Ammeter

sellener777 · Jul 6, 2022

So after some help i got an idiot light working properly on my two battery 12 volt system on Oliver diesel.

My existing conundrum is my ammeter seems to indicate a pegged charge when operating at anything other than idle.

Voltage reads 14.5 ish while running with load.

Voltage read 12.7 resting

Voltage reads a bit less say 12.5 with lights on resting.

I havent ran the tractor more than like 20 minutes to see if ammeter reading ever comes back down to 0 after operating for several hours.

Ammeter is a -30 +30 type.

New ammeter operates as old one did.not the ammeter I dont think.

Any thoughts?

Tractor has two 12 volt batts each grounded to frame.

So should be 12 volt system with increased cca

Would that system charge more aggressively or something?

Geo-TH,In · Jul 6, 2022

Use a battery charger and bring batteries up to full charge..
Test batteries and then see what the ammeter says..

caterpillar guy · Jul 6, 2022

These trailer queens need to be taken out and scratch the paint working the tail off them for a few days to kee pthe batteries and all else up to snuff rather than just going from the shed to trailer then to show spot then back to trailer and so on.

Steve@Advance · Jul 6, 2022

It's possible you have some low batteries that need to be charged. The alternator will eventually bring them up but it's not good for it. The alternator is intended to supply the electrical needs and maintain a charge, not bring up low batteries. You may have noticed the alternator getting hot!

The voltage reading look good.

Also the alternator is probably capable of making way more than the amp meter is designed for. It won't hurt it, just be reading off the scale when it is working hard.

Jim.ME · Jul 6, 2022

The Delco 3 wire alternator, you posted pictures of in your other post, is most likely capable of producing over 60 amps.

guido · Jul 6, 2022

sellener777,

All voltage readings sound normal to me. It probably is charging more the the gauge capacity.

Does it charge the same amount after running for 1/2 hour to an hour?

I bet not. If you had a volt meter instead of an amp meter, you would not be asking the question,

Guido.

Ohio88 · Jul 6, 2022

Had this happen and it was one battery bad drawing the amps. The other battery kept the voltage up when testing. Disconnected the batteries and tested voltage individually and found the problem.

sellener777 · Jul 6, 2022

Thx all, testing both batts separately sounds like a good idea. Shes not a trailer queen! She did all my hay this year as the other green one was down.

Carlmac 369 · Jul 7, 2022

(quoted from post at 18:56:31 07/06/22) These trailer queens need to be taken out and scratch the paint working the tail off them for a few days to kee pthe batteries and all else up to snuff rather than just going from the shed to trailer then to show spot then back to trailer and so on.

What part of his post led you to believe that his tractor is a trailer queen instead of a working tractor? :roll:

BarnyardEngineering · Jul 7, 2022

(quoted from post at 04:13:40 07/07/22)

(quoted from post at 18:56:31 07/06/22) These trailer queens need to be taken out and scratch the paint working the tail off them for a few days to kee pthe batteries and all else up to snuff rather than just going from the shed to trailer then to show spot then back to trailer and so on.

Click to expand...

What part of his post led you to believe that his tractor is a trailer queen instead of a working tractor? :roll:

The part where it said he hadn't run it more than 20 minutes.

Carlmac 369 · Jul 7, 2022

(quoted from post at 09:58:11 07/07/22)

(quoted from post at 04:13:40 07/07/22)

(quoted from post at 18:56:31 07/06/22) These trailer queens need to be taken out and scratch the paint working the tail off them for a few days to kee pthe batteries and all else up to snuff rather than just going from the shed to trailer then to show spot then back to trailer and so on.

Click to expand...

What part of his post led you to believe that his tractor is a trailer queen instead of a working tractor? :roll:

Click to expand...

---------------------------------------

That's quite a stretch.

This post was edited by Carlmac 369 on 07/07/2022 at 06:15 am.

sellener777 · Jul 7, 2022

Took batteries out this morning and they both show 12.5 volts sitting out of the tractor separately.

Also I should mention , one was a deep cycle flooded lead acid, the other was conventional flooded lead acid.

Any issues running those two in parralel?

Will bring them in for a bench test, and see how they read.

Conventional was 11 yr old and deep cycle was 7.

Thing always started up I hate to dig to deep lol

Any advice on new battery selection if thats the way I go ?

Probably could put 2 fresh charged batteries in and still never have the ammeter ever drop to 0

Thx again

Steve@Advance · Jul 7, 2022

That is a big part of the problem!

Batteries that old, and mis matched. Never a good practice to replace only one or mis match parallel batteries.

Go with the highest cold crank amp that will fit in the box. Don't use deep cycle, they serve an entirely different purpose.

Carlmac 369 · Jul 7, 2022

(quoted from post at 11:54:23 07/07/22) That is a big part of the problem!

Batteries that old, and mis matched. Never a good practice to replace only one or mis match parallel batteries.

Go with the highest cold crank amp that will fit in the box. Don't use deep cycle, they serve an entirely different purpose.

Yep.

This post was edited by Carlmac 369 on 07/07/2022 at 08:03 am.

sellener777 · Jul 7, 2022

So.

Thought I d close the loop a bit.

One battery was bad, other good.

But went with two fresh ones and went with 1000 MCA starter batteries.

Ammeter works appropriately now, assumption was bad battery drawing excessive amperage from alternator.

Thx again. Another question coming ..

Ammeter

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