One for the Sparky’s. Why Negative Earth

[Millcourt]

Getting further off topic...... and showing my age....... I remember “crash” gears and learning to double-declutch before my first summer job driving a delivery truck!

 

[andy63]

He had a 50/50 chance of getting the direction right and unfortunately got it wrong.

But did he get it wrong..
Could you not look on current flow as the movement of holes..which would be in the opposite direction to electrons..
Just saying
Andy

 

[Rapido925M]

Long hills?

I remember coming out of the pantomime in Newcastle to heavy snow. Dad got us into the Ford Popular and off we went south. Coming out of Gateshead the wipers got slower and slower resulting in a build up of snow which made them go even slower. Eventually he solved the problem by removing his tie, fastening it round the stem of a wiper and passing the ends through the quarter-lights. Him & Mum pulled the wipers backwards and forwards most of the way home!

Gordon

 

[David and Sally]

The Ford Pop wipers worked on vacuum. Depended on throttle opening so varied in speed.

 

[Clarky]

Getting further off topic...... and showing my age....... I remember “crash” gears and learning to double-declutch before my first summer job driving a delivery truck!

......and me. Drove a delivery truck with crash gears for a year or so. No heater in it either so frozen feet in winter. By ‘eck, we were 'ard in them days.

The Ford Pop wipers worked on vacuum. Depended on throttle opening so varied in speed.

Wipers went bonkers going down hill and going uphill, with a three speed box and no power, meant foot to the floor all the way so they stopped.

Happy days........I think!

Richard.

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[Gromett]

But did he get it wrong..
Could you not look on current flow as the movement of holes..which would be in the opposite direction to electrons..
Just saying
Andy

The holes don't actually move, they just look like they do. It is the electrons moving that give the appears of holes moving.

 

[icantremember]

Getting further off topic...... and showing my age....... I remember “crash” gears and learning to double-declutch before my first summer job driving a delivery truck!

In my early years I had cars with no syncro on 1st gear and I passed my HGV on a crash box Dennis fire appliance.

 

[The Wino]

I bet the windscreen wipers keep slowing down!

My dad's car they used to stop going uphill I think they worked off the vacuum system.

 

[icantremember]

My dad's car they used to stop going uphill I think they worked off the vacuum system.

Correct

 

[ambulancekidd]

On my dads car the radio was fitted on a wooden block. The rest of the car was positive earth. It was probably looking back a bit dodgy!
Makes me wonder if we ought to have swapped to the other side of the road like Sweden in the past. It would sure make motorhomes cheaper.

Ireland have been talking about changing to driving on the right for a while now, apparently they are going to do a trial system whereby the busses & trucks will try it for 6 months.

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[Ingwe]

I don't know the answer to the OP's question even though I think my granddad was a spark!

 

[Spriddler]

The Ford Pop wipers worked on vacuum. Depended on throttle opening so varied in speed.

The wipers on my VW Beetle were powered by air pressure via a hose from the spare tyre valve.

 

[mitzimad]

I maintain an old cricket roller machine that uses a 10HP Ford sidevalve engine as used in Ford Prefects and Pops.
Positive earth (6 Volts)
Points and Condensor
No oil pump
No fuel pump
No alternator
No water pump

Try that in a modern car .

Battery terminals gain a coating very quickly and have to be cleaned off or current becomes poor and body contact for positive earth does corrode quickly.

It also does my brain in when fixing it to remember to work backwards electrically speaking.

there will be an oil pump

 

[Jev88]

there will be an oil pump

Okay then. Where would it be????????

 

[Ingwe]

The wipers on my VW Beetle were powered by air pressure via a hose from the spare tyre valve.

On my 1968 6 volt Beetle 1200, it wasn't the wipers that were powered by the spare tyre air pressure but the screen washer. The spare was in the front boot.
Happy days!

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[68c]

With old cars with heavy chassis positive earth meant the thick metal would corrode, modern monocoque bodies use negative earth, rather than rot out out the body we let the replaceable and heavier components cirrode.

 

[Spriddler]

On my 1968 6 volt Beetle 1200, it wasn't the wipers that were powered by the spare tyre air pressure but the screen washer. The spare was in the front boot.
Happy days!

You're quite, memory fade. It was a log time ago .

 

[Nasher]

Makes me wonder if we ought to have swapped to the other side of the road like Sweden in the past. It would sure make motorhomes cheaper.

When I visited Sweden on a trip we were told by the guide that the Swedish government held a referendum about changing to driving on the right.
The vote came in a resounding no but they did it anyway.

The difference between the UK & Sweden was that Sweden had Left Hand Drive cars & originally drove on the Left - it was a sensible decision, for them, to change over to driving on the right

 

[mitzimad]

Okay then. Where would it be????????

in the sump

 

[Dorset Diver]

Ireland have been talking about changing to driving on the right for a while now, apparently they are going to do a trial system whereby the busses & trucks will try it for 6 months.

The old ones are always reliable

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[RobL]

Don’t know why this popped into my head.

Why do we use negative instead of positive earth?
I seem to remember way back when fuel was less than 50p a gallon yes that far back, that some vehicles were positive earth.

Back on topic. It's to better protect the frame of a vehicle from corrosion(electrolysis)

 

[The Wino]

Back on topic. It's to better protect the frame of a vehicle from corrosion(electrolysis)

Hmmm. I thought that sounded like a good reason but when I looked it up opinions vary a lot say as it's not grounded to earth it makes little if any difference to corrosion and it was due to the advent of alternators with silicon diodes.

 

[Raul]

Nothing to do with galvanic corrosion. Boats have to isolate power for the galvanic corrosion, only when hooked on shore power via isolation transformer. This is because the shore supplied earth. Auto vehicles don’t have earth supply, it’s a negative bonding ( grounding). This enables the chassis to serve as one conductor and save vast amounts of wire, and the rest is run by second wire to form various circuits. It will perfectly work if is positive ground, or as negative ground.

 

[tonyidle]

As Raul says. If you research it there are many suggestions but no consensus. I suspect it was down to individual designers and their prejudices.

 

[Sapper520]

Many moons ago my younger brother asked me to wire in a radio cassette for him.

No problem I said.........I didn’t know Triumph Toledo’s were Positive Earth!

That plastic coating around his wires melted pretty fast.

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[Jev88]

in the sumpView attachment 445982

Okay, But still no oil filter.........

 

[matt34]

Many moons ago my younger brother asked me to wire in a radio cassette for him.

No problem I said.........I didn’t know Triumph Toledo’s were Positive Earth!

That plastic coating around his wires melted pretty fast.

i did the same