Overheating Blaster coil

[Jimbo Billy Bob]

Hi all, I just got back from a local cruise, pulled in the garage and noticed that my blaster coil was so hot that is was smoking. Any insight as to why this would be so hot? Is it just defective or is there an underlying problem that may be hiding? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[morbidgoat]

im guessing you mean ballaster or are you talking about a brand blaster? have you changed anything at all recently

 

[khryslerkid]

If you mean your ballast resistor, the porcelain rectangle block on your firewall with wires going to it, could be a bad connection on your resistor itself or it's getting ready to go. Also make sure something wasn't spliced into one of the wires going to it. Should always carry a spare.

 

[Jimbo Billy Bob]

Sorry, I should have added more detail. Yes, My MSD ingition coil which happens to be a "Blaster 2", is overheating to the point that it is smoking. I have had other sugggestions that the ballast resistor may be the culprit. Do these really go bad?

 

[rdrunner1974]

Blaster coil

Do you have a complete MSD ignition? I see NO ballast resister on the diagram. I would call MSD and discuss the issue with them. If you are using just the coil, it may require a resister but needs to be the correct resistance.
:yes:

http://www.msdignition.com/StarterApps/Wiki/Wiki.aspx?wiki=1283
http://www.msdignition.com/page.aspx?id=4209

 

[Jimbo Billy Bob]

Thanks for the help. I will get ahold of them and see if they have the answer as to why the coil is burning up. I may even let them talk me into a complete ingition system. Thanks for your help.

 

[Meep-Meep]

What brand was it smoking :rolling: Sorry, couldn't resist!

Was it the whole coil body, like burning the paint off or was it smoking near the tower and connections? Too much resistance at the primary terminals could cause excessive heat at the connection and MAY cause smoke. If you don't have enough resistance in the primary circuit it may get hot but I would think the the primary trigger would be toast as well. Are the wires to the coil and ballast resistor burned as well - like from over current?

 

[Jimbo Billy Bob]

It was definetly smoking some good stuff and it wouldn't share. Stoopid coil!!!

The coil body itself was the part getting hot. So hot that I couldn't touch it at all. It aldo looked like there was oil leaking from around the top of the can. I'm guessing that maybe I had a short in the windings which would cause less resistance and more heat???

 

[Jimbo Billy Bob]

Oh, and all the wiring to and from the MSD Blaster 2 coil are fine and did not heat up. Just the body of the coil itself.

 

[69 Runner]

Could be the coil is just going bad. I have a 6A and a Blaster 2 on my Duster with a Mopar electronic distributor. No ballast resistor needed. Two wires from the 6A to the coil, and two wires from the 6A to the distributor.

simple

 

[AAFescharger]

It is recommended by MSD that a Blaster II be mounted upright(Vertically). What I have seen and read is that more of the inner coils are are not exposed to the internal oil causing heat problems. I'm sure many others have mounted them horizontal back in the factory bracket with with little to no issues. If possible, I mount them upright.
Just some food for thought.

 

[midnightrider1818]

yeah i mounted mine horizontal. no problems. i didnt know they were suppose to be vertical

 

[Mopar]

The MSD Blaster Coil has an internal resistor, so the white ballast resistor mounted on the firewall is not necessary. I don't think it's good for your coil to have 2 resistors in your circuit line.

 

[fugly]

You should definitely not use a ballast with an MSD ignition- if it's leaking oil , it's on the way out- the oil is what keeps it cool....

 

[Some Car Guy]

Mopar Action had a tech question where the guy was told he had to run a resistor or the ECU would burn up. I read it again to make sure that was what it was saying and that is what it was.

Eberg said the ECU would go in short order if it were anything but the Chrome box. The Chrome box would die in not much more time.

I run my MSD Blaster 2 with the resistor bypassed. I run a parts store ECU box. No problems in many miles of use like that. I thought the MSD instructions said it didn't need the ballast.

So...?