Generator polarity

[1955fle]

'55 Fl completely stock I need to check/reverse the polarity of my generator. I know I read this somewhere on here but can't find how to do it. Help please. -Carl

[Cotten]

Carl!

Is it the original 3-brush generator?

...Cotten

[1955fle]

Cotten, sorry I should have mentioned that. Yes it is the original 3-brush generator. Can this be found in the manual? -Carl

[john HD]

carl

as a fellow 55 owner, let's see some pictures!

john

[panz4ever]

55fle, the manual says to "flash" the field coils by momentarily touching a jumper wire between "bat" terminal and "gen" terminal on the regulator.
Had an old mechanic that had me polarize the generator by momentarily touching a jumper wire between the relay side on the generator and the positive side of the battery. Always worked for me.

[beets]

There is no mention of polarizing in the original h-d book for the 3 brush gen.
I have had the gen. off and repaired several times with no polarization and it works good. Only 2 brush gens with a REGULATER need polarization.

[Skip]

I think ALL generators new to be polarized (A=armature to B=battery)to tell them to charge and not discharge...even if you disagree it will not hurt a thing to try it...and damn...it just may work........Skip

[panz4ever]

55fle, the manual on pg 193 says that whenever wires are removed from relay and/or generator, or if battery and/or generator have been removed it is advisable to flash the coils to ensure correct polarity. Doesn't say 2/3 brush, just says generator.
Pg 196 talks about fan-cooled 2 brush and says that polarity should be checked as referenced to "polarizing generator", standard generator. Pg 179/180 list the standard generator as the 32E 3 brush.
I would suggest doing it. The manual states it is "advisable". I would say that beets has had a run of good luck.

[Panacea]

Does having an electronic regulator make polarizing unnecessary? Mike

[panz4ever]

Mike...running an electric frank on my chopped 50. Still have the original mounting instructions. Says to flash the a side to the battery pos side momentarily to ensure correct polarity. I would assume this applies to the later electronic ones as well... Dave

[Cotten]

"E" in "32E" and "52E" stands for evil.

Two-brush regulated systems must be polarized religiously, as Beets pointed out.
A good friend wrote me up an explanation for three-brush units, but I think I buried it in a mason jar by the light of the full moon somewhere.

....Cotten

[Pantony]

<Desparately looking for Cottens Mason jar. No full moon, but have two 32E's, one spare one in the 48> Now tapping fingers on my chin just wondering what to do when i find the Mason jar, have two moons and no generators. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Puzzling!


Ok I got it, at that point in time I guess I would be dis-charged

[fourthgear]

I've taken the pos (+ ) wire off my batt. several times( even over night ) to see if my CE electronic reg. would require the Gen. to be re-polarized and it didn't make any diff. to the charging of the Batt. , the Gen. did not need to be re-polarized .
I don't know much about three brush Gens. , but isn't that third brush for out put adj. ? The Gen. will lose polarity over time if not used ,and need re-polarizing before reuse if using non electronic reg. and maybe even them if stored and not used for a long period of time, who knows .