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bo dawg

Volt meter reading

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bo dawg

Yea I didn’t like the idea of using the A post either. Someone stated to use it. Although it is hot when key is in run position. The “I” post is only hot when key is in run position as well. But I like to tie in to the oil temp gauge hot better since it’s right beside it. It also powers the hr meter too. Which is what the wire diagram for D-160 says on that. So why not the volt meter too? Lol

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bo dawg

Let me know if I’m wrong in my thoughts. I see it works that way on the 520s so why not on this?

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ebinmaine

It definitely sounds to me like you're doing something that should work.

 

It's important that you take that with a grain of salt however. Both of the wiring on both of the tractors were hand done by me. Not following Factory diagrams.

 

The only real question I have about the way that you want to wire things up is that on my tractor's which are B and C Series, the I post on the ignition switch is under power anytime the key is turned from the off position. Maybe d-series don't work like that.

 

Still, you should be perfectly fine

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bo dawg
2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

It definitely sounds to me like you're doing something that should work.

 

It's important that you take that with a grain of salt however. Both of the wiring on both of the tractors were hand done by me. Not following Factory diagrams.

 

The only real question I have about the way that you want to wire things up is that on my tractor's which are B and C Series, the I post on the ignition switch is under power anytime the key is turned from the off position. Maybe d-series don't work like that.

 

Still, you should be perfectly fine

 

No correct, soon as you turn key to run position it has power. I thought that’s what suppose to have?

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ebinmaine
3 minutes ago, bo dawg said:

....., soon as you turn key to run position it has power. I thought that’s what suppose to have?

Yes.

 

That's why I like using the I terminal.

 

If you use the A terminal or the lamps terminal you only have power when it is in the Run position and that does not give you a voltage reading when the engine is turning over before it starts on its own.

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bo dawg
15 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Yes.

 

That's why I like using the I terminal.

 

If you use the A terminal or the lamps terminal you only have power when it is in the Run position and that does not give you a voltage reading when the engine is turning over before it starts on its own.

 

I’m still slightly confused. The I post on mine only has power when key is in run position just like the A post. So it operates differently you’re saying?

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pfrederi
2 minutes ago, bo dawg said:

 

I’m still slightly confused. The I post on mine only has power when key is in run position just like the A post. So it operates differently you’re saying?

It also has to have power in Start position or there would be no spark while cranking

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ebinmaine
1 minute ago, pfrederi said:

It also has to have power in Start position or there would be no spark while cranking

:text-yeahthat:

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bo dawg
31 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

It also has to have power in Start position or there would be no spark while cranking

 

So the I post is correct right? Cause any other post would be hot all the time and don’t want to run battery down. Lol

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pfrederi

In a battery/points ignition system the A R I and S terminals are dead switch off,  Put switch in run and the A R I are connected.  In the Start position only the I and S terminals are connected...obviously battery terminal is hot all the time....

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bo dawg
16 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

In a battery/points ignition system the A R I and S terminals are dead switch off,  Put switch in run and the A R I are connected.  In the Start position only the I and S terminals are connected...obviously battery terminal is hot all the time....

 

Thats what I thought. So I post is what I want. Thank you guys so much. I am also going to hook the light of the volt gage with the lead from I post. 

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pfrederi

The light will be on all the time.  Is it an incandescent or LED?  Some gauges with incandescent bulbs will get quite warm and may discolor.  Why not wire the light to the head light circuit then it will only be on when the head lights are on  (like the dash light)

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953 nut

It will work on the "I" or "A" post, just be sure the first thing leaving the terminal is a fuse in the circuit to protect the wiring.

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bo dawg
37 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

The light will be on all the time.  Is it an incandescent or LED?  Some gauges with incandescent bulbs will get quite warm and may discolor.  Why not wire the light to the head light circuit then it will only be on when the head lights are on  (like the dash light)

I’m not sure but there’s no getting to the light to replace that I see. I’m thinking it be just like the 520s when the key is on the gauge lites is on. 

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bo dawg
19 hours ago, bo dawg said:

Here is what I got at Rual King for $16. I know cost more than the chinaman does but I wanted one with a chrome ring and black back ground. Didn’t like the black ring. Lol. Now have to see how to hook it up. 

75D641E2-2EE0-4FEE-BAB8-BD7DB9A0C9FF.jpeg

5603E0A6-D33D-4A11-9AB0-31840BB1F07C.jpeg

 

Ok I got it hooked up but I do not like the tiny lugs to fasten to on the bottom of the volt meter. Plus with using 14 amp wire and blue connectors there just dosent seem like much meat there to fasten to. Lol!

Also since I have a 25 amp fuse between battery to B post on ign, should I put another 25 amp fuse between the "I" post of ign to volt meter?

Edited by bo dawg
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Skipper

Those two little posts to tie it down is plenty. It will hold just fine.

 

A fuse should be dimensioned to the consumers and wire gauge, so a 25 Amp would be way too big on ignition pin. I would start out with a 5 amp. the ignition don't suck much juice, and the meter is a small consumer. 

 

Your biggest consumer is the main light. Well the biggest is of cause the starter, but that doesn't run juice thru the ign. switch.

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bo dawg
5 hours ago, Skipper said:

Those two little posts to tie it down is plenty. It will hold just fine.

 

A fuse should be dimensioned to the consumers and wire gauge, so a 25 Amp would be way too big on ignition pin. I would start out with a 5 amp. the ignition don't suck much juice, and the meter is a small consumer. 

 

Your biggest consumer is the main light. Well the biggest is of cause the starter, but that doesn't run juice thru the ign. switch.

