Positive earth

[Chet T16]

Explain it to me, please.

[Luke1916v]

Theres a fault somewhere where your phase has come into contact with your earth.

[Chet T16]

I mean in older cars that are actually "positive earth"

[R1916S]

The + is connected to the chassis.

The - is connected to the wiring.

Its the other way round.

If you want to change it you have to -flash- the dynamo with a battery to reverse the polarity ?? :-) :-(

[Chet T16]

Is there any advantage to it? Or why was it used?

[R1916S]

Its the same thing really.

Chassis is massive and wiring thin.

House wiring has a out and return wire but as its AC it goes back and forth.

Also you will get a bad return through bricks. Or fiberglass - carbon fiber ect which have to use return wiring.

Must be down to the standard that won.

[Chris H]

they also reckone dit would help fight corrosion, boats still use that principle today.

reflashing dynamos with the Field terminal is showing your age R1916S

Big issue these days is batteries that fit originals without shorting out on the clamps.

The old twin 6 volt batteries and so on, the good old days

[sparky33]

Some would say that positive earth actually speeds up corrosion. The main problem with positive earth is the risk of electric shock as the body is effectively "live"

[derv]

Originally Posted by sparky33

Some would say that positive earth actually speeds up corrosion. The main problem with positive earth is the risk of electric shock as the body is effectively "live"

yeah my mate found that one out when he tried to wire a modern head unit into his morris 1100!

[sparky33]

Lmao