates...one of which is a major milestone for me: I finally got my Painless full vehicle harness pulled through the cab and bolted in the fuse box last night. The wires are all still loose, but the fuse box is attached and I can start organizing things. I made a bit of a mistake buying the harness that I did. I bought the generic "hotrod" key-in-dash harness, assuming it was the correct one for me. I didn't realize until I started reading the instructions last night that painless actually makes a Hotrod Pickup harness as well. They're basically the same thing, it's just that the car full harness has the tail section wires running in the interior, and the truck harness has the tail section wiring going through the firewall. I know it doesn't seem like much, but they have the harness pre-made in sections, so I'll have to redo some of my "car" harness to convert it into a truck harness. Not a big deal really. I've finished installing the Painless Duraspark II harness (mostly). It's finished on the engine/coil/distributor/ignition module end, but needs to be finished up on the firewall end. I went and bought another coil that was confirmed to be for a ballast resistor system, and had the correct input/output numbers to help relax my brain LOL. I mounted the ballast resistor on the aluminum frame above the power steering pump. Next up is the Derale fan controller. I read about this on here...I think Scott mentioned it a while ago, but it really appealed to me. I much prefer the PWM control over hard on/off control. One thing bugs me a bit about it though...and I've been emailing them about it this week. The temp sensor attaches to the upper radiator tank with a strong 3M adhesive pad. That in itself is fine, but I asked the question: What happens if I need to remove my radiator for any kind of service. Their recommendation is to buy a new temp sensor and splice it in. I think I'll just add a connector plug now during installation instead. It comes preset to 180F, and I'm running a 195F thermostat, so I asked about that also. They recommend I run the controller 10F above my t-stat temp, so 205F. I can only adjust the set point with the unit all installed and powered up, which is fine, but 205F seems high to me...maybe it just seems that way, I don't know, but I'll have to play around with it. I think I'll set it a little cooler to start. Any thoughts from the electric fan crowd? https://derale.com/product-footer/electric-fans/fan-controllers/pwm-controller/16797-detail Progress is GOOD! I'm not the electric fan expert but it makes sense to me that you would set your fan above the thermostat temp. Remember, the thermostat isn't an off-on switch either, and that you shouldn't really need a fan running on the highway.(although the header tank will be very close to that thermostat temp) The radiator is going to shed heat even with very little airflow. The delta between a 100°F day and a 195° opening thermostat is just too great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 Progress is GOOD! I'm not the electric fan expert but it makes sense to me that you would set your fan above the thermostat temp. Remember, the thermostat isn't an off-on switch either, and that you shouldn't really need a fan running on the highway.(although the header tank will be very close to that thermostat temp) The radiator is going to shed heat even with very little airflow. The delta between a 100°F day and a 195° opening thermostat is just too great. Thanks Jim! Good points. I’ll aim for the 205F as my set point. I’m running a big 3-row Champion rad which should cool my little 302 with relative ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Thanks Jim! Good points. I’ll aim for the 205F as my set point. I’m running a big 3-row Champion rad which should cool my little 302 with relative ease. Why do they want the prob on the upper tank and not the lower? If the radiator can do its job with out the fan like driving down the road but the temp going into the radiator is at or above the set point would not the fan run when it dose not need to? If the radiator cant cool the fluid then the fan would kick on and the temp would drop till it turned off. Or am I missing something? Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Why do they want the prob on the upper tank and not the lower? If the radiator can do its job with out the fan like driving down the road but the temp going into the radiator is at or above the set point would not the fan run when it dose not need to? If the radiator cant cool the fluid then the fan would kick on and the temp would drop till it turned off. Or am I missing something? Dave ---- Dave I think they want you to do it that way so they assure the thermostat opens and stays open. You need water to circulate or you're going to get hotspots. The thermostat doesn't control the return temp, just just how hot that coolant leaves the engine. I've noticed my gauge swing back and forth until the whole system is thoroughly warmed up. If it's cold enough the heater core will do the job and that upper hose won't get hot for a long time. Maybe some more direct inquiry is in order? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 Maybe some more direct inquiry is in order? In my brief communication with them a couple days ago, it was mentioned that they used to monitor the temp at the "cold side" of the radiator, but they moved to the hot side, or radiator inlet. After reading a bit more on the topic, I understand it better and see why it is better to read the temp at the hot side (inlet) of the radiator. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/core-temperature My 195F thermostat will only just crack open at 195F, and wouldn't be fully wide open until somewhere between 205F and 215F (according to the above article). So, Derale's recommendation of setting it at 10F above the thermostat opening temp should theoretically keep the thermostat at a steady state of 50% open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Maybe some more direct inquiry is in order? In my brief communication with them a couple days ago, it was mentioned that they used to monitor the temp at the "cold side" of the radiator, but they moved to the hot side, or radiator inlet. After reading a bit more on the topic, I understand it better and see why it is better to read the temp at the hot side (inlet) of the radiator. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/core-temperature My 195F thermostat will only just crack open at 195F, and wouldn't be fully wide open until somewhere between 205F and 215F (according to the above article). So, Derale's recommendation of setting it at 10F above the thermostat opening temp should theoretically keep the thermostat at a steady state of 50% open. I mentioned above that a thermostat isn't an on-off switch. They modulate flow to keep the engine at operating temperature. (which is why I figured the sensor is installed at the outlet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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