volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

[jigglestick]

for some odd reason I assumed (yes, I know what they say) that I would not need the balast resistor in my new setup, switching from the old 90 horse volvo motor to my aq 130.
I guess why I thought that was that there was none that I could see in the dash panel, harness, or on the engine that.
there is one in the dash in the boat I put the motor in.
question do I need to have this in line in this system?
question #2 where would it fit in the circuit?
my guess is that it goes inline where the hot wire from the ignition goes to the hot side of the coil?

this system has a coil and points ignition.
thank you for your help once again.
I am getting closer to having this baby on the water.
my goal is the 4th of july.
I get the hitch welded on my semi-tractor saturday.
I can then back it into the water and bring it up to temp and try out the drive gears.
I'm starting to get excited

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

my guess is that it goes inline where the hot wire from the ignition goes to the hot side of the coil?

yeah, and then a 12V+ wire comes direct from the crank position of the keyswitch to give the coil an overdose of Voltage during cranking for a nice hot spark.
My AQ180 has a little box sits on a bracket on the front of the engine - houses the ballast resistor and has wire terminals where the 12V starting V comes from the starter relay trigger.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

Point systems require resisted voltage. Some are done by the coil and would state on the coil "Internal Ballast Resistor". Most are done in the circuit between the ignition switch and the coil positive terminal.

 

[jigglestick]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

My AQ180 has a little box sits on a bracket on the front of the engine - houses the ballast resistor

my aq 130 has a box mounted on the front of the engine as well.....
like what your talking about.
only I wired mine the old school way, putting a 12 v source to the coil directly from the key switch to the coil
the motor starts and runs, but now I fear this is wrong?

 

[Robj]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

Yes you need a ballast resistor. There should be two wires going to the +ve side of the coil. One resisted for running and one not. Put the key in the run position and measure the voltage at the coil, one wire should read about 9.6v. Unless the coil has a built in resistor then you should see full voltage. Check your coil to see which one you have.

Better yet throw out that junk and replace it with electronic ignition from Pertronix. I replaced my points and coil, and also threw out the ballast resistor.

Good luck and have a great day,

Rob.

 

[jigglestick]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

Yes you need a ballast resistor. There should be two wires going to the +ve side of the coil.

Good luck and have a great day,

Rob.

little confused here....what exactly is the "+ve" side of the coil?
you must mean positive side. with that said, there are two sides to the coil.
the side where the wires go to the distributor, which also is where I figured the tachometer wire goes and the other side which I am assuming is the positive side.
there is ONE wire coming into that side. even if there were two wires coming in to that side, they are on a common terminal with two spade connectors so I would be double feeding that terminal which I really doubt should be the case.
not trying to be a smart *** at all, but it has been a long time since I messed with this stuff and it's not coming back to me that clearly.

as far as updating to a electronic ignition, that sounds great, and if everything else works out with this motor and drive system, I will probably do that. however, points and coil systems got me around for years when I was a teenager and I believe for the amount I am going to use this boat this year, they will do fine.
I will look up this up date and bookmark it for future reference.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

With the ignition on and the points closed, measure the voltage at the + side of the coil. It will be 12V if you have an internal ballast resistor and something less than that if you have an external ballast resistor. If you have an external resistor, there may be two wires on the + side of the coil...one will come from the ballast resistor and the second one will come from the starter solenoid. The one from the starter solenoid supplys a full 12V to the coil during start conditions thereby bypassing the coil.

 

[jigglestick]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

With the ignition on and the points closed, measure the voltage at the + side of the coil. It will be 12V if you have an internal ballast resistor and something less than that if you have an external ballast resistor. If you have an external resistor, there may be two wires on the + side of the coil...one will come from the ballast resistor and the second one will come from the starter solenoid. The one from the starter solenoid supplys a full 12V to the coil during start conditions thereby bypassing the coil.

that makes a little more sense to me. I would not have thought to test with the points closed.

there is and was only one wire coming to the positive side of the coil.
I traced it back to the ignition switch to verify colors for when I swaped harnesses.
it was on the terminal lug of the ignition switched that becomes hot when you turn the key on.
I would have to believe it registers in voltage, everything the battery puts out.

now I need to check out that box mounted on the front of the engine and figure out what it is??

I had a long day today and expect the same tomorrow so I won't be able to look at it until saturday morning.

to be perfectly clear, the positive side is the side where the hot wire from the ignition comes to the coil and the negative side is where the wire goes to the distributor?

if I had a book on it it would be so much easier.

thanks for your help and patience.

Jigglestick

 

[bruceb58]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

to be perfectly clear, the positive side is the side where the hot wire from the ignition comes to the coil and the negative side is where the wire goes to the distributor?

That is correct. The negative side of the coil goes to one side of the points.

Just to confuse you further, there is such a thing as a resistor wire. If you measure 12V with the points open and something less with the points closed, you may have a resistor wire that is dropping voltage to the coil.

 

[jigglestick]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

Hmmmm.... I had a little time this evening and I hooked the balast resistor that is under the dash into the 12v supply going to the positive side of the coil.
I tried starting the motor and it wouldn't fire.
I unhooked the resistor and hooked it up the way it was and it immediately fired up.
still havent measured the voltage at the coil, on either side.

I checked the box on the front of the motor.
it is some sort of solid state unit, with three wires coming out of it.
red,black,and green. they all go to the alternator.
the unit says" S.E.V. Marchall"
it also says 14v on it.
I am assuming it is a voltage regulator.

any thoughts--suggestions here?

 

[jigglestick]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

new update---

I tested the ohms across the resistor and the meter read 12.2

I put the leads on the coil, positive side, points closed and the meter read 11.56 volts.

I then hooked the resistor back in line and tested the voltage again.
it was 2. something volts on the positive side of the coil.
I am thinking the ballast resistor is bad.
any thoughts on this?

I mean I can run it like it is. the coil does not say "internal ballast resistor" on it.
I have run it for 20 minutes straight and no problems so far.
I would like to launch the boat tomorrow.
I have a second coil, distributor I can pack with and replace if needed, but I would rather deal with this the right way, right away.

 

[jigglestick]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

I replaced the ballast resistor with a new one, put the ignition wires to it and tested the voltage to the coil.
7.56 volts.
I hit the starter and it fired right up.
now I am not worried about burning out my coil and/or my points.
I put twenty gallons of gas in the tank along with the right amount of lead substitute.
all of the exterior lights are working as is the horn.
the CB radio is working good with a new antena.
my lowrance H2Oc will be perched in its holder on the dash.
the dock bumpers are hanging neatly over the side.

tomorrow is the day. sink or float, were going to see what she's made of.
now to come up with a fitting name

 

[labguy3232]

Re: volvo aq 130 balast resistor question

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I cannot get into the forums. If Im missing something, someone please let me know. Anyway, I have been working all day on trying to remove my outdrive so that I can remove my engine. I have a 86 OMC 3.0L and removed the 6 bolts and trim rams. I have pulled, jiggled, everything short of using a stick of dynamite (which is coming soon). I have even tried using the engine hoist and instead of it pulling the outdrive off, it just lifts the back of the boat. Don't want to force it too much and damage something. Am I missing something????????? Again, sorry to hijack the thread.