Reversing polarity on 6v generator???

Got a Super C with original 6v system. Water pump froze up so while i had it all torn apart to fix the water pump , i also had the generator checked over at a local shop and they put in new bearings and checked everything else over inside. Got it back and put it on along with the new water pump and and runs great but when I look at the amp guage is shows that it is discharging. The wiring is kinda shoty havent tackled that project yet but my dad said that the polarity could be changed. If so, how is it done. I was thinking about doing that and see if it is the generator or if I need to come up with some new wiring. Thanks for the help.

You can Polarize a genny so it works at EITHER Pos or Neg ground.......Use a lil jumper wire to momentraily flash jump from the BAT terminal on a Cutout Relay or Voltage Regulator over to its ARM/GEN terminal or else jump from the BAT terminal (VR or Cutout) direct to the gennys ARM post. If a genny is at opposite polarity it can harm a Voltage Regulator so Polarize BEFORE start up...

Heres my Troubleshooting Procedure for non charging,,,,,

John T
John Ts Troubleshooting

Whom ever rebuilt it probubly hooked it up negetive ground to test it. Just polarize it for positive ground & it should be ok again.

John T: Thank you. I always learn something from your posts. I recently acquired a Farmall A, 6 volt, positive ground. The battery was very low - it turned over the engine but too slow to start. I got my battery charger/starter out and massive sparks seemed to indicate the battery was charged backwards. Is this possible? I disconnected the battery leads and got our my meter. The battery was charged backwards. The positive terminal was actually negative. What is the best way to correct this?

The battery is not charged backwards. It is connected in what is called positive ground. When you charge a battery, you always put the positive lead to the postive terminal and the negative lead to the negetive terminal. It does not matter which battery terminal is connected to the tractor frame. Be sure the charger is set to the correct voltage setting.
John T can correct or add to my reply.
Steve

Youre welcome, thanks for the kind words, Im glad to help when I can. I've learned a great deal here from Bob (the ex mayor) and Bob M and Jim (janicholson) and other gentlemen, and they may have even learned from me a time or two...

Im not sure just what happened, but can say if you hook a charger backwards to a battery (charger + to battery -) she will indeed pop n spark n raise the dickens..... It dont matter which battery post (+ or -) happens to be bonded to some huge hunk of iron (the tractor frame) they still connect to the charger + to + and - to - And a genny can work fine at EITHER Pos or Neg ground provided its properly polarized

I guess what Im saying is I cant be sure if the battery wasnt okay and you hooked the charger wrong or if something else was actually the case?

Nowwwwww if a battery is like dead it might be connected to a charger wrong and NOT spark so much as described above and if was left connected that way and a person wanted to start all over and wasnt sure what may have happened to that battery before..... I think I would place a small load on the battery like a headlight n let it burn out to completely discharge the battery and let it set a while and then hook it correctly to a charger and put it at on a slow charge rate n just let her cook a while n see how she recovers.

Thats my best shot not being there and not really knowing what may have happened.


Whatever you do Id re polarize the genny before you crank her up

John T

Im kind of like you, we cant sittin here know if he hooked the charger right or not??? I think Id slow discharge it let it rest n then re charge, it may be fine and may already be fine, who knows

John T

Thanks folks. Yes, I hooked positive to positive post and negative to negative post. Lots of sparks. I took my old, big battery charger and left it cook on the battery to try to reverse the direction. It seems to have worked according to my meter. I wasn't worried about wrecking the battery because I am going to change the whole setup to 12 volt negative ground with an alternator anyway. My original question was because I had never seen a battery charged wrong before. Thanks for the comments.