JD 650 Polarity Followup

[gurumanjohn]

I received a private message from Coyote Machine this morning wondering why I hadn't responded to the many posts about my JD 650 polarity problem. Well, if it weren't for his concern, I wouldn't have discovered that I was somehow dropped from the thread list and never knew about the postings. So apologies to all and here's the situation.

First, to those that suggested I had read the terminals incorrectly, I am not a complete moron -- only normally stupid. The positive terminal is indeed connected to the ground cable and no, the tractor hasn't been running in reverse for the eight months I've owned it. Oddly enough, it runs just fine in spite of what the manual says about the machine being a negative ground machine.

I was able to recover at least some of the suggestions from the closed thread and they are helpful. As soon as the temperature here rises above zero, I'll get a voltmeter and check out the system. It may take a few days since we have 12 inches of snow and getting more. I'll post the results on this thread unless someone throws me out of it again!

Thanks to all who weighed in on the problem and especially to CoyoteMachine.

gurumanjohn

 

[MikePA]

I received a private message from Coyote Machine this morning wondering why I hadn't responded to the many posts about my JD 650 polarity problem. Well, if it weren't for his concern, I wouldn't have discovered that I was somehow dropped from the thread list and never knew about the postings. So apologies to all and here's the situation.

Just to be certain there's not a forum issue, what do you mean you were 'dropped from the thread list'?

 

[murphy1244]

Yes Sir, Nobody gets things done like CM. He knows his stuff. So to get back to your machine as others have said is to start with a clean connection to the Battery and grounds.

 

[The Fred]

FYI: It IS possible to hook a battery charger backwards to a completely dead battery and reverse the polarity of the battery.
NOT very common but it has been done by mistake.

I see a lot of goofy stuff in the automotive trade.

Fred

Battery Myth | Can a Battery

 

[gurumanjohn]

Dear Mike PA - It sure is a forum issue. I was the originator of the thread and I didn't receive any notification of posts after post #3. There were several more after that giving suggestions about my problem -- none of which I was notified about. I only became aware of them when Coyote Machine sent me a private message this morning wondering where I'd disappeared to. Also, someone closed the thread and it wasn't me.

 

[gurumanjohn]

Fred - I didn't hook up a charger to a dead battery. If you're suggesting someone else did that before I owned the machine, I guess that's possible, but the positive terminal of the battery is connected to the ground. So I guess that contradicts your theory. Doesn't it?

 

[gurumanjohn]

Murph - by that do you mean I should reverse the current battery's connections and recharge it that way? We tried connecting the charger to the correct + and - terminals. That just produced a lot of sparks.

 

[haveissues]

I think he is saying maybe someone charged the battery wrong and the polarity switched. Instead of buying a new battery they hooked it up so it visually looks like positive ground but the positive terminal on the battery is putting out a negative charge.

 

[gurumanjohn]

HI - So does that mean I could get it back to the correct negative ground by putting in a new battery charged to negative ground? why has it been operating fine for eight months without damaging the regulator, alternator, etc?

 

[Soundguy]

Fred - I didn't hook up a charger to a dead battery. If you're suggesting someone else did that before I owned the machine, I guess that's possible, but the positive terminal of the battery is connected to the ground. So I guess that contradicts your theory. Doesn't it?

uh.. no.. it does NOT contradict the theory.

if the battery were charged backwards so that the post MARKED + was really (-) etc. then when you hooked it up to the tractor it would appear to have a + ground.. .. thus the comments to put a vom onthe battery and see what polarity it really is.