Polarizing the generator

Rudolph

Rudolph

Senior Member
I have a question about polarizing the generator, I polarized it by connecting the field and bat terminals with a jumper and it worked and it is charging ok, but I was reading I should disconnect the field cable at the regulator and touch it to the BAT terminal. witch way is best?




I have one of those blue 12 regulators from MACS
 
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Hi there, the second way you described is better. Always best to have the field wire disconnected from the regulator when battery power is placed on that field wire. Saves any possible issues with the regulator. The better way to polarise a ford generator (on the car) is to have both the field wire and the armature wire disconnected from the voltage regulator and join or hold them together and place battery power on them for a second or two. You will get some current draw (spark) here. This method places battery power through the generator armature and field coils together. If you have the generator drive belt removed whilst doing this then the generator should motor / rotate. Regards, Kevin.
 
Magnetizing the pole shoes only takes about 1 to 2 seconds. A 6-volt battery develops enough DC current to magnetize them pretty well. You just have to be sure the polarity is correct for either positive or negative earth. in the case of the old Fords power would be from the negative terminal of the battery.
 
Thank you for the reply's, I will do it the other way next time, I won't use this car much at all so every time I want to drive it I will have to wip the battery out of my Volvo and re Polariz the system.
 
Hello Rudolph. Not sure if I understand what you mean about having to re-polarize; as long as you dont disconnect the wires from the generator or voltage regulator, you should not need to re-polarize. Just hook up the battery and fire away. Steve
 
Rudi, Steve has it right, once polarised, you can simply change battery in and out at your will; providing you always install it right way around.
 
The field pole shoes will lose there magnetism over time and you'll need that magnetism to get the generator to come on line. If you run the car regularly, say even one a month, it should keep enough magnetic gauss to come back on line. They tell you to flash the field every time you install a new battery but that is usually when the battery is dead as nails and has been going down hill for a while. Stuff like that can cause it to lose magnetism.
 
In my experience it takes a real Long time for the generator to lose its magnetism. Years and years, I've started up cars that have been dormant for years, they just need a clean of the points in the regulator box, and away they charge.
There is no need to repeatedly polarize your car in your scenario.
Just plonk the battery back on, and drive.
Martin.
 
Thank you all very much for the info, one less thing I have to worry about.

People talk about the regulator points getting burnt and stuck, can they be fixed?
 
Anything can be fixed, oftentimes cleaning them will sort you out, but need to fix the reason they burnt.
Martin.
 
Except for the cutout relay, the others in the regulator actually buzz, instead of pull and hold. If you change the setting, or file the contacts, it is likely that the regulator will have to be replaced or repaired. Special equipment and experience is necessary to set up the regulator correctly.
 
Supereal, do you have this equipment and experience? I'm in Iowa too and could use a look see on a car of mine.
 
I tried to polarize; because I read that any time you take the battery out (and I did)you have to do it.
I didn't know that;and when i started the motor and rev'd it, it went to discharge on the dash gauge!! (Before taking the battery out; charging was O.K.)
First I used a jumper wire from arm to batt, on the regulater; got the spark, started the car- and reved it a little: Still showed discharge on the dash gauge!! Then I read that Fords are different;and it said "on my 6 volt '50 Ford ;you polarize it by touching FIELD to BATT on the regulator," Then I did that;got the spark,started the motor and reved it a little and the gauge went to discharge when I reved the motor!!NEITHER OF THEM CORRECTEDTHE PROBLEM!!During the 2nd process; I even cleaned the field and batt wire ends; and those contacts on the regulator!!What is wrong!! It's driving me "Nucking Futts!!" HELP!!!
 
Three years ago I fired up a 54 Meteor (Canadian Ford) that was parked in 1966. Nobody had attempted to start it ever in that time.

When I got the engine running the charging system worked immediately, and I never had to polarize it. Even the regulator was trouble free for a few months, then I finally had to mess with it. Just recently put new brushes in the generator, and cleaned the points in the regulator. Works great.

Here is the video of me messing with the engine and getting it running:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXiEbqKFAR0
 
I've never polarized the system on my 52 Merc and as far as I can tell everything works fine. And this car sat in the woods (without a battery) for over 30 years. The ammeter shows it is charging once it comes off idle and the battery stays up. I disconnect it whenever the car is not being used.
 
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