JBergen

New User
Hello,
I was wondering if there is a easy way to determine whether the amp draw of my tractor was overloading my alternator. I have a case 1490, (according to the manual it came with a 65A alternator) and i recently bought a bunch of new LED lights for it without really thinking it through. Two large bar lights, one for the front and one for the back, and 4 small spots to replace the existing lights. Adding up the amp draw of the lights i am not over the output of the alternator (51A at 12v), but i don't know how much amps are being drawn by the rest of the tractor, nor if the alternator is rated to put out 65A constantly. I have already gone ahead and installed them, (running new 8 gauge wire to feed the two bar lights which draw the large majority of amps and with separate switches for each, so that i don't need to have more on than i actually need for the particular operation. But i'm nervous about running them all at the same time because i'm worried about burning something out.

Thus my question, is there an easy way to measure whether i'm overloading the alternator?
 
I doubt you're overload with LED lamps. With the tractor running, faster than idle, turn all you loads on and measure the voltage at the battery. It should be in the
13.5 area. Otherwise you need a VOM (volts ohms amps) meter that will measure in the 65 amp range. Not common, even with the inductive reading technology. Halogens
draw current and generate heat, LEDs are very low draw with no heat. I'm sure you'll be OK
 
Just running without the lights, it uses less than 2 amps for gauges.

Does it still have the original Lucas alternator on it? Many of them were only 35 amps or so.
 
I took a closer look at the alternator tonight, (can't get a great inspection as the tractor has an aftermarket loader attached with a very bulky frame) But the alternator does not appear to be original, I can't say it isn't for sure as but i could see a barcode on it and it just didn't look as old as the rest of the tractor.

Good to know that the gauges only take 2 amps, I was worried that because the tractor came with a 65A (again just based on what the manual said my model had) i figured there must be something other than the lights drawing power as the original lights did not add up to a lot.

Well thanks for the replies. I will relax a bit and actually use all the lights if i need them.
 

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