Super C Electrical Issues

Hello!

A brief history....

I have a 1954 Super C, with a 10SI 12-volt conversion. I'm running a ballast resistor in line to the coil. THe Ammeter in the base of the pedestal is present, connected, but non-functional...the glass separated from the gauge a year or two ago, and I haven't got 'round to doing anything about it just yet. The factory push-pull ignition switch, due to a failure, has been recently replaced with a toggle switch. And I have an hour meter, and LED charge indicator light, mounted in the "dash" off something like an H, which is mounted to the lightbar.

Now, the problem...

This tractor has been wired and operational in this way for 6+ years now, and has never done me wrong, beyond the usual tune up, points cleaning, etc.

When the push pull ignition switch stopped working, I bypassed it by using a jumper wire from the positive terminal on the starter to the after-resistor side of the ballast resistor. This worked fine for quite some time (That switch has been on the round to it list for probably a year now). During this time, the hour meter always counted hours, the charge indicator always functioned as per usual, and the lights worked.

Very recently, while the tractor was staying with a friend of mine, he replaced the ignition switch for me with a conventional toggle switch. He reported at the time that it was business as usual, everything functioned as it should, and we no longer needed to use the jumper wire.

Fast forward to the last couple days. My friend was making ready to move the Super C back to my place, as its my snowplow tractor and, surprisingly, we were calling for our first real snowfall today. He mentioned that, for some reason, we no longer had functional headlights, but didn't figure he'd have time to troubleshoot it before he dropped it off.

So tonight, with a foot of snow on the ground, and in the pouring rain, I was trying to make some headway into determining whats causing my problem. All my connections are tight, all wires appear to be intact. The toggle switch no longer has any effect on any electrical function whatsoever. If I use the jumper wire to bypass the switch, the tractor starts and runs as it used to, but I have no lights (which I used to), and no charge indicator (which I used to), but the hour meter still counts time. If I take another jumper wire and go straight from 12V to the back of the light switch, I can get the lights to come on bright, but not dim. I attempted to bypass the ignition switch, by bridging the terminals on the back with a jumper wire, but that had no noticeable effect either.

Im certainly no electrical engineer, but this also isn't my first rodeo, I'm just coming up at a bit of a loss as to what could have failed.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I could use the help, and I know the more information I can provide, the better the odds someone will be able to point me in the right direction.

Thanks again!
Cheers!
Andrew

First thing make sure your ammeter has power off of both terminals. Could have burned out. Try this with lights turned on but not hot wired. If you have power on both sides just trace power from there to next terminal connection.

Whew. The first check I would make is to see if the amp meter (open to the air, and subjected to a fair load with an alternator) is still good. With the lead to the starter switch disconnected use an ohm meter across the terminals of the meter. If infinite ohms it it toast and probably 100% of the problem. If zero ohms, it is probably good.
Next, assuming the above had zero ohms, Rehook the wire to the amp gauge and test the meter for voltage on both sides, once with the lights on, and once with them off. If the load side with the lights on has no voltage, the amp gauge is bad. If no different but no lights, the fuse could be blown on the light switch, or bad wiring/terminal connection at the switch.
Fix that.
If the ignition switch has voltage to the supply side, it should also have voltage to the ballast resistor side when on. Check to assure it does. If not correct that.
Check voltage at the ballast resistor with the switch on/ If volts, test the other side for volts. no volts fix it.
A three wire application of a 10si requires a 10 watt resistor across the LED style dash lamp. A LED does not supply enough current to work. Jim

No dim lights could be burned out dropping resistor coil on back of light switch.
If toggle switch is not rated for D.C. operation, it could be a problem.