finally got the wiring back in, ballast resistor smoked a bit (59 fleetside)

[alden]

Quick question. I finally got all the wiring back in after M&H reworked the wiring for me following my attempt to set my truck on fire

Everything seems to work great, the truck turns over (no gas tank in it now so I can't run it), the headlights, taillights, signals all work but I did notice a small amount of smoke coming out of the new ballast resistor I put in. I did a quick google search and some threads including one from the HAMB said that it was normal for a new ballaster to smoke for a short while. I swapped the new one out with my old one and that too smoked for a few seconds while the ignition was set to on (following turning the engine over for a few seconds) but then the smoke went away and has not returned.


From those threads I got the impression it was normal for a new ballast resistor to smoke but why did my old one smoke for a few seconds too? Any thoughts?

Thanks again for all the help you guys have provided in the past, it is/was much appreciated!

Also of note, nothing else was smoking anywhere on the truck, just the resistor itself.

[blackdiesel]

The oils off your hand from handling it, or something like that. You wouldn't want to grab it , it do get hot.

[OrrieG]

Probably smells like a new toaster too. I expect some funny fumes and stuff when I get my repainted engine and new wiring in place too. Other things like the light and ignitions switches have a lot of current running through them too and need to "bake" a little.

[alden]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Probably smells like a new toaster too. I expect some funny fumes and stuff when I get my repainted engine and new wiring in place too. Other things like the light and ignitions switches have a lot of current running through them too and need to "bake" a little.

If it was a Jaguar I would totally have understood, didn't reallize non-british cars did it too

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by blackdiesel

The oils off your hand from handling it, or something like that. You wouldn't want to grab it , it do get hot.

Yep it's a resistor and a resistor is a heater element. Or a heater element is a resistor. And they do get quite hot and burn off anything that might be on them from handling or from the manufacturing process.