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Electrical upgrades voltmeter and external alternator
mmmmmdonuts posted a topic in Wheel Horse Electrical
Had some time today to do some work and also finish a project I have been wanting to finish for a while. Had three goals to accomplish: 1) Finish installing the external alternator 2) Install a voltmeter 3) Add some new wiring as needed When I first got the tractor there was an alternator sitting on the side of the tractor, but it was never wired up. It was an old si10/si12 three wire alternator which is mounted to the engine with a couple of cross bars that adjust. I know it is overkill for this size tractor and lawn battery but it was already there so I figured I use it. I took a picture of the top and final configuration with a belt. So to wire up the three wire alternator here is what I did. 1) The red wire out of the terminal is the battery sense voltage terminal. Since I don't have long electrical wires I just hooked it up to the stud in the back where the main wire goes to charge the battery. 2) I then used a 6 gauge wire and went to the back of the alternator and to the post on the solenoid where the battery is connected. I fused it with an 80amp fuse which you can see in the picture. 3) The last wire to hook it up is the black wire in the terminal. This wire is for exciting the alternator. You MUST place one of three items in line with this. You place either a 10ohm 10 watt resistor, a lamp, or a diode with this wire. I opted to use a diode. For the smaller SI10 alternators you can use a 1A-3A diode, but for the larger models I believe you need to be 5A or higher diode. I put the diode in with the cathode (the side with the line) facing the alternator along with a 10A fuse in line as well. This wire goes to the ignition switch marked IGN. The only thing thing that is not ideal is that it only runs when the PTO is engaged. Since this is normally how I am using the tractor it is not a problem. The alternator is on an adjustable slide so I can mount it either to the inner or outer pulley. Typically it is mounted to the outer pulley. I can always just remove the PTO belt when not in use if I am carting stuff around the lawn, but since the alternator is so over-sized all I usually need to do is run the PTO for a few minutes and the battery is completely charged. The next project I was trying to accomplish was install a voltmeter. I got this voltmeter on amazon for $20 or so and I mounted it underneath the hood, by drilling two holes from the inside, and just bolted it underneath. I connected the positive terminal to the ACC on the ignition switch (fused with 5A) because I don't want the voltmeter to kill my battery when the tractor is not running. The meter came with a backlight as well and I spliced that into my into headlight switch which you can see on in the picture, so the light only comes on when the headlights are on. The last thing I did for the day was clean up some of my wiring and replace some of the old wires. I went to walmart and bought a couple of 6 gauge wire with lugs already on them and replaced the battery to the solenoid, the ground wire and added the wire to the alternator. The connections were getting poor so by replacing them I hope to have a much easier time starting it this winter with the snowblower. If anyone has any questions I would be glad to help.- 20 replies
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