[Farmall] IH240U Charging Problem

[Jim Jacoby]

Hi,
I've been lurking on this list for a year or so, since I got my IH240.
According to the serial number list on tractordata.com, its a 1959 model.
I've been using it to bush-hog a couple of fields and, this year, to snow
plow the driveway. Its been very dependable.

Tonight, while plowing, the lights started dimming, so I turned around and
headed for home. I almost made it before it sputtered and died (but I did
get close enough to reach with a long extension cord for the battery charger
at least). I charged the battery, she fired right up, but now she's sitting
in her parking spot waiting for me to figure out what went wrong.

Battery is less than 6 months old. Since I replaced it, I've had no
charging-related problems, and she always fires right up (as long as I
remember to turn the fuel valve on).

I live about 30 miles SW of Madison, WI, and for the last two weeks we've
gotten snow every couple of days, so I've been doing a fair amount of
plowing, at night, with lights on.

I am fairly clueless on the details of the charging system on this tractor,
even after reading through the IH PM and I&T manuals that I have and doing
some web searches, so I am hoping that someone on this list who has more
experience than I can point me in the right direction.

Is it likely that I was just using more power than the generator could put
out, with the extended lights-on plowing?

Is it likely that this tractor has a 3-brush generator? If so, what switch
position (number of "clicks") puts it in high output mode? Is there anyway
to tell (other than pulling the generator apart) what type of generator it
is?

How, in general, so I diagnose the problem if its not one of the two "easy"
ones above?

Thanks everyone,
Jim
-- 
Jim Jacoby
jljacoby at gmail.com