Left Ignition Switch On Run,,

CaseDC3 · Jan 9, 2014

Left the ignition switch in the run position last time the tractor ran. Today totally dead battery, Got it hooked to a charger now, headlights came on but nothing when I hit the starter. After a while on the charger I'll try again. What damage did I do? 12 volt alternator conversion without points. Is it possible I am lucky and just drained the battery? Anything electrical is a mystery to me.

rrlund · Jan 9, 2014

I made that mistake about 6 weeks ago on one with an alternator and regulator. The alternator didn't work after that. I had a single wire alternator here,put that on with just the one wire hooked and it works,so I don't know if I smoked the alternator or regulator. You might have gotten lucky and didn't hurt anything. Then again,if your luck is like mine........

CaseDC3 · Jan 9, 2014

Mine is a 1 wire too.. after I get the battery recharges.. I'll try to start it. But I am not feeling very lucky today....

Bob · Jan 9, 2014

If the engine came to rest with the breaker points OPEN, NO problems there. If the points were closed, they, as well as the ignition coil, got HOT.

Points and/or coil may be TOAST, or may still work. Didn't do 'em and good, at the very least. Another thing... if the "rubbing block" on the points is phenolic, it probably wasn't affected much by the heat. If it's PLASTIC, often they deform and affect point gap and timing.

In most cases, the alternator will not be affected. I see the other poster had bad luck with one, but in my experience, that would be the exception, rather than the norm.

old · Jan 9, 2014

Well you say you do not have points so you have an electronic ignition right?? If yes you may have fried the ignition module

rrlund · Jan 9, 2014

If it's a Case DC,probably a mag. Wouldn't draw anything off the battery.

CaseDC3 · Jan 9, 2014

Here is the follow up..
Battery completely dead.. no lights no starter switch.. put on battery charger.. got headlights.. no cranking.. Left charger on 12v 6 amp came inside to warm up and get on here. 30 minutes later on the charger Hit the starter and the old girl started right up.. got her warm throttled up every went well. Only thing I notice is that the amp gauge doesn't move at all. just stayed on "0" turned on lights didn't move. full throttle ,Idle doesn't move. Other than that.. she runs.. so I think the coil and the ignition survived.

old · Jan 9, 2014

Ah but he said it has no points so for that to be true it has to have electronic ignition since a mag has points and the normal distributor has points

CaseDC3 · Jan 9, 2014

Yes.. sorry for the mix up.. 12v Electronic ignition, distributor, with coil, and 1 wire delco alternator and a amp guage.

Steve@Advance · Jan 9, 2014

Quick easy alternator test, 'bout 90% accurate...

Carefully hold a screwdriver or something steel against the back of the rear alternator bearing. Don't short anything out! With the motor running, idled up, if it's charging it should be slightly magnetic.

Since the ampmeter didn't move, I would suspect it may be bad. Might consider replacing it with a volt meter, wired off the ignition side of the switch. Should read about 14 to 16 volts running. If you replace it with a volt meter, you need to connect both wires from the old ampmeter together and insulate them.

old · Jan 9, 2014

Ya when I saw you said no points I figured you meant it was electronic ignition so the only thing that might have been hurt was the electronic module but since it started you have a good chance it did not get hurt

Billpa · Jan 9, 2014

it is not that good on the batt it will shorten the life of it a little on the tronic ign I dont know I have blown a coil apart with points just my 1 cents worth Bill

casecollectorsc · Jan 9, 2014

Probably burned out the internal regulator in the alternator. If it's a Delco, you can get a repair kit for the alt. for about $15. Replaces the regulator and front bearing and brushes. I'm sure you can split the alt. and replace parts yourself. Good directions in the package.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 9, 2014

Test the voltage at the battery with the engine running without the charger, 12volts or less alt not charging 13-14 alt is working.

Jon Hagen · Jan 9, 2014

Before you condem that "1 wire" Delco alt as broken, try field flashing it while the engine is at 1/2 speed or more.

Use a piece of insulated wire to momentarily connect the #1 excite regulator blade to the big BAT stud. If the alt lost it's residual magnetic field that starts it charging, this should restore it.

old · Jan 9, 2014

That test says it has been excited but does not say it is putting out any voltage. Just to let you know so it really does not come close to 90% sure maybe closer to 50%

Janicholson · Jan 9, 2014

Getting it running is good. The amp gauge may be stuck but still working internally. The charging voltage on a partially charged battery should be 13.7 to 14.2 volts, measured across the battery terminals. A correctly charging Internally regulated alternator will stay at zero charge if the battery is charged up, If the battery is not charged (yours would not be fully charged) it should be showing a charge on the gauge usually 15 amps or more. If the voltage is as I describe at 3/4 throttle, and tha amp gauge does not move, some one may have wired the alternator directly to the battery, and bypassed the amp gauge. Best of luck. Let us Know how it works out. Jim

Drunken Poet · Jan 9, 2014

How did you shut the engine off with the ignition switch in the run position?

teddy52food · Jan 9, 2014

If you still have the charger going, it will not let the alt kick in.

teddy52food · Jan 9, 2014

Hard to believe that 6 amps for a half hour was enough in a dead battery to start it.

MarkB_MI · Jan 10, 2014

Don't you have a multimeter? Check the voltage, that's what will tell you whether or not it's charging.

mkirsch · Jan 10, 2014

For future reference, it takes more than 60 seconds to charge a flat-dead battery enough to start a tractor.

The only way it would have worked is if you had one of those large roll-around battery chargers with the 200 Amp boost function.

Left Ignition Switch On Run,,

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