6V Battery Connection Help!

[Tak28Tudor]

Vehicle: 1948 F1 Flathead V8

I am the new owner of a 1948 F1 truck. I have noticed that the Battery Gauge reads "Discharge" when the truck is driven. The truck has original style generator and i'm constantly having to charge the battery and the truck lacks power when given more than 3/4 throttle. However, I have discovered that the 6V battery has been connected with Negative Ground. Someone connected the battery cables backwards (from OEM). Could the polarity be incorrect on the generator which has resulted in "discharging" instead of charging and could the coil be not providing full capacity too? My thought was to change the battery cable back to Positive Ground and see if that fixes the problem. There are no aftermarket add-ons.

Thanks for the guidance!
Brent

 

[marko39]

After changing back to positive ground you should polarize the generator.

 

[19Fordy]

Tak28: Try doing a Fordbarn SEARCH and info like the following appears:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=250733&highlight=polarize+regulator

 

[Bob C]

With the battery installed backwards the ammeter will read backwards also.

 

[Alaska Jim]

once the cables have been installed correctly ( pos. ground, and the regulator /generator properly polarized ) , with the vehicle not running, check the battery voltage with a hand held volt meter. a fully charged 6 volt battery should read a little over 6 volts. then start the vehicle and check the voltage at the battery. you will need the have the engine revved up a little above an idle. If the generator and voltage regulator are working correctly it should be reading close to 7 volts or just a little above. if not you have a generator, or regulator problem if the battery still needs to be constantly charged.