You can get a "side marker light", with a #194 bulb in it, and wire it in series with the wire to the #1 terminal on the alternator. You can hide it under the hood, out of sight, if you want. The filament resistance of this bulb will limit the backfeed of current to a level that will not operate the ignition, so the tractor will shut off, as it's supposed to. The original design of this alternator was for use with an "idiot light" that serves the same function in the excite circuit. If you want use a diode, go to a place like Radio Shack, and get a 2.5 Amp 1000 PIV diode, and connect it into the excite line. (Will cost between $.50 and $2.00.) This diode will be a little black plastic cylinder, with a white band at one end. The white band is the CATHODE, and the lead from this end of the diode goes TO the #1 alternator terminal. By the specs of this diode, it should be more than adequate, but after an odd failure or two, for years, I have used two of them in parallel. Put them side by side, with the white bands at them same end, twist the leads together, connect them into the "excite" wire with a couple of crimp "butt" connectors, on cover with a length of heat shrink. I've had NO failures using this method. Also, a local automotive electrical shop should have available a connector that fits the alternator with pigtails attached, with the diode already in place, just for these conversions.
|