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Connecting and disconnecting battery positive grounded

C

CapLoneStar

Member
Just bought a new 12v battery, I ll be needing to disconnect the battery and put the new one on. It s simple enough to do but I m confused because the battery is positive grounded and it s staying positive grounded with the new battery. This system on my Super a is a 6volt. (Not sure if that affects it)


So do I disconnect the positive (ground) first? Then the negative (live)?

And when I reconnect the new battery do I put the negative (live) on first then the positive (ground?)

Thanks in advance
 
To reduce the risk of a short to case/frame when disconnecting a battery REGARDLESS IF POS OR NEG GROUNDED BATTERY

FIRST disconnect (the grounded cable) whichever post has the frame ground cable attached, then disconnect the other cable which is typically the one with a big cable down to a starter switch or solenoid.

REMOVE THE FRAME GROUNDED TERMINAL/POST CONNECTION FIRST regardless if it happens to be attached to the battery + or -

REATTACH FIRST connect the ungrounded cable (one with big cable to starter switch or solenoid) then the grounded cable.

Hope this helps, any additions?

John T
 
Always disconnect the grounded cable first. reconnect the grounded last.Irregardless of 'polarity'.This prevents sparks if the wrench touches something it is not supposed to.
 
Don't think you should be replacing a 6V battery with a 12V battery unless you make other changes, coil, voltage regulator, light bulbs and
more. Or was that a typo and your staying 6V?

Dave
 
If your going with 12 volts why stay with + ground?? If in the future you add an alternator you will have to go with negative ground so switch now and be done with it. Starter will work the same either way and the only thing you should change is the coil and just switch the 2 small wires so it is negative grounded
 
The whole idea is a question. What will not cause a spark when(not if) the wrench taking the battery clamp off hits steel. Shorting a battery grounding post to ground will not spark,so the ground is hooked up last and unhooked first.
 
Hey! There's still voltage between the grounded post and the grounded (frame) cable once the cable connector has been removed from the battery post and your wrench or other tool can still spark if it gets between the frame cable and the battery post it just came off of! So CAUTION is advised no matter which post you disconnect first.
 
Like Old said make it negative ground now and save a lot of fooling around. Still have to change all the lights and such for a 12 volt whether it is pos or neg ground.
 
unfortunately I hooked it up before seeing the posts about making it negative grounded.... I was under the impression that you d need to re-polarize your generator or something to switch the current.... when I switch it to 12v conversion, I ll do it negative grounded then for sure.
 
Be sure to Polarize the generator (if you use a generator instead of an alternator) BEFORE starting the tractor. If you're switching to an alternator (no polarization required) Id use NEG ground. For NEG ground coils + gets power from ignition switch and - to distributor...?..

John T
 
If I understand your intentions, you will have to change the coil to 12 volt or add a resistor to
protect the points from an over current failure. It would be best to finish the conversion, lots of
archived advice here.
 
I maybe confused but this sounds like you just plain inserted a 12 volt battery in place of a 6 volt battery, with no other changes. If you installed a 12 volt battery you will need to do more than polarize a 6 volt generator to match it. Polarizing only matches the generator to battery polarity; not battery voltage. You need to install a 12 volt generator and regulator, or install an alternator. Is/was your generator working before you installed the 12 volt battery or is it not connected and just riding along as a belt tensioner?

Do the whole conversion, including change to negative ground, as others posted. You need to make changes to the ignition system, now, to match the 12 volt battery as well, as others posted.
 
So when I bought the tractor it had another 12v battery on it. The ampmeter doesn t work, and the generator doesn t charge. I don t have a coil on the system or a magneto. It does, however have a distributor. It looks like it was wired up by someone who did it quickly. It works and runs but it definitely needs a full upgrade. I m just doing more research while I continue to do work around the property with the tractor. So far I ve come to the conclusion I need the following:

Alternator
Coil (with internal regulator)
60amp ampmeter
Wiring harness
Brackets for alternator

My tractor has no lights and no light mounts so I ll have to order 12v lights and bulbs as well.



What s the difference between a three wire alternator and a one wire alternator?
 
If the generator is not charging then the ammeter might not be defective. On my SA ammeter I can't tell the discharge when I turn the ignition on. I can only see the big swing right after starting that indicates the alternator is recharging the battery.

Keep in mind the ammeter does not care about the system voltage its just a "current flow" device.
 
Right, I remember your question from last week.

Non-functional charging system == no problems hooking up a 12V battery. Just hook it up like it was, "ground" last when connecting.
 
You said: "I don t have a coil on the system or a magneto. It does, however have a distributor."

??? What provides the secondary voltage for the distributor rotor to send to the sparkplugs?

A short, condensed answer on your alternator question. A one wire alternator only needs the heavy wire to the ammeter, the excitation and feedback for regulation are internal to the alternator . A three wire has the heavy wire plus two lighter gauge wires from external sources (ignition switch, idiot light) to provide excitation and feedback. Both need the heavy wire routed through ammeter so ammeter will show charge rate.
 
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