Farmall M electrical issues

[hobylobymarket]

Hey guys,
So I have a 47 M, I installed a new battery, tried to start it, and a wonderful pop noise followed by a puff of smoke occurred. Now all the electrical is deader than a doornail. It looks like the previous owner installed a Delco alternator and an internally resisted 12V coil. I have no idea what the issue is. I hunted for a fuse, couldn't find one. And now I'm out of ideas. Anybody got anything????

 

[Rich'sToys]

Where did the smoke come from?
Since you replaced the battery, I assume you cleaned all the connections? Might not hurt to check them again.
Is this tractor new to you, or was it running before you replaced the battery?
The tractor would originally have had positive ground, but changed over to negative when the alternator was added. You probably know this also, but just throwing some things out there.

 

[used red MN]

I will echo Richs question about clean, good, tight battery connections. I would recheck them. Quite often if there is a poor
connection between the battery post and terminal the arc between the two sounds like a pop. The terminal is still in place
but only setting on the dirty part of the connection and not conducting any electricity. If you hooked the battery up as a
Positive ground the Delco alternator would have released it smoke compartment immediately, long before you would have
been able to operate the starter.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

There is no fuse for the main electrical connection on any vehicle.

If you have no electrical at all one of the main battery connections was poor when you tried to start the tractor, causing an arc (the pop and puff of smoke). Now what little connection there was is insulated by a layer of black soot.

Remove all the heavy battery connections one at a time, clean them with whatever abrasive tools it takes, battery terminal tool, wire brush, file, sandpaper, whatever it takes, until the connections are clean and shiny. Then put them back together and make sure they are tightened down solidly so they don't move when you try to wiggle them with reasonable effort. If the cable ends look janky at all, replace the cable.

 

[DeltaSteve]

Agree with the others. Most likely/first place to check is battery terminals. Clean them well. If the cables or clamps are frayed/rough,replace them.I have acctually had one melt away half a terminal when it shorted like that.

 

[Ellis Kinney]

It is possible for the cable ends to look OK, but the cable be all green and nasty inside the insulation. Ellis

 

[caterpillar guy]

In the future replace the battery with those group 31's with the stud on top. Less cleaning with easier to clean also none of those pesky clamps to be over tightened and distorted. Clean all connections and check to see which polarity your coil is and which way the battery is hooked up. Reversing things makes for a good smoke show quickly.

 

[hobylobymarket]

Thanks guys,
This is a new to me tractor. Turns out there was a really nasty oxide layer on the battery terminal cables. I mixed up some nitric acid solution and used it to clean the terminal cables. The motor turned over, now there's a really bad carburetor leak( like someone opened a faucet). Should I rebuild the carb? Or is it something small like a bad float, or needle isn't seating properly?
This is a learning curve for me. I'm a full time chemistry student, I've had some experience with Diesel engines but never touched a gas engine before.