1984 Work Horse GT-1600 REFRESH

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

@Lee1977

 

15 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

LEDs need DC, but I have seen some PAR 36 LED headlamps that are labeled "AC or DC" .

So with what you said, and what is stated above, how would you wire the lights… the way the electrical diagram shows, or the way the PO has them ?…

I am going with LED’s.

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

1 hour ago, Lee1977 said:

The engines with the diode are low amp output. The lights will burn brighter at high RPM.  WH set it up that was to isolate the lights from the battery. My guess the PO switch it to get more light.

 

Thanks Lee, I think I recall something like 3.5 Amps on these models?

 

And if you accidentally leave the lights on, the battery won't drain because the diode is blocking the current flow.

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

14 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

I am going with LED’s.

 

I think if you're going with LED that you almost have to wire the way PO did.  I think they'll still work, and not be damaged by the AC but they will almost certainly flicker.  They may still flicker some even wired to the battery given that the battery is being charged by a pulsating voltage, but might not be that noticeable.

 

And make sure you turn them off!  

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[ebinmaine 67,593]

10 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

you DO have to wire the way PO did

 

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

2 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

if you accidentally leave the lights on, the battery won't drain because the diode is blocking the current flow.

And this is if it’s wire according to diagram?… which would be on the AC side , right ?

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

2 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

And this is if it’s wire according to diagram?… which would be on the AC side , right ?

 

Affirmative.

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

9 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

going with LED’s.

 

I took a look see at my LED head lamps and they are labeled AC/DC so they will work on either, but the flicker would still be a problem with the limited output of the stator on your engine, and the RPMs will change the FREQUENCY of the flicker.

 

 

MANY of the ones I see on Amazon are also AC/DC.

 

[rjg854 11,378]

Also be sure they are grounded properly.

[ebinmaine 67,593]

32 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

Also be sure they are grounded properly.

 

 

 

 

It would behoove you to run a ground wire right straight to the battery for those lights or any lights. 

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

18 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Okay… I’m getting a little confused, especially without having the electrical schematic and wiring harness on hand.

 

So I think I said the wire for the headlights were wired to (A) accessories on the key switch. So if this is true, that would be fine and the light switch would turn on the lights when the key is in the “on” position, right ?

 

General Question:

And what current runs to the key switch ?

AC or DC, according to the factory wiring, and does it have to be one or the other to avoid damage?

I would think DC .

 

And with what I stated here in this post, with good ground wire, it should not flicker,

right ?

[rjg854 11,378]

Correct

[Handy Don 12,235]

12 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

Okay… I’m getting a little confused, especially without having the electrical schematic and wiring harness on hand.

 

So I think I said the wire for the headlights were wired to (A) accessories on the key switch. So if this is true, that would be fine and the light switch would turn on the lights when the key is in the “on” position, right ?

 

General Question:

And what current runs to the key switch ?

AC or DC, according to the factory wiring, and does it have to be one or the other to avoid damage?

I would think DC .

 

And with what I stated here in this post, with good ground wire, it should not flicker,

right ?

The ignition switches on tractors with batteries always have DC. Some engines use AC to separately power lights only so it would be AC at the light switch.

These ignition switches must have DC. If it was AC on a points tractor, it would ruin the coil and an electric starter would not run correctly.

 

Flicker in incandescent lighting comes from having AC at a low enough frequency that your eye can catch it or from intermittent connections. For LEDs, which are intended for DC only, they flicker on AC since they light only half the time!

Edited January 20, 2022 by Handy Don

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

Thank you @Handy Don

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

3 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

So if this is true, that would be fine and the light switch would turn on the lights when the key is in the “on” position, right ?

 

Yes, true.

 

Quote

And what current runs to the key switch ?

 

Battery voltage goes to the  B terminal on the key switch.

The white wire going to the R terminal is also an 'input' to the system, and when the engine is running, that's what charges the battery.

 

Quote

AC or DC, according to the factory wiring, and does it have to be one or the other to avoid damage?

I would think DC .

 

You don't want to try and charge the battery with AC !  So yes, DC it is.

 

Quote

 

And with what I stated here in this post, with good ground wire, it should not flicker,

right ?

 

If you wire the LED lights to the AC output you will almost certainly see flicker, especially at low engine RPM where the frequency of the AC is slower.

In this case, the flicker is NOT caused by any sort of grounding issue.  

 

If you wire the lights to the "A" terminal they will be operating on DC from the battery and you may not notice much flicker at all.

 

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

Want to give a big THANK YOU to @Jeff-C175 !

I was needing some help with the wiring on the Work Horse and he really came through !  
He sent me a Parts and Service Manual, as well as a color coded wiring diagram.

So in my typical, not quite, but almost anal fashion; I had to go to OfficeMax and print it off, put the pages in sheet protectors, and put it in a binder.

Thanks again  Jeff !… so now it’s time to take the wiring harness back out, make a few changes as far as wiring in for tail lights, and rerouting the harness as it shows in the manual.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Horse Newbie

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

54 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

Thanks agin Jeff !…

 

You're welcome!  But all I did was look it up in the manuals section and post the link!  

 

For future reference, here's the link to the main page of the 'files' section:

 

https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/

 

 

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

Yeah I tried looking it up… probably just didn’t look in the right place.

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

A couple of pages back @kpinnc suggested I use spacers on my bolts to get the ball joints on my tie rod ends up off of my spindle arms… so I did .

Here’s some pics. Thanks Kevin !

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

Set the toe-in by eyeballing it… should be fine…

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

Replaced a few spade connectors … I have to call it the female side because I don’t know the real name of it.

Came off the accessories terminal on the switch, split the wire to one wire for a future hour meter, and the other to the light switch. Came off light switch and split that wire… one for LED headlights and one for LED tail lights . I guess since the Work Horses did not have tail lights that will be an upgrade.

Got most of the wiring harness put back in.

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Horse Newbie

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

Has anyone else encountered the safety switch on the clutch pedal fitting loosely in its hole ?

I looks like it still works fine fitting loosely, but I may try to make a sheet metal clip to slide down the body of the switch to hold it tight in place.

 

I tried a zip tie , but that didn’t hold it tight and I would rather have a more permanent fix .

[kpinnc 12,083]

1 hour ago, Horse Newbie said:

A couple of pages back @kpinnc suggested I use spacers on my bolts to get the ball joints on my tie rod ends up off of my spindle arms… so I did .

Here’s some pics. Thanks Kevin !

 

That looks great! 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

1 hour ago, Horse Newbie said:

didn’t look in the right place

 

You might have been.  That one was all the way on the last page ( 11 ) of

 

 

after I 'sorted' by "TITLE"

 

 

Because all the "Tractor" manuals have titles like this, so it sorts them by year:

 

 

So sorting by title ends up ordering them by YEAR.

 

 

 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

I think you should have jam nuts at both ends of the tie rods.  If you don't you'll end up wearing out the threads.

 

 

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

Anybody used these for headlights ?