new 12 volt conversion

[Todd from NC]

Converted my TO-20 over to 12 volts this weekend. Alternator appears to be a one wire. The problem, at least I think it is a problem, the amp meter is pegged over to +30 when the tractor is running. Seems to me, it should drop back to 1 or 2+. Battery is not completely charged but has plenty of juice. Battery shows 12-13 volts when off. With the tractor running it shows 14-15 volts. This would seem normal. Still think the alternator should drop back.
 

[trac]

So when you start it, it pegs out at 30+ then drops to 14 15 amps? If batt. is not fully charged it's gonna put out a lot of volts. Can't seem to remember were my one wire alt. runs on the ammeter but it must be normal I have a few other tractors with the 3 wire conversion and they will drop after running them awhile if that eases your mind any.
 

[PackardV8]

Does it show 30 amps + even at a low idle speed????
 

[Jeremy in DE]

I bought the 12 conversion kit from this website. It came with a one wire alternator. Try fully charging your battery and then see what happens. When my battery is fully charged it will start out at 30 amps and then drop down. But if not fully charged, it stays at 30 a long long time (presumably until fully charged?).
 

[Todd from NC]

Not much testing time the past few days - lot"s of rain.

Did notice at idle the amp meter went to 5+. Which I am taking as a good sign.

Also the alternator is a 63amp unit. So I suppose it is not outside the expectations that it would run at 30+ (on a 30 to 30 ammeter).
 

[John(UK)]

It will only drop right back if the battery is fully charged. Are you sure that it is wired correctly? Did you get the correct wiring diagram for this. You say you "think" it is 1 wire, you need to make sure and get the corresponding diagram to go with it. Unless your Alternator is faulty we get little trouble with them....John(UK)...fergusontractors@hotmail.com
 

[Todd from NC]

Yeah it dropped back to 5+ or so after a while. Maybe the battery is fully charged or nearly so. Wiring is correct. Had to check with the re-manufacturer on the one wire. The two other prongs are on the alt but under a plastic cap. The re-manufacturer said it was one wire.
 

[Old School 55]

My 1951 TO30 was converted to 12v but the points are shorting out? The coil is 12v and the distributor is a 6v, so I'm tring to drop the voltage to 6v from 12v to the points and can't find how many amps the distributor draws, which will tell Me how many volt reducer to use.Can anyone out there HELP ?
 

[Bob (Aust)]