| 46coupe | -- 12-23-2015 @ 4:34 AM |
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My car is operating using negative ground. What changes would have been made to accomplish this? If the car is still in original electrical configuration what will happen if I continue using the negative ground as opposed to positive ground? All gauges are working and it starts quickly. No evidence of hot wiring. I've asked "experts" here but have not gotten a consistent answer. Your help is greatly appreciated.
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| cliftford | -- 12-23-2015 @ 5:59 AM |
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Has it been converted to 12 volts?
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| Old Henry | -- 12-23-2015 @ 6:23 AM |
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When I first revived my 47 after sitting outside for 31 years I knew nothing of positive ground so installed the new battery negative ground like all of my modern cars. I drove it that way for 10,000 miles before someone told me it was backwards. Everything worked just fine except the battery gauge read backwards. Even the heater fan turned the right direction. I understand a stock radio wouldn't work that way but I had mine built to work either positive or negative ground.
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| juergen | -- 12-23-2015 @ 7:13 AM |
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It doesn't make much difference to the car. The ammeter is affected and so is the coil. You should switch terminals on these devices if you switch polarity. And as someone mentioned, the radio needs to be modified.
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| TomO | -- 12-23-2015 @ 7:58 AM |
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You did not give the year of the car and weather it is still 6 volts. The radio, coil and voltage regulator are all polarity sensitive. The coil and the voltage regulator will work less efficiently if the polarity is reversed. Tom
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| 46coupe | -- 12-23-2015 @ 9:35 AM |
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Thanks for all the input. Car is a 46 Ford with an 8 volt battery and 6 volt system. I will check the amp gauge for direction but thought it was reading a plus charge when the car engine was running. If all are in agreement that it is safe to switch back to pos. ground, and based on some of your responses it is, I'll try it later today. I had been told that all the gauges would be reversed as well as the starter running backwards if I left it with a negative ground. Won't bore you all with the other suggestions that were made. Thanks again
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| cliftford | -- 12-23-2015 @ 11:42 AM |
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You have gotten some inaccurate information. Reversed polarity will not cause the starter to run backwards nor will it affect any of the guages except the ammeter. The fact that it has an 8v battery suggests that it has some electrical problems such as bad connections, bad grounds or a faulty starter. Check and clean all of these, including making sure the starter itself is well grounded to the engine and the engine is well grounded to the frame. disconnect and clean all of these connections.
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| MG | -- 12-23-2015 @ 12:21 PM |
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@cliftford - are you SURE that "Reversed polarity will not cause the starter to run backwards"???
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| cliftford | -- 12-23-2015 @ 1:55 PM |
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Yes, I have converted these old Fords from 6v pos ground to 12v neg ground and the 6v starter stil worked fine.
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| Drbrown | -- 12-23-2015 @ 7:00 PM |
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You say the car is currently 8 volts, and you're changing up to 12. Don't see any mention here yet but you'll obviously need voltage reducers of various types for the three gauges, heater motor, etc. change coil etc.
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| Old Henry | -- 12-23-2015 @ 9:54 PM |
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The only thing I had to do when I switched my battery back to positive ground was re-polarize the generator. It takes less than a second but needs to be done for the generator to work after reversing polarity.
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| Old Henry | -- 12-23-2015 @ 9:57 PM |
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In response to MG's question, yes, the starter works fine as mine did for 10,000 miles with the battery in backwards, and so did the heater motor turn the right way. Everything worked fine, even the coil and regulator, except the amp meter read backwards.
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| 40 Coupe | -- 12-24-2015 @ 4:59 AM |
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For a DC motor to change rotation you have to change the voltage polarity on just the field or just the armature changing both as with reversing a battery polarity and it does not reverse motor rotation. An ignition coil that has been run on one polarity will not work as well when the polarity is reversed. They are marked with voltage polarity and it should be followed.
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| 46coupe | -- 12-24-2015 @ 5:42 AM |
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I am not going to a 12 volt system at this time. What is the correct procedure to polarize the generator? Thank you all for the help.
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| Old Henry | -- 12-24-2015 @ 7:19 AM |
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Here's the polarizing procedure: http://starautoelectric.com/page25.php
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| 46coupe | -- 12-24-2015 @ 7:29 AM |
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I just started the car with a neg ground. Amp gauge shows charging. Does that mean I can leave it as is? Or try starting it using the pos ground?
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| 46coupe | -- 12-24-2015 @ 8:03 AM |
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Thanks Senior for the instructions however my voltage reg only has arm amp bat terminals. I assume that the bat is not touched. Does that mean I hook a clip to arm and touch the amp terminal or the other way around? Or do nothing to the volt regulator? Since I am showing a plus charge on the amp gauge does that mean all is well staying with the neg ground? Thanks
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| TomO | -- 12-24-2015 @ 8:21 AM |
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I am glad that you added that you have an 8 volt battery and that your ammeter reads in the correct direction. This helps us to give you the correct information. Changing polarity is not just as easy as changing the battery posts and polarizing the generator. You have to know the polarity of your coil and voltage regulator. If they are both + ground, you can change the battery polarity and polarize the generator. If either is - ground, you will have to change it before you change the battery cables. I suggest that you get a new 6 volt battery,6 volt battery and starter cables, Pos ground 6 volt voltage regulator and a stock 46 coil and then change back to POS ground. It will make your car easier to service and probably improve the performance. You will have to rewire your amp gauge to read in the correct direction. This will ensure that every thing will work as designed. Tom This message was edited by TomO on 12-24-15 @ 8:24 AM
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| 46coupe | -- 01-01-2016 @ 8:52 AM |
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Happy New Year everyone I finally got around to trying the polarizing instructions that were suggested. My regulator has Arm, Field and Bat terminals. I put a clip on Arm and Bat which showed voltage. I did not touch the Field terminal as instructed. I should note that the battery was now connected using pos ground, previously it had been connected as neg ground.I started the car and the amp gauge showed discharge, rpm overthree thousand. I then put the battery back to neg ground and the amp gauge showed charging. This tells me that polarizing the voltage regulator did not work. Did I do something wrong? The armature and battery terminals are the only ones I can use. The author was adamant about not touching the Field contact. Thoughts? Appreciated. Enjoy the holiday.
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| TomO | -- 01-01-2016 @ 10:02 AM |
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46coupe, Happy New Year. When you changed the battery polarity and polarized the generator, it did work. You only have to touch the BAT terminal of the regulator with the jumper wire from the ARM terminal to polarize the generator. The reason that your ammeter showed discharged, is that whoever converted the car to 8 volts, NEG ground also rewired the ammeter to read correctly with that configuration. Read my previous post about changing polarity. You can do as Old Henry says, but you may have problems with the way the car runs and charges the battery. These problems may not show up immediately. It would depend upon what components were changed when the polarity was reversed and how long the POS ground components were used with the car at NEG ground. Tom
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| 46coupe | -- 01-01-2016 @ 10:29 AM |
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Thanks for the verification. Is it safe to assume that I could change the wires on the gauge? OR possibly leave it as is, neg ground until I go through all the wiring and connections, i.e. cleaning replacing or taping? Got a couple of minor leaks (I hope) to address before I take it out for a short cruise. Thanks again for your time and help.
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| Old Henry | -- 01-01-2016 @ 2:36 PM |
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Gauges don't care about polarity, except the battery gauge (ammeter). So no need to change them but you can if you want to for some reason.
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| 46coupe | -- 01-01-2016 @ 4:35 PM |
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In that case I'll leave them as is. Thanks for the help.
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