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negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:24 pm
by timetraveller
hi all
hoping someone can help me out
today i did the negative earth conversion as per the technical data on this forum....excellent info by the way and no probs converting however my horn has stopped working and the fuel pump has become noisy and clicky
the fuel pump is a hardi unit and its the original factory horn
do these components need replacing for negative earth items now ????
thanks
neil
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:39 pm
by Declan_Burns
Neil,
The positive terminal on the Hardi pump is to the front of the car and they are noisy. Fit 2 M6 anti-vibration mounts and that will solve the problem-see pic below. The horn problem could be a bad earth.[frame]

[/frame]
Regards
Declan
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:11 pm
by mike.perry
The horn should not be affected, possibly co incidence. The horn should have two wires so you could try swapping them over.
You can test the horn with a straight connection to the battery and also most horns have a central adjusting screw
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:32 pm
by bmcecosse
The points on both dizzy and fuel pump MUST be cleaned/dressed/re-set when the polarity is reversed. Horn should not be affected - possibly the fuse has blown.
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:56 pm
by timetraveller
hi
again this seems to be a bit of a problem of half information
ive followed someones technical info on converting my car to negative earth but there is no mention of 'MUST' resetting the points on the distributor and fuel pump and i also suppose the heater fan will be running backwards as well...
so how do i clean/dress and reset the points
thanks
neil
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:27 am
by Declan_Burns
Neil,
If you have the later style heater you should reverse the polarity. This is a cross flow fan with inclined blades and has an arrow on the impeller (difficult to see when the heater is in the car) showing the direction of rotation which is clockwise when looking at the fan inlet. This is often forgotten and changing polarity changes the direction of rotation on a dc motor.[frame]

[/frame]
Regards
Declan
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:58 am
by timetraveller
Declan_Burns wrote:Neil,
If you have the later style heater you should reverse the polarity. This is a cross flow fan with inclined blades and has an arrow on the impeller (difficult to see when the heater is in the car) showing the direction of rotation which is clockwise when looking at the fan inlet. This is often forgotten and changing polarity changes the direction of rotation on a dc motor.
Regards
Declan
hi declan
yes its a later heater as its a 71 traveller
i read in another post to stick a bit of tissue paper over the demister vent and turn the heater on
obviously if it sucks the tissue in then its going backwards.
ill have a look tommorow and see if i can find the terminals to reverse the polarity if needed
thanks
neil
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 12:08 pm
by Declan_Burns
Neil,
I have my doubts on the trick with the tissue but by all means try. I would think it would still blow out the air -just not as efficient as when the direction of rotation is correct and could be noisier.
Regards
Declan
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 12:18 pm
by timetraveller
someone elses tip not mine obviously its not gonna suck like a hoover but it worked for someone so its worth a try

Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 12:30 pm
by bmcecosse
I believe you followed the 'tech tips' - which are sadly lacking in many ways...........
Don't bother with the points - if you want to break down a few miles down the road..........
The heater fan will NOT run backwards! And neither does the wiper motor! Both the field and the comm are reversed when polarity is changed - and by dint of Mr Fleming's Left Hand Rule - the motor runs SAME direction! Only a motor with permanent magnet field would run backwards on polarity swap.
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 12:55 pm
by timetraveller
bmcecosse wrote:I believe you followed the 'tech tips' - which are sadly lacking in many ways...........
Don't bother with the points - if you want to break down a few miles down the road..........
The heater fan will NOT run backwards! And neither does the wiper motor! Both the field and the comm are reversed when polarity is changed - and by dint of Mr Fleming's Left Hand Rule - the motor runs SAME direction! Only a motor with permanent magnet field would run backwards on polarity swap.
around five posts ago bmccosse posted that i MUST clean,dress and reset the fuel and dizzy points...........now dont bother???
declan burns says the polarity on the heater needs reversing so the fan runs the correct way
bmcecosse says that it doesnt
im losing the will to live:o
neil

Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:46 pm
by Declan_Burns
BMC is right-I have just bench tested the heater and it rotates anticlockwise no matter what the polarity. In other words it turns in the opposite direction to the arrow!
Sorry my mistake.
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:49 pm
by MColes
I'm sure I read somewhere that the earlier round heaters rotated the opposite way when the polarity was changed, so unless I'm also mistaken you were partly right

Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 2:14 pm
by PSL184
BMC was being a little sarcastic - He says "Don't bother cleaning them if you want to break down" The problem with the points in both the fuel pump and distributer is that they work a pip and a dip onto the cotact faces and when you reverse the polarity the pip and dip will try to form on the oppposite faces to before so problems can occurr unless they are dressed back flat or replaced.
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:50 pm
by timetraveller
PSL184 wrote:BMC was being a little sarcastic - He says "Don't bother cleaning them if you want to break down" The problem with the points in both the fuel pump and distributer is that they work a pip and a dip onto the cotact faces and when you reverse the polarity the pip and dip will try to form on the oppposite faces to before so problems can occurr unless they are dressed back flat or replaced.
now thats understandable.....thanks for that
i know bmc is in scotland and its all good and well being knowledgable about minors
but im pretty sure they still speak english up there
thanks
neil
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:40 pm
by MarkyB
This is a forum, on the internet.
What you read here, as elsewhere, is peoples opinions. What they are based on is anyone's guess, it may be experience, received wisdom or religious belief.
Nobody here, or elsewhere, knows everything, including me.
If you treat everything as an hypothesis you shouldn't go far wrong.
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:57 pm
by timetraveller
beautifully put
thanks
neil
ps.post closed as fuel pump sorted and horn working again
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 8:23 pm
by bmcecosse
Unfortunately - you don't seem to understand it Neil.........
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 9:13 pm
by mike.perry
Information on this website is given in good faith and whilst every effort is made to check its accuracy no liability can be accepted for loss or damage from use or misuse of aforementioned information.
Circular (fug stirrer) heaters still turn in the same direction when changing the polarity but the rheostat switch is less prone to corrosion on neg earth. Something to do with electrolitic action.
Re: negative earth conversion problem
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:47 pm
by bmcecosse
" i know bmc is in scotland and its all good and well being knowledgable about minors
but im pretty sure they still speak english up there "
I try not to get 'personal' on the Forum Neil . Hopefully you can do the same ? You may have some grudge/dislike of Scotland or Scottish people - please keep it to yourself.
Thanks Roy