Farmall H Connected battery Backwards

Anonymous-0 · Jul 2, 2009

Hi Everyone,

I have a Farmall H that has a magneto, 6 volt system. I had to take the battery off to do some work to it yesterday, and when i was done, I connected it negative ground, not positive ground. Today I got to start it, and it will do nothing! So i checked to be sure the started gear wasn't sticking (It wasn't). So i put a battery charger on it, and it will charge it for about 4 mins, and then it lights up "Trouble" on the charger.

How much damage did i do to the generator, starter, and did i ruin the battery?

Thanks guys

Ryan

Anonymous-0 · Jul 2, 2009

Forgot to add that it ran for abour 15 minutes yesterday after i installed it backwards, and today it will do nothing, and the battery won't charge.

rustred · Jul 2, 2009

sounds like your batt. is toast. may need to repolarize the gen. the starter dont care if its +or- ground.do a load test on the batt. and see what it shows. but if it wont take charge its done.

Brownie 450 · Jul 2, 2009

Did you check the terminal connections on the battery for clean & tight? How about the starter switch connections---starter bolt??

RyanT · Jul 2, 2009

Yes, everything is clean and tight. I even disconnected the battery and clean them....that is when I realized what i did.

Battery must be shot. So i will need to buy another.

Hopefully there isn't any other damage to the generator.

Ryan

John T · Jul 2, 2009

Ryan, You wouldnt have hurt the starter at all and hopefully not the generator, but the battery HMMMMMMMMMMM???????? Its a Voltage Regulator that can get messed up if the genny is opposite from battery polarity but you likely just have a cutout relay. Have a shop load test the battery and once you get her together again Id polarize the genny n see what happens. Id remove clean n wire brush n reattach each n every battery n starter n ground cable also..

John T

Dan in Ore · Jul 2, 2009

If you ran it for 15 minutes with the polarity backwards on the battery, it may have a reverse charge in it (hence the trouble indication on the charger). I had this happen on a 56 Mercury I had when I was a kid. Hook the battery to a load such as a light bulb and completely discharge it. Then try to charge it with about a 2 amp charge rate. Let it sit for 24 hours or more. This may save the battery, what do you have to lose, and then polarize the regulator.

Best of luck.

Bob S. · Jul 2, 2009

I had the same thing happen as Dan in Ore, probably as far back also. Don't remember about the reverse charge part but in order to recharge the battery I had to put a long length of wire between the battery and the charger, as per instructions on batt charger. I tried it and it worked, no longer kicked out the batt charger and charged at a low rate. Took a long time to charge the battery but it still worked for a couple of years after that episode. Good luck.
Bob S.

Brownie 450 · Jul 3, 2009

If we think this through, maybe the regulator shorted & drained the battery completely. Do you have an older 4 amp charger? I use a 4 amp charger from the 1960's to bring up completely discharged batteries. "Modern" chargers aren't designed to start a battery charging from zero---they have to have some charge left to determine a charging rate. The older style chargers simply provide raw voltage/ current.

Dan in Ore · Jul 3, 2009

I should have said "let it charge for 24 hours or more" not let it sit. Sorry if this caused a problem.

Dan

Farmall H Connected battery Backwards

Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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rustred

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Brownie 450

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RyanT

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John T

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Dan in Ore

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Bob S.

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Brownie 450

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Dan in Ore

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