I had a European educated engineer tell me that the reason auto manufacturers changed from positive ground electrical systems to negative ground systems was that it was found that positive ground systems enhanced corrosion of the vehicles. Does that make any sense?????? Dexter
Could have been Prof. Lucas........he invented the short circuit.
BG
AFAIK, positive ground was considered to REDUCE the risk of galvanic corrosion. Old British cars, prior to about 1970, had positive ground 12V systems, and they were not, as a class, badly rust-prone.
British manufacturers, reluctantly, moved over to negative ground, to be consistent with the rest of the world.
Gord Richmond
Lucas company motto "Lucas - releasing smoke from wires for more than fifty years."
Freddy
Lucas- The Prince of Darkness
Do you know why Brits drink warm beer? Lucas makes refrigerators too.
Well, since my derusting tank takes the rust from the part and deposits it on the positive anode, that makes since. A little salty water on the would draw rust to the positive frame.
Michael - Roseland FL wrote:
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were not, as
Gord can you tell me why they did also not move to driving on the right side of the road,if they wanted to be consistent with the rest of the world ??
Lansing
To e-mail me remove the X from my E - address...
A while back someone was selling a vintage Lucas service part on ebay, offical Lucas replacement smoke!
Jeff DeWitt
Tom Adk>
were not, as
I thought that there was something about negative ground that made the ignition system work better, which makes sense (still remembers my dad "fondly" remembering having to use a hair drier to get my mom's old Triumph started... Also him cussing at having to rebuild the Dunlop calipers, which should be familiar to this group...) I too remember being told that positive ground was actually better from a galvanic corrosion prevention standpoint.
nate
It's easy... Electrons flow from a point of excess electrons (-) to a point deficient of electrons (+).
JT
Funny you should say that, Jeff.
I worked on a friend's 78 Triumph Spitfire today. It had been cutting out on him. I took it for a short drive, and then idled it in the driveway while checking the wiring. The primary wire from the coil attaches to a push-on connector on the side of the distributor, and that connector was TOO HOT to touch. All I can figure is the smoke was trying to get out.
And the ground braid from the breaker plate to the distributor body was broken, too, which probably explains the cutting out.
I brought the distributor home with me, and will go through it on the bench. Primary terminal will get an upgrade!
Gord Richmond
Because Britain is an island, and they saw no need? And it would obsolete all their taxis, and buses, for that matter, too.
Gord Richmond
their taxis,
SAE history, GM dictates, SAE complies, circa 1954/1955. read SAE history, GM funded, GM staffed, a real monopoly.
their taxis,
Sweden also used to drive on the wrong side but change that maybe 20-30 years ago...
JT
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