Author	[Modern View]
AL Moyer in Pa. 01-04-2013 05:49:43 173.62.239.32 Report to Moderator	I'm sure this might have been asked before, but every time I have to do anything battery related, I always wonder "What was the reasoning behind the possitive ground on these old tractors"? Is there some type of advantage for it ? Inquiring minds want to know! Thanks guys! [Reply]   [No Email]
sflem849 01-05-2013 11:10:51 69.197.84.39 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   Electron Flow Theory states that electrons flow from negative to positive so it is really the "right" way.   [Reply]  [No Email]
Dan T in MO 01-05-2013 10:37:54 166.181.3.102 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   If there was an advasntage for positive ground, don't you think everything today would be positive ground?   [Reply]  [No Email]
John G. Hasler 01-04-2013 07:53:34 174.124.25.60 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   Telegraph and telephone systems use positive ground due to a slight advantage with respect to corrosion. This was carried over to most early autos and tractors, but it actually makes no significant difference there.   [Reply]  [No Email]
rustred 01-04-2013 07:23:46 70.28.245.122 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   well there is a reason for it. you would have to ask the physic's engineers.a caterpillar instructor was explaining to us in class about cyl. sleeve pitting from electrolosis and how its caused. then he threw in the statement about 6 volt pos. ground and said that was an attempt to reduce electolosis. which is caused by poor engine ground and traveling through the coolant and all this proton and neutron stuff and tiny air bubbles that attack the cyl. wall from piston vibrations. and to make sure the system is always under pressure to reduce these bubbles in size. would have to get an actuall physics instuctor to explain it clearer... maybe jim n.   [Reply]  [No Email]
gene bender 01-04-2013 07:12:14 67.55.227.74 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   Big theory behind that. I wa taught at Ft.Monmoth NJ that positive is the natural way for electron flow to ground these were Philco and RCA instructors in 58. Most old 6v systems were pos gnd. Generator doesent care but the regulator sure does. Early tractor add-on radios had changeable grounds when using on the old 6v tractors.   [Reply]  [No Email]
John T 01-04-2013 06:58:19 216.249.82.117 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   I can answer your question as best I recall, I read this somewhere LONG ago and Ive slept since, so NO WARRANTY: Long BEFORE the Neg ground standard, "some" companies believed there was less galvanic action (dissimilar metal junctions can form a battery) and corrosion where frame members joined if you use Positive ground. Chrysler and Ford thought one way (Pos) GM I believe another (Neg). Of course, strictly electrically speaking, current flow is still current flow REGARDLESS which battery post happens to be connected to some huge chunk of iron (tractor frame). Theyre simply using the tractors conductive metal frame as a current carrier so you can frame ground the lights and starter and NOT have to run wires to all those !!!!!!!! And the battery dont care which post you connect the hunk of iron to either, the frame acts as (replaces) the wire to carry current is all This is NOT related to your question about Pos or Neg of the battery connected to the hunk of iron HOWEVER as far as current, electrons are negatively charged particles which flow readily in atoms with plenty of free excess electrons in their outer shell/orbits (like say Copper) and while the electrons flow from atom to atom (electron current) the empty vacant holes/spaces left behind since electrons got knocked out of their orbits (hole current) is in the opposite direction. Therefore electron flow is one way while hole flow is the opposite. At Purdue wayyyyyy back in the sixties we were taught conventional electron current flowed one way while hole current flowed the opposite. STILL remember electrons are NEGatively charged particles and those electrons flow one way while the empty spaces/holes flow the other... AGAIN NO WARRANTY THAT WAS WELL OVER 40 YEARS AGO I MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN LOL John T BSEE Purdue late sixties   [Reply]  [No Email]
Rod in Randolph 01-04-2013 06:39:00 173.191.74.46 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   I had heard that it had to do with corrosion issues. just another 2 cents worth   [Reply]  [No Email]
Phil Tibbetts 01-04-2013 06:33:09 208.93.14.38 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   Also in the early years different auto makes used a different ground some neg and some pos.   [Reply]  [No Email]
Red Dave 01-04-2013 06:30:02 66.216.141.163 Report to Moderator	Re: Positive Ground ? in reply to AL Moyer in Pa., 01-04-2013 05:49:43   No, there is no real advantage or disadvantage with either positive or negative ground from an electrical standpoint. Either one works every bit as well as the other. There have been some who try to find some advantage for one way or the other, but the plain and simple truth is that every device and every connection has a side that is connected to the positive terminal and one that is connected to the negative terminal and reversing them, in this application, provides no benefits at all. It is just how it was done back in those days, later they did the same thing, only with the negative grounded instead of the positive. In these old tractors, the electrons don't care which direction they go.   [Reply]  [No Email]