Polarizing the Generator?

[Dal's Dream Car]

OK..I would love to put this one to bed. I have done internet search after search trying to find STEP BY STEP directions on polarizing the gen on my 29 Tudor Sedan. I think I need pictures because I'm not confident of which terminals are which from the text I'm reading. Also can't tell if the vehicle should be on or off. Will the lights and horn NOT operate if the generator is NOT polaraized?? This is where I am at. Any help would be great!

[FL&WVMIKE]

Dal's Dream Car .....................
I had a man, who owns and operates a very successful starter and generator business, tell me that if you do not have a voltage regulator, there is nothing to polarize on a generator alone.
Perhaps, an electrical engineer can chime in here.
MIKE

[darrylkmc]

Do you have reason to believe that your generator is not polarized now?

[awander]

It has nothing to do with a regulator or a cutout relay. Even if you used a generator without either of them(I don't know why you would), polarization is still a good idea any time some part of the electrical/charging system is disconnected, when you install a new generator, or if the generator is not charging the battery.

The polarization that takes place in these generators is to "replace" or "correct" the residual magnetism in the pole shoes, in order to make sure that it will generate the correct polarity to charge the battery.

When the generator is not turning, and the cutout relay disconnects it from the battery, there is still a very small amount of magnetism that will be left in the pole shoes. If this magnetism gets destroyed or reversed(by a knock,or by an erroneous electrical current...) then the generator will either not charge at all, or worse, will charge in reverse polarity, neither of which are what you want...

These generators are "self excited", that is, they use their own output to generate the magnetic field that lets the generator, well, generate...

When the generator first starts turning, there will be a very small amount of magnetism left in the pole shoes, and this will cause the generator to put out a small voltage , part of which is tapped off for the field coils, which increases the magnetic field, which raises the generator output, etc...until the voltage is high enough to kick over the cutout relay, which then connects the generator output to the battery.

To polarize, simply connect a wire,momentarily, between the 2 terminals on the cutout relay. It will spark, and send a momentary current through the field coils, thereby properly magnetizing the pole pieces.

[Dal's Dream Car]

Thanks all. @ AWANDER; I will give this a try. Do I perform this with the ignition on/off? I also have a 30 amp fuse in line with the condenser. Remove?

Thanks again.

I was told that the generator needed to be polarized when I picked it up. It runs fine, but the battery needs to be charged. Also the lights and horn do not work.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Polarize with the key off is fine. It sounds like there is another problem if the lights and horn don't work. Be sure the light/horn wire terminal is on the BATTERY SIDE of the cutout and not on the input side, which only is connected to the generator output stud.

[tbirdtbird]

Awanda and Tom are right on. Key can be off or on. Better off Engine not running to avoid the fan blade). You are just trying to re-magnetize the pole shoes inside the gen.

Not sure at all about this statement:
"if you do not have a voltage regulator, there is nothing to polarize on a generator alone"

In my 60+ yrs I have had to repolarize many a gen, and esp a Model A, and esp. if it has been sitting a long time.

The point is the magnetism of the pole shoes can weaken from sitting, heat, being banged around, a rebuild or servicing, etc. It has nothing to do with whether there is a cutout or true volt. regulator. And of course, a true voltage reg (which a Model A does NOT have) also incorporates a cut-out.

Using a jumper wire you just momentarily connect the 2 terminals on the cutout enough to get a spark. You *cannot* harm anything by doing this. In some cases you may have to do it more than once, even.