Holley Carb Electric Choke

greg82255

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
781
I recently posted an article about the carb secondaries on my holley 4 barrel and I was reading a manual that was posted on the thread, and came across this:

WARNING: Connecting the choke to the ignition coil will result in unacceptable choke operation, poor fuel economy, and possible engine misfiring since the voltage delivered to the spark plugs will be severely reduced by the drain imposed by the choke.

I was wondering... Is this actually true, or is it just something they have to put in their manuals so they aren't held responsible if something goes wrong? I posted a while ago about the electric choke and was told by someone in this forum to connect the positive on the choke to the positive on the coil.
 

HT32BSX115

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
10,083
Re: Holley Carb Electric Choke

Howdy,


Most ignition systems use a "ballast" resistor that is in the circuit after starting that provides about 6-8v DC to the coil for running.

During starting, the resistor is bypassed so you have 12v directly on the coil for maximum spark. After the engine starts the resistor is switched back in so the coil will not overheat. (most coils are 6v units and run fairly hot if run continuously on 12v)

The electric choke on Holley carbs must have 12v on it to work properly. The heating element just won't get hot enough if operated at the 6-8v available at the coil.

Also, since the ballast resistor is sized for the current draw of the coil, there'll be additional voltage drop due to the additional current drain of the choke heating element. That would further lower the voltage available to the coil to less than 5 v and could exceed the watt-rating of the ballast resistor and cause it to overheat and possibly fail.


Regards,


Rick
 

greg82255

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
781
Re: Holley Carb Electric Choke

so where should I connect the positive terminal on the electric choke?
 

HT32BSX115

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
10,083
Re: Holley Carb Electric Choke

so where should I connect the positive terminal on the electric choke?

You should connect it to an ignition switched 12v source. The 12v side of the ballast resistor would work, or any other 12v switched connection on the engine. You should have more than one point at the engine that has key-switched power.

Evidently your engine didn't have an electric choke on the previous carb?

I have never connected my electric choke. I only boat in warm weather so it's really not needed.
 

full stringer

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
184
Re: Holley Carb Electric Choke

ignition switch on the run/accesory position on the terminal when key is turned and stops just before fully turning to start use the same guage wiring as the choke + lead
 
Top