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Old 09-01-2010, 08:09 PM   #16
Tom Wesenberg
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Mpls, MN
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Default Re: Battery Polarity HELP

Quote:
Originally Posted by cardoza View Post
Thanks for the input once more! here there are some results: with positive to ground,

The cranking of the motor felt different and the car started sooner (go figure), the cranking seems smooth and less noisy!!!

I did not ground the generator, however it was entirely disconnected and I hope it did not get damaged, because there is not excitation current going to it ..
I do have the can type regulator and will try to re-polarize for a quick test

(of course if the generator have magnets inside then I'll say it is fried)...
2 points to make:

1. You say you have the can type regulator. Are you calling the stock cutout a regulator, or do you know for a fact that you have a can type regulator made by John Regan?

2. You don't need to have the wire connected to excite the generator. The residual magnetism is what excites the generator and running it without being connected to the battery can make it put out up to 40 volts and it will fry itself if run for very long this way. I only run it this way for a few seconds to show people how many volts it can put out when disconnected from the battery.

Sometimes the generator can loose it residual magnetism if it has sat idle for a long period of time. Simply supply battery voltage to the output stud to remagnetize the generator. The easiest way to do this is to use a short wire to jump the 2 cutout terminals for 1 or 2 seconds.

If you have one of John Regan's can type regulators, he says DO NOT polarize by jumping across the 2 terminals. In that case, I'd remove the regulator and touch battery voltage to the generator output stud for 1 or 2 seconds, then reinstall the regulator. This way there would be no chance of burning out the regulator.
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