6-12 volt H

[Anonymous-0]

I was told to install 1156 12 volt bulbs in place of the original 6 volt bulbs. My question is, are the 1156 bulbs polarity sensitive? I have 12 volts in the socket and it will not light the bulb. I am using a postive ground system. I also started this tractor with 12 volt and the generator charges the battery. The gauge show good charge. I have not converted this to 12 volt. Do I need to convert? Will it destroy the generator? Thanks for your input. Lee

 

[Bob]

"Are the 1156 bulbs polarity sensitive?"

Only if they are "LED" lamps, LOL!

 

[Yugrotcart]

Light bulbs are not polarity sensitive.

Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

What exactly are you saying here? Are you 12v or 6v. You seem to say both. I

 

[Janicholson]

Lee,
I will make some assumptions.
That you are measuring 12 volts at the socket with a meter or test lamp connected to the tractor on a shiny spot of metal. The problem is that the lamp housing, or the socket in the lamp housing is not grounded. The lamps will run on 12V of either polarity. Which means they do not care what polarity the electricity has as long as it is equal to 12v. To test this idea, use a test jumper from that same shiny ground to the base of the bulb while it is in the socket. I think it will light

The other issue is more difficult. Changing to a 12v battery, and hooking it up the same way (pos ground) will usually do nothing to charge the battery. Experiment as follows.
With the tractor not running, battery charged up, put your volt meter across the battery terminals. There should be about 12.6 or so volts. If you now turn on the lights (assumes the fix of the grounds above) the Amp gauge should show a discharge of 8 to 10 amps. This is normal.
If you turn off the lights and start the engine, the voltage across the battery should be about 14.2 to 14.6 volts. This is an appropriate charge voltage. and it seems likely that it has been converted to 12V by some one. If the voltage is just the same as it was, or only 13V or so, the generator is charging, but not much. The regulator (if still 6V) will be heating up due to 12 V applied to its regulator. It might not work for very long, but if it is cold, it might work till it gets hot and the smoke comes out.
Using it as a constant loss system is OK. to do that, just disconnect and tape the Bat lead on the regulator. That takes the entire charging system "off Line". The tractor will run all day if started only a few times. It will not run for very long with the lights on.
If there is no ballast resistor put on the coil (or the coil is not changed to a "no external resistor needed") the coil will overheat, and the points will burn out rapidly. I hope this helps.
See my description several posts below to get the full story on changing to 12V. JimN

 

[rwp]

Ok look at it this way you"ve got a trouble light thats a real old one. sometimes when you plugged it in you had a negative ground and you did not get a shock. but if you pluged in a postive ground and standing in water you got a shock.
so if you"ve got a 12 volt battery postive ground all the metal on your tractor is postive ground.
what you don"t realize is that the socket on your light bulb is positve ground and the wire that goes to the center is negative. you should change your whole system to negative ground.Your coil, light socket. use a alternator with a one wire hookup. the pulley on your genarator might fit your alternator.It maybe a little hard getting off. use a Chrysler resistor from your ignition to the coil.

 

[Janicholson]

With no intent to flame, I do not understand your post. Bulbs have no polarity. Generators and many generator voltage regulators, ether 6 or 12V, will work correctly at ether when polarized correctly. IH used positive ground 12v generator based systems for many years. JimN

 

[rwp]

My intent was to explain how engineers were mixed up in the past when they made everything positive ground and people just learning about electricity didn't understand. It may have been a bad example but as a kid I remember my dad getting shocks from the steel cages over the bulbs. I should mention that I am talking about 110 volts here. Another example is the old light fixtures were made for positive ground--not for a negative. If you look closely you can see the difference. Here is another example--you shine up the socket, touch it to the metal (which is positive), then take the wire and hook it up to positive, we know we have positive to positive, and the light won't work. But then we try to have a positive ground hooked up to a 6 volt system and we say we haven't done the full conversion. It is very hard to troubleshoot a system, which is all cobbled up. That is why I'm suggesting that you do the full conversion. I am really not saying the old system will not work because it probably has for the last 60 years. I am only saying there are better ways of hooking your tractor up, to save on costs and whether you have the polarity right. Yes you can save money. You can make sure you have your connections clean, your battery fully charged, and your generator and voltage regulator working.

 

[rwp]

My intent was to explain how engineers were mixed up in the past when they made everything positive ground and people just learning about electricity didn't understand. It may have been a bad example but as a kid I remember my dad getting shocks from the steel cages over the bulbs. I should mention that I am talking about 110 volts here. Another example is the old light fixtures were made for positive ground--not for a negative. If you look closely you can see the difference. Here is another example--you shine up the socket, touch it to the metal (which is positive), then take the wire and hook it up to positive, we know we have positive to positive, and the light won't work. But then we try to have a positive ground hooked up to a 6 volt system and we say we haven't done the full conversion. It is very hard to troubleshoot a system, which is all cobbled up. That is why I'm suggesting that you do the full conversion. I am really not saying the old system will not work because it probably has for the last 60 years. I am only saying there are better ways of hooking your tractor up, to save on costs and whether you have the polarity right. Yes you can save money. You can make sure you have your connections clean, your battery fully charged, and your generator and voltage regulator working.

 

[Lee Cramsey]

I did not want to ask this question because I thought it kind of silly. I am an electrician by trade but had never tried to run 1156 bulbs on positive ground. I am testing the voltage at the socket, between the socket and center post. That is why I questioned the bulb polarity. I put a 12 volt battery in for better starting. 12 volt no resistor coil. I tried the generator because it was still hooked up. I did and do not know if it was 12 volt or 6. Upon opening the lamp housing I found 6 volt bulbs, but they were not hooked up. The tractor will run with the battery disconnected. I guess I should measure the voltage with the battery unhooked to determine 12 or 6v. The bulb not working is still a mystery. Thanks for the input.
Lee