In a message dated 15-Jul-99 15:04:40 Eastern Daylight Time,
CarlSereda@aol.com writes:
> so ..what's the bottom line? - is one better than the other in some way?
> Carl
>
Carl, Don't think it matters -- as long as the correct polarity is noted and
observed. That means the DC generator field circuit has to be properly
polarized and the coil connections must be such that the spark comes off the
center electrode at the spark plugs. (See British Car magazine Jun/Jul '97
p.44 for an excellent explanation on LBC ignitions.) Of course, jumping your
dead battery from another car with the opposite gnd also requires care. You
don't hook Gnd to Gnd but must hook pos to pos and neg to neg.
However -- one problem with Pos ground is that it is difficult, if not
impossible, to buy many modern accessories (like Radios/CD players) which
will work with pos gnd without being modified. Since negative ground has
been standard for so many years the electronics manufacturers make their
equipment that way.
The first radio I bought in '64 had a switch on the radio for pos or neg
ground. But that was a very simple AM band tube radio with maybe one
transistor. So it was easy for the manufacturer to make it switchable.
When I tried, in '91, to install my current AM/FM/Cassette radio I had some
difficulty. When I called JVC to see if they could give me a "quick fix "
they wouldn't even discuss it. Their engineer told me that the radio was for
negative ground and that they would take no responsibility if I altered it
for use with pos gnd. He also said that he was prohibited from telling me
how to alter some of the circuitry inside the radio. I bought an inverter
for the radio circuit and that, in effect, fooled the radio into thinking
that the car was negative ground. That inverter burned out last month.
I'm probably going to convert the TR4 to negative ground this fall. If I had
had access to the list in '91 that is probably what I would have done then.
(Would have saved me $100 for the inverter.) But I wasn't sure what else
needed to be done to convert the car to negative ground. Now I know that the
conversion is very simple -- the lights and the gauges don't even have to be
touched. The conversion eliminates the modern accessory problem. Dan
Masters has kindly provided all the necessary info about converting pos to
neg ground and put it up on the VTR website. Hope that helps. Cheers.
Art Kelly
Art Kelly
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