Thread: Positive Ground
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Old 11-09-2021, 10:22 AM   #4
rotorwrench
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Default Re: Positive Ground

The model T didn't need much for a battery and folks didn't drive at night as much as they did with later cars that were better equipped and ran faster on the crude roads of the time. Some folks even run there Ts on 12-volts. The old 3-brush generator would have a hard time charging any battery but the starter and the coils will work on 12-volt. The magneto on the T likely put out more than 12-volts anyway.

Ford's electrical system was taxed more on the model A when they decided to use a battery type ignition. Coupled with this and a full complement of lights, they needed all the help they could get to keep the system reliable. A positive ground system follows the natural flow of electrons so it makes the system more efficient. Ford kept it this way till 1956 when they changed to 12-volt systems. 12-volt systems have twice the voltage so the efficiency level of the current flow was no longer relevant by that change. Modern designers were all using negative ground and more electrical accessories were becoming polarity sensitive so they went the normal way of the industry at the time and changed to negative ground.
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