Amp meter inaccuracte on 1250

[powerpooch]

Hello,
The amp meter on my 1250 is now reading higher than it should be. With everything off, it is showing that it is charging, about the amount that it would be right after starting the tractor.
When it is running, the needle is pretty much pegged to the right. Turning the lights on and the PTO does drop the needle a little. So it is working properly, but it looks like it thinks the neutral position is more to the right than it really is.

This started after I added some lights tonight. I installed the lights fairly close to how they would have came from the dealership. It will eventually get a full led upgrade, while keeping the stock look, but that will happen as bulbs burn out. I was adjusting the wires as a final fitment and accidentally shorted it out against the engine (I thought the off position of the light switch was to the left and the on position was to the right, but I was wrong). This blew the 15 amp fuse I had installed (I didn't have any spare 10 amp fuses to use, but I used 10 gauge wire for everything I added, so I wasn't worried about having any wires over heat if they were run at a higher demand).

I don't know if this event caused the amp meter to become uncalibrated, or if maybe I did something when I was struggling to remove the tiny bolt on the back of the meter. I just know that when I started my project, it was reading normal, and that when I finished, it is always reading high.

Is there any sort of adjustments for this amp meter? Or maybe cause a similar short with the amp meter hooked up backwards. (joking about that, but actually wondering if it would work).

Everything else has been great besides the amp meter. Limited test of the lights because the muffler is broken, so I am going to fix that before using the 1250 too much.

[R Bedell]

First, go to the Technical Library Section, on page #5 and download the Quietline Wiring Diagram.

Once you do that, you will see the "light switch" is separate from the Ignition Switch.

I installed the lights fairly close to how they would have came from the dealership. It will eventually get a full led upgrade, while keeping the stock look,

I used 10 gauge wire for everything I added, so I wasn't worried about having any wires over heat if they were run at a higher demand).

I read that YOU want the OEM and "stock look", yet you grossly oversize the wire. Installing LED lighting will result in using LESS amperage. Thus the normal 16 Gauge wire size is/was more than enough.

Sounds like....you have not got your wiring correct, causing an excessive load. I would suggest again, download the Wiring Diagram, follow it. 10 Amp fuse is way more than enough for the Lighting System.

Running as is, with that wire size, will burn out the Charging System (Stator & V/R) thus causing more expense.

[Alvy]

Here you go

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22

[dodge trucker]

Originally Posted by R Bedell

Running as is, with that wire size, will burn out the Charging System (Stator & V/R) thus causing more expense.

No it won't. Heavier wire has the capability of taking more amperage through it, but the system will not demand or produce any more than it would with the original gauge wire. It has the POTENTIAL to carry more current but that's all.
RESISTANCE will be less because of more wire surface area for the current to flow thru, but with new wire vs new wire of the original gauge size, resistance will be negligible anyways. if the stator is only capable of producing 15A it will only put out (a max of.... again, demand dependent) 15A.. OK... it may possibly reach 17A or 20A if everything is optimal AND THE LOAD DEMANDS it,,, but that is not enough to burn the Stator out!
Being full of dead grass or grease (so it doesnt get air to cool) or becoming delaminated due to age (potential for arcs or short circuits) would cause more problem than simply putting heavier wire, ever will-- with all else about the system staying the same.

[R Bedell]

Dodge Trucker:

I respectfully disagree.

[ironman]

If you think about it electrically, the final path for any and all circuit paths is back to to the battery through the frame. So the frame basically equates to a big bus bar that is much larger in gauge than any wires connected to it. So other than a wire in a circuit being too LIGHT in gauge, doesn't that make the gauge of the wire in any circuit irrelevant?

So while having a wire large enough to carry the anticipated current is important, being TOO large will not change the amount of current that any one particular circuit is going to use. Fusing is the important current controller not the wire gauge.

[ol'George]

Bigger wire than needed hurts nothing except costing more per foot, too small a wire, causes smoke signals.
Now as far as your amp meter, get yerself a good used one on epay or one of our suppliers.
You done let the magic smoke out of your present one when you slugged the needle full stop. BTDT
Or you can continue using it and adjust your thinking like a clock runnin' fast, your choice
Take heart, your not the first to do that and won't be the last.
It usually happens when using jumper cables hooked up wrong.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by R Bedell

Dodge Trucker:

I respectfully disagree.

You can disagree, but he is correct.


Powerpooch, it doesn't sound like you need to be doing any wiring.....

[ironman]

Originally Posted by powerpooch

I don't know if this event caused the amp meter to become uncalibrated, or if maybe I did something when I was struggling to remove the tiny bolt on the back of the meter. I just know that when I started my project, it was reading normal, and that when I finished, it is always reading high.

Is there any sort of adjustments for this amp meter? Or maybe cause a similar short with the amp meter hooked up backwards. (joking about that, but actually wondering if it would work).

Everything else has been great besides the amp meter. Limited test of the lights because the muffler is broken, so I am going to fix that before using the 1250 too much.

Inside of every amp meter there is a built in resistance called a shunt. The shunt is there to protect the meter movement circuitry by dividing the current flow so that not all the current goes through the meter winding. It is a parallel resistance circuit.

Most likely you have fried that shunt. The meter is reading high because now 100% of the current is going through the winding. It may work that way forever or eventually the winding may burn out too, and if/when that happens your tractor will not start because the battery circuit to the key switch is open.

At that point you can jumper a wire across the two lugs of the amp meter (of course the meter won't work but tractor will run) or you can put a new meter in.

[mortten]

The amp meter on my 1250 has read like that since I bought the tractor 7 years ago. Needle is about 1/4” from zero not running and moves further when running. Old age maybe?