Electric

charles4d

 Okay all you guys in Hudson world.

 Why did Hudson use positive ground instead of

negative.

 What was the good points and bad ones.

             Thanks Charles  

Jon B

To my knowledge they used it because they used the AutoLite system which was pos. ground.  I believe Ford and Chrysler used AutoLite and were also pos. ground....as well as a number of "independent" makes.  Not sure there were "good" or "bad" points.

Kdancy

Studebaker used it until going to 12v in late 55.

Geoff

To answer your question specifically - the reason that positive ground was pretty well universally adopted was to stop insulation decay of the wiring.   In earlier days the insulation around electrical cables was largely cotton and rubber based, and  over a period of time the insulation  would be eaten away by  electrolytic action, that is electrons leaching through the wiring,  causing the   insulation to break down.  Apparently Henry Ford was one of  the first to discover that if the batteries were connected positive to ground, the insulation lasted a lot longer.  With the eventual development of plastic insulation this was no longer a problem and with modern electronics of course it makes eminent sense to have negative ground.   however, if you have an original Hudson  from the 1930's to 1950's these were all positive ground, and you must leave them that way, because the original voltage regulators have dis-similar metals in the vibrating points of the voltage regulator, and if you connect them the wrong round the points will burn  out prematurely.   Also your radio is of course polarity sensitive, but I know nothing about valve (vacuum tube)  technology, apart from that if  it glows dimly  it probably works, if it does not glow it does not work, and if it glows brightly it is not going to work for very long!   I hope this throws a little light on the subject for you.

Geoff 

bob ward

Thanks Geoff, that is another of life's minor mysteries solved.

charles4d

 Yes thank you 

dwardo99

I never heard that but it sounds plausible. I know every British car and motorcycle I have ever encountered up through the 70s has positive ground. Or, "earth" as they call it.