Can anyone help me polarize my 71 ironhead. I have the service manual and it says that it can be polorized either on the bike or off the bike. At first I using speaker wire to connect the A terminal of the generator to the + side of the battery, thought that maybe I needed a bigger gauge, so I used jumper cables but my generator light just stays on

PS

I already checked for shorts in the indicator light, wish that was all it was ; )

 

Using a volt meter, with the engine off, touch the red wire to the battery positive terminal, and the black wire to earth (ground) and look for a reading of 11.0 -12.5 VDC. Start the engine and check that the volt reading goes to about 12.5-13.5 VDC. If you don't see a pretty good increase when you start the engine, and more increase when you rev the engine up a bit, something ain't right!

Unhook the battery lead from the "BAT" terminal on the regulator and measure the voltage at the terminal with the engine running. The volt reading should be about 12.5-13.5 VDC, and will vary with engine rpm. If it doesn't vary or doesn't read in that range, touch the volt meter lead to the regulator "GEN" terminal. It should read about 15-18 VDC, once again varying with engine rpm.

If it doesn't read that, disconnect both the "GEN" and the "F" terminal wires at the regulator. Connect the volt meter lead to the "ARM" wire from the generator, short the "F" wire from the generator to the case of the generator, and look for 25-40 VDC. Do not do this for longer than 10 seconds, or you'll fry the generator or regulator!

Don't forget to flash the field whenever you unhook any leads on the generator. Touch the positive battery terminal to the "A" terminal on the generator by briefly shorting the "BAT" to "GEN" terminals on a Delco regulator or "B+" to "D+" terminal on a Bosch regulator. Never touch the "F" or "DF" terminals! If you have the solid state regulator, then flash the field by touching the positive battery terminal directly to the generator “A” terminal.

Here's a quick solid state regulator check: Disconnect the rubber regulator connector and connect an ohm meter between the battery and generator wires (orange and tan wires on the regulator). Reverse the ohm meter leads and connect again to the orange and tan wires. One way should read a low resistance, and the other way should read a very high, or even infinite, resistance. If these readings aren't right, get a new regulator.

 

Here is what you need to do:
Install generator on the bike and connect wiring.
Before starting engine, take a piece of speaker wire and momentarily jump between the 'BAT' terminal and the 'GEN' terminal on the voltage regulator. The momentary surge of current from the battery to the generator will correctly polarize the generator.
FYI: This operation (flashing the fields) should be done each time the battery has been disconnected or changed on the machine. Failing to do so may cause the regulator contacts to burn up..........................piniongear

 

Thanks for the input, I will try the "field flashing" directions for the solid state regulator. Just got off the 2nd 12 this week and I'm kinda hungary. Thanks for the replies though fellas, I really appreciate it!

 

I have a 1971 ironhead. generator needs to be polarized but regulator is difficult to reach. is there any way to polarize without using regulator terminals.

 

Here are my notes on polarizing the gen. Any questions or problems please ask again ...

9. Polarizing the Generator

With the generator fully installed in the bike, all connections made, ignition off; connect one end of a jumper wire to the gen A, and momentarily touch the other end to the battery +ve terminal.

Usually [but not always they say], you will get a spark at the battery terminal and a light clunk sound from the gen.

10. Polarizing the Generator - The Complete Story

1. with the gen on the bench
[i] jumper the gen A to batt +ve
[ii] momentarily jumper from gen F to batt -ve

Note: This can be done the other way around,
[i] jumper gen F to the -ve batt
[ii] momentarily jumper gen A to batt +ve

2. with the gen on the bike, wires not connected
[i] jumper from gen F to a good ground
[ii] momentarily jumper from gen A to batt +ve

Note: This technique is preferred over #3 because the good ground is better than relying on grounding the F thru the reg.
Note: As with #1 this can be done the other way around.

3. with the gen on the bike, all wires connected
[i] momentarily jumper gen A to batt +ve

Note: This is technically the same as techniques #1 and #2 as the F is grounded thru the reg.

4. For bikes with a mechanical reg [1959 to 1977]

Momentarily jumper between BAT and GEN on the reg.

Note: this is technically the same as all of the other techniques as BAT is connected to batt +ve and GEN is connected to gen A.

5. For bikes with a Cycle Electric Generator/Regulator

On the Cycle Electric DGV-5000 generators you have to remove the brush cover and touch a wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the positive brush lead of the generator to polarize it. You can't polarize the generator from the external terminals. (One of the terminals is the battery terminal, and the other has an internal diode.)
You have to try pretty hard to reverse the polarity on those generators and they rarely need to be polarized.

For clarification: Cycle Electric does have a voltage regulator (the CE-540) which looks very similar. It will bolt up to a standard Model 65A generator and has external leads which connect externally between the regulator and the generator.
The CE-500 bolts to a Cycle Electric DGV-5000 generator and the regulator is internally wired to the generator.
- With the CE-540 setup the generator can be polarized by running a lead from the battery + to the "A" terminal.
- With the CE-500 you need to polarize the generator at the positive brush lead.