 

Reason I ask is the Wheel Horse wiring diagram shows a 25 amp fuse from the battery to the amp meter, which then runs over to the ign. switch. So I wondered if a fuse was needed before any of the gauges.

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ebinmaine
1 minute ago, bo dawg said:

 

Reason I ask is the Wheel Horse wiring diagram shows a 25 amp fuse from the battery to the amp meter, which then runs over to the ign. switch. So I wondered if a fuse was needed before any of the gauges.

As the old joke goes. The most important function of a wire is to keep the Magic Smoke from showing up. A fuse in every single circuit is one of if not the best way to do that.

 

I think I would probably knock down the amperage from 25 because an ammeter uses a lot of current. I'm not sure I could really tell you what I put it down to though.

 

Fuses. Every circuit. Definitely.

 

 

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Skipper

The current going from battery to amp meter, is fused because it is the main power supply. ALWAYS have a fuse on the main power as close to the battery as possible. That fuse is dimensioned to the whole systems use. IE light, relays, ignition etc. It is dimensioned so everything can run simultaneous, but not much more.  The amp meter do not use any power almost. It just measures the flow thru it, to the ign switch, which distributes it out to different sources. 

Proper fusing is then done by adding smaller fuses on each power output from the ign switch. That way you protect the smaller wires and smaller consumers. 

 

Think car fuses. There is a main (or more) fuse, and then there is a fuse box with a bunch of smaller fuses. They are all powered from the main fuse. That way, if your power window shorts out, the car will not catch fire because there is a 100 amp fuse as only protection, and it will still function as normal, because all the other stuff still has their fuses, and therefor still works.

 

Same same on your garden tractor, although the shorter route is sometimes taken even from factory. That does not make it correct though! 

 

Put fuses on as a mad man. It can't hurt nothing. Use as small a fuse as possible to get best protection. 

 

How to size the fuse? Well if you are sure the wires are more than adequate to handle the consumer (lights etc.) then the only thing you need is to find the watts being used, and then select a fuse accordingly.  Example: Lights 2x30w front , and 2x10W rear. That's 80 watts. Then you want a little bit for lights in meters, loss in switches and relay and so forth. Lets make it a 100 watt total. Then you would put a margin of at least 10% on, to take care of low voltage situations and spikes etc. That's 110 watts. Divide by 12 volts, and you find that the closest size fuse up, is a 10 amp.

 

If you do not know how much power the consumer uses, then go small, and if it blows, go one larger, until you have found the right size.

 

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ebinmaine

@Skipper

Excellent explanation! Thank you very much.

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bo dawg
1 hour ago, Skipper said:

The current going from battery to amp meter, is fused because it is the main power supply. ALWAYS have a fuse on the main power as close to the battery as possible. That fuse is dimensioned to the whole systems use. IE light, relays, ignition etc. It is dimensioned so everything can run simultaneous, but not much more.  The amp meter do not use any power almost. It just measures the flow thru it, to the ign switch, which distributes it out to different sources. 

Proper fusing is then done by adding smaller fuses on each power output from the ign switch. That way you protect the smaller wires and smaller consumers. 

 

Think car fuses. There is a main (or more) fuse, and then there is a fuse box with a bunch of smaller fuses. They are all powered from the main fuse. That way, if your power window shorts out, the car will not catch fire because there is a 100 amp fuse as only protection, and it will still function as normal, because all the other stuff still has their fuses, and therefor still works.

 

Same same on your garden tractor, although the shorter route is sometimes taken even from factory. That does not make it correct though! 

 

Put fuses on as a mad man. It can't hurt nothing. Use as small a fuse as possible to get best protection. 

 

How to size the fuse? Well if you are sure the wires are more than adequate to handle the consumer (lights etc.) then the only thing you need is to find the watts being used, and then select a fuse accordingly.  Example: Lights 2x30w front , and 2x10W rear. That's 80 watts. Then you want a little bit for lights in meters, loss in switches and relay and so forth. Lets make it a 100 watt total. Then you would put a margin of at least 10% on, to take care of low voltage situations and spikes etc. That's 110 watts. Divide by 12 volts, and you find that the closest size fuse up, is a 10 amp.

 

If you do not know how much power the consumer uses, then go small, and if it blows, go one larger, until you have found the right size.

 

 

Thanks Skipper! That makes a lot of sense.

I been going with 14 gauge wire from the ign. to all the gauges, but I think that is an over kill. Especially on those little lugs, and not very flexible at that and not as easy.

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bo dawg

It doesn't matter which gauge I run to 1st from ign., jumping from there to next gauge does it? 

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ebinmaine

Stick with the 14 and you should be fine

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Skipper

:text-yeahthat:

And no, those gauges you can run like that. But normal wiring practice dictates running individual wires from fuse point to consumer, and back to ground point. Again it is per the above mentioned, and also to insure reliability. In many cases a group of consumers, (your gauges in this case) can be wired together as one consumer. Important it is, that you run all + leads to on group hug, and all - leads to one then. Don't be tempted to put them in series like you can with batteries + - + - + - etc.

 

In all fairness to this simple gauge install though. If it gets proper + and -, all is in most likely-hood, just fine!

 

But you are right on the wire gauge. You could run a gazillion volt meters and other gauges, off of a 14 gauge wire, but don't ever go smaller than the smallest wire you already see in that fuse circuit. otherwise you are potentially installing a toaster. Don't want that ;-)

 

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bo dawg

Skipper what do you mean “all + leads to on group hug” ?

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