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electrical dufus

E

ESVADuke

Member
How many times have I read on electrical problem queries on this site: "did you check the ground wire/cable"

so you know where this is going.
1948 Farmall super av, last year I put a flat braided stainless ground cable on the transmission top plate when I replaced the battery box.

This Spring the tractor wouldn't start, weeds coming up in the peas. still had lights. Meter says plenty of juice to the starter. Pull the starter, the button switch looks like it might be worn and not making contact, replace the starter switch (the new ones are all cheap stamped metal), no go. now have no lights either. Wiggle the ground cable, seems OK. Replace the on-off switch (not remembering the lights are not part of that circuit), no change. Then I hear a sparking noise from near the ground cable. No can't be that, its a brand new cable. But yes, the tractor end of the ground cable was not making good contact. I put the original starter switch back on.

save yourself some time and $$$-
ALWAYS CHECK THE GROUND CABLE, THEN RECHECK IT!
 
ALWAYS CHECK THE GROUND CABLE, THEN RECHECK IT! Thanks for posting

AMEN I bet that's been posted somewhere on here a thousand times lol. I also add ground (with big enough cables) and protect
to a heavy clean solid frame/iron/block member or better yet if feasible and practical the starter itself versus any thin
wimpy or rusty or not well attached sheet metal seat or battery boxes.......

John T
 

A couple years ago I was having issues with the starter on my lawn mower--cleaned the battery connections real good--still nothing. Went and got a new starter--still the same. I was telling my brother about it. He said, "Did you check the other end of the ground cable where it bolts to the frame?" DUH!!! Located that connection, tightened the bolt which had worked loose--she fired right up!! So now I have a perfectly good spare starter on hand!
 
Hah! "bad ground" is our tongue-in-cheek go to diagnosis around here. Lights flicker -bad ground! starter won't turn over -bad ground! window motor won't go up or down -bad ground! corn and peas didn't come up like they should -bad ground! It's a handy ready made answer, and you look like a genius when it turns out to be the problem.

That old hen stopped laying eggs....OK it doesn't work for everything.
JD
 
Found a test that works for batt cables , undo the coil wire and crank the starter for 20 or 30 secs then feel the cables and there ends , if one is warmer then the other replace it , just because it looks good does not mean its not corroded inside
 
Good morning, ESVAD:I just want to add my 2 cents worth, I recently worked on my 9N and removed battery to get at ignition switch. I put all back together, NO START, NO CRANK. Found one battery cable clamp was not making contact at terminal post. Old style 6 volt battery with the old style top posts. So simple, yet I put one on and it was not conducting!

You are never too old to make a simple mistake! (BTW, the fix took about 5 minutes).

Another BTW, I added a pilot light that lights when the key is turned on, seemed like a good idea to help me pay attention when starting or shutting down.

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.
 
Indeed I have seen cable ends and terminations that looked perfect HOWEVER there can still be loose/burned/carboned/resistive connections HIDDEN UNDERNEATH..A volt meter used to measure voltage drop across the cables and connections plus any starter switches or solenoids WHILE UNDER HEAVY LOAD WITH STARTER CRANKING tells the story...Even perfect cables exhibit line voltage drop subject to Current,,,,,Amperage,,,,,,,,Distance and bigger the better to reduce drop.....

John T
 
(quoted from post at 10:34:00 04/15/21) Found a test that works for batt cables , undo the coil wire and crank the starter for 20 or 30 secs then feel the cables and there ends , if one is warmer then the other replace it , just because it looks good does not mean its not corroded inside
Click to expand...

Or use a voltmeter and actually know how much voltage is being lost . Warm is a relative term .
 
Happened to a custom combine operator at our place. As I came home the combine shields are all open and the dealer service truck sitting by the C-IH combine. Tech is checking all over with a voltmeter as the cab end and everything controlled by it is not working. Motor end is fine. I peak at it and see 2 batteries is parallel, tech says 12.6 on one and other one is way down. I says bad cable or clamps between the batteries. That lit him up. He went and got his drill and a screw and drove it into the bad battery cable clamp. Full voltage on both. Combine owner said order a new cable- tech said it was about 300 dollars. Owner said- this things been down for over 3 hours, I just lost more than that, get it on order!
 
I took the battery out of the mower to work under the mount. It was starting fine,when I put the battery back in something didn't look right. The clamp was cracked,problem avoided.
 
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