Battery

[Old school frank]

Can someone guide me around the site to find the answer or answer it directly. Sorry not to computer savvy .
The battery on my 62 cub low boy my have had a used battery installed backwards . Not correctly buy utilizing positive ground. Noticed this after I tried to start it the negative smoked a little and sparked. I then Charged the battery. Installed it positive ground. It cranked 30 seconds . The negative connetor smoked and crackled a second or two. Then would not crank at all .
Maybe killed the battery . But why would negative crackly and smoke . Thinking its now hooked up correctly with positive ground . Did i fry somthing by starting it . With in correct hook up but why the secound time.Appreciate help.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Assuming it is still 6 volt, positive ground is correct. Sounds like you need to clean and tighten or maybe replace the cables or connections.

[Old school frank]

Thank you . Read somewhere I could have fried regulator.. You don't think that could have happened ? ill get a new battery . This looks old clean up as you say. Just don't understand sparking and a little smoke thanks on negative side.thanks again. Frank

[lazyuniondriver]

Sounds like you need to clean and tighten or maybe replace the cables or connections.

Smoke and fire come from current trying to jump a gap, like a spark plug.

In this case, the gap is at your battery connection.

Your starter knows no polarity so no matter how it is hooked to the battery, it will crank the tractor.

Your charging system may have taken a hit on the cross connection. That you will determine when you get it running.

If you are going to keep the tractor and use it at least once in a while, I would invest in a new battery for certain, and cables if necessary.

[Old school frank]

Thank you makes good sense . Thought I may have fried something like the regulator . Kno mechanics not good with electric system . Sat. I'll get a new battery thanks again frank.

[Gary Dotson]

Frank, I doubt that you damaged anything, but when you install the new battery, you will need to polarize the generator to the proper polarity. I would examine your battery cables very closely, especially the battery end clamps. You may have a battery with an open circuit at the neg. post.

[cubguy47]

but when you install the new battery, you will need to polarize the generator to the proper polarity.

Just adding to what Gary said:

One way to do this is to take a short jumper wire and touch it to the "Batt" and "Gen" terminals on the voltage regulator. You should see a spark upon contact. That shows you the process is done.

[Buzzard Wing]

One thing to look at is the wire going to the distributor from the coil, the marking on the coil should be the same polarity as the ground of the tractor. So '-' for negative ground (usually 12v) and '+' for positive ground (6v).

As was said, the arcs are the electricity trying to get where it belongs.... clean up the battery/terminals with a battery tool and make very sure the ground is a good one. Good connections (terminals, bolts etc) are key.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

The sparking and smoke is from a poor connection. When you pull the starter rod it is trying to pull approx 100 to 150 amps to crank the tractor. If it does not have a good connection that connection will smoke, get hot, and sometimes spark. As an additional thought, if you have a hand crank make sure you can turn the engine by hand. Sometimes the starter will lock, binding in the ring gear and makes these problems worse than normal.

[Old school frank]

John *.?-!.* cub owner wrote:
Sounds like you need to clean and tighten or maybe replace the cables or connections. "
Thanks for all the sound advice . Tomorrow Saturday will get to work on it . I'll get those connections cleaned and tightened first . Then go from there . Incorporating all the steps as I go. From all who answered . With in those answers I'm confident the problem will be resolved. Thanks again for the support frank

[Barnyard]

Good luck with it Frank! I'm sure you will get it solved.