12 volt conversion ???

[Adam Cisewski]

hey guys,
I have a farmall h the has a 12 volt battery. the previous owner said it was converted to a 12 volt system. It still has a generator on it. It also has a positive ground. my question is will a generator charge a 12 volt battery and would he have had to change the distributer and coil? thanks Adam

 

[old]

Well that is a yes, no or maybe. All depends on if it is still a 6 volt generator is it is no it will not keep a 12 volt battery at full charge. Yes if the generator has been rewired to put out 12 volts and maybe since you have asked. Only way to know is #1 check battery voltage with it not running then check what the voltage is across the terminals with it running then you will know what you have. No way we can tell you what you have. Also the generator may have a tag on it saying what voltage it is

 

[Adam Cisewski]

Reason i wonderings is I am hooking up an altenator and dont want burn out the coil. The previous owner used it very little and I wonder if he just ran the tractor off a 12 volt batt.

 

[old]

Well if you had included that info in your first post I could have helped you more. You will have to switch your ground from + ro - but that will not hurt the coil but it will work a tad bit better if you also switch the 2 wires on the coil

 

[Adam Cisewski]

Thanks for the info. Will I still need to put a ballast resistor on the coil?

 

[Faster346]

(quoted from post at 15:39:41 02/26/11) Thanks for the info. Will I still need to put a ballast resistor on the coil?

I would get a 12v coil. You can get one from Napa for about 11 bucks. IC14 is the Napa part number for it.

 

[Brownie 450]

If the gen is a Delco like off of a 450, it is 12 volts--it will have a red Delco serial number tag. 6-volters had a black tag.
If you look at one of the regulator mounting tabs, it will have either 6P or 12P stamped on it if it is a Delco.

 

[Jon Hagen]

That depends on what coil you have .
Did the previous owner replace the(1.5 ohm) 6V coil with one with a (3 ohm) 12V primary winding when he converted to 12V ?

If not, you need to replace the 6V coil with a 12V model or add an ignition ballast resistor in the wire between the ignition switch and coil primary terminal.

 

[Nebraska Kirk]

I would get a 12v coil. You can get one from Napa for about 11 bucks. IC14 is the Napa part number for it.

If you can get a 12v coil from your NAPA for $11, get a few for me. Last coil I bought at my local NAPA was $20.

 

[36 Coupe]

I KNOW that a 6 volt generator will run wild and explode a 12 volt battery.You better know what you have.

 

[Janicholson]

A 6v generator will not run wild. It can either not work, or if connected backwards the regulator can smoke. With a 12v battery and a 12v regulator on a 6v generator, it may actually work well enough to get by (not recommended, but not running wild) If it is a 12v gen (or converted 6v generator it will be fine. The voltage at the resistor should be battery voltage. The voltage at the coil to resistor should be about 7 to 9 with the points open. If the points are closed there should be no voltage at that wire. Jim

 

[Owen Aaland]

(quoted from post at 17:45:17 02/27/11) A 6v generator will not run wild. It can either not work, or if connected backwards the regulator can smoke. With a 12v battery and a 12v regulator on a 6v generator, it may actually work well enough to get by (not recommended, but not running wild) If it is a 12v gen (or converted 6v generator it will be fine. The voltage at the resistor should be battery voltage. The voltage at the coil to resistor should be about 7 to 9 with the points open. If the points are closed there should be no voltage at that wire. Jim

You may want to think about those voltages again. :?

With the points open the voltage in the entire circuit through the movable breaker point arm is going to be battery voltage. With the points closed you will see battery voltage before the resistor, reduced voltage between the resistor and coil, and no voltage between the coil and points.