genarators

[Anonymous-0]

Can someone tell me when converting a 6 volt genarator to a 12 volt genarator is the tractor still positive ground or is it negative ground.

 

[Pappy]

Your polarity can be the same. No need to change it.

 

[Anonymous-0]

thanks for awnsering. my dad said it had to be negitive ground because it is going to be 12 volt. will it hurt a genarator if you made it negative ground. im greak to all this its my first tractor.

 

[John T]

The genny can charge n work fine at EITHER polarity provided you polarize it regardless if 6 or 12 volt or Pos or Neg ground. I wouldnt change its polarity cuz if you do then you have to swap ammeter leads n change coil wiring (plus add ballast if you use a 6 volt coil on a 12 volt systerm) if its a coil ignition. That having to switch to neg ground for 12 volts you hear tell of concerns an Alternator cuz most of them are for Neg ground only.

John T

 

[CNKS]

As the others said the generator does't care. However, on a 6 volt system, if the regulator is designed for positive ground and you have neg ground, the contacts in the regulator wear faster. I don't know if this also happens in a 12 volt system, but most(all?) factory 12 volt systems are negative ground, generator or alternator. If it was my tractor, and I had a 12 volt generator, I would use negative ground.

 

[55 50]

All old JD 2 cylinder 12 volt systems were POSITIVE ground from the factory. Those that have been converted from generator to alternator are switched to negative ground because, as John T said, most alternators require negative ground.

 

[CNKS]

Varies by manufacturer. I'm not sure about the last 4 cyl large (350, 450, etc) Farmalls that went to 12 volt, but the replacement 6 cyl were neg ground. Also, as to the voltage regulator, not all 6 volt reg had to be positive ground and not all 6 volt systems were positive ground. I merely mentioned the regulator in case it was specifically designed for one or the other, in case there were problems later on. I also forgot I wasn't on the Farmall forum, as the 6 volt Delco regulators IH used say on the bottom, "6 volt positive ground. I was wondering if there were any 12 volt regulators that said + or - on them.

 

[Bob]

If you are going to change it to 12 Volts, I would go to (-) ground, as most folks nowadays are NOT familiar with (+) ground, and with (-) ground, there will be less chance of error when someone installs a new battery, charges the battery, or "jumps" it.

 

[John T]

It varies by manufacturer. Over the years Ive seen regulators labeled Pos Grnd,,,,,,,Neg Grnd,,,,,Some not labeled,,,,,,some for either....... (did I miss any lol) I agree with you as Ive read literature claiming it (polarity sensitivity) has to do with the coatings on the relay contatct points and that makes sense as electrons have a mass and in DC applicatiosn where curent always flows the same direction electrons would always be flowing from one contact and bobmarding the other.

OTHER reasosn why a VR would be for one specific polarity is where diodes (polarity sensitive device) are used for spike suppression purposes.

ALLLLLLL 2 cylinder Deeres were Pos ground regardless if 6 or 12 volt while IHC made some changes away from Pos when they went from 6 to 12 volt...

Yall take care now

John T

 

[Anonymous-0]

Thank you guys so very much for your help on the genarator.