The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Polarizing Generator - 6 volt 216 6L

Which leads on regulator do I link to accomplish this?

I understand I can also accomplish by touching power lead to generator. The generator has to leads, one on "top" that looks like it has a condenser hooked to it and one on the side. Which lead should I use.

Thanks!

Use a short jumper wire and connect the BAT terminal of the regulator to the ARM terminal momentarily, like 1/2 second or so. There will be a pretty healthy arc- - -that's normal, nothing to worry about. There is no need to disconnect any wiring, just run a surge of current through the armature to ground to establish "residual magnetism" in the generator of the right polarity.
Jerry

Thanks

I am in the same boat as I need to bolt-in a rebuilt generator and polarize it. I just want to confirm what I have read here and what Brad has pictured, as I do not want to fry anything unnecessarily! Do I understand correctly that the short jumper wire runs from the battery (BAT) terminal of the regulator to the generator (GEN) terminal of the regulator via a short jumper wire? And hold the connection for just a moment as the surge/arc appears? Sounds simple enough if this is all that is involved. Thanks.

LUKE

Yep, you've got it. The shade tree method is to use a screwdriver blade to short the BAT and ARM (GEN) terminals together momentarily, but a jumper wire just looks a little more professional! Don't connect the BAT terminal to the FLD- - - -it won't really hurt anything, but it also won't polarize. Generators are pretty idiot-proof- - -no diodes or other solid state components to fry!
Jerry

Jerry-

Thanks for putting me at ease.

On a related note, I am wondering about the original fasteners used with these generators. Mine currently are black, and one of the bolts uses a Marsden nut. Do you know if this is correct? I was thinking about going to a new set of stainless-steel fasteners, but want to maintain an original look. Your thoughts?

Thanks.

LUKE

I believe the Marsden-type locknut is original equipment, so the pivot bolts could be left loose enough for belt adjustments to be made without loosening the lower hardware, but it's been a LONG time since I've worked on anything with the factory setup still intact. If you use stainless fasteners be sure to lube them with something designed to prevent galling of the threads. Dry stainless bolts and nuts have a tendency to pressure-weld themselves together and be impossible to disassemble.
Jerry