polarity of voltage regulator

I need a good sparky to advise.

Does the vehicle polarity (my dynamo based 2a is +ve earth) matter when
fitting a voltage regulator? These items are a closed book to me i'm afraid.
Electrical things beyond where the wires go onto the spade connectors all
are. Any advice?

cheers

Eddy

Eddy Bayton wrote:

> I need a good sparky to advise.
>
> Does the vehicle polarity (my dynamo based 2a is +ve earth) matter when
> fitting a voltage regulator? These items are a closed book to me i'm
> afraid. Electrical things beyond where the wires go onto the spade
> connectors all are. Any advice?
>
> cheers
>
> Eddy

No. Assuming you are talking about the original electromechanical type
regulator. These will work on either polarity.
JD

"JD" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Eddy Bayton wrote:
>
> > I need a good sparky to advise.
> >
> > Does the vehicle polarity (my dynamo based 2a is +ve earth) matter when
> > fitting a voltage regulator? These items are a closed book to me i'm
> > afraid. Electrical things beyond where the wires go onto the spade
> > connectors all are. Any advice?
> >
> > cheers
> >
> > Eddy
>
> No. Assuming you are talking about the original electromechanical type
> regulator. These will work on either polarity.
> JD

Thanks, thats the fella, black box with clip off lid and electromagnetic
contacts you have to keep clean and check the gap on every decade or so. Has
a lot of spade connectors on it for tangling your wires.

Seriously though, it was a genuine question. The device seems identical to
the ones I had on Austin, Morris, MG and Triumph cars in the 1970s. All
their polarities were -ve though and I'd never encountered a +ve earth motor
except old Beetles before. Is the part number the same throughout Series 2
and 2a until the alternator was introduced?

"Eddy Bayton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "JD" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Eddy Bayton wrote:
> >
> > > I need a good sparky to advise.
> > >
> > > Does the vehicle polarity (my dynamo based 2a is +ve earth) matter
when
> > > fitting a voltage regulator? These items are a closed book to me i'm
> > > afraid. Electrical things beyond where the wires go onto the spade
> > > connectors all are. Any advice?
> > >
> > > cheers
> > >
> > > Eddy
> >
> > No. Assuming you are talking about the original electromechanical type
> > regulator. These will work on either polarity.
> > JD
>
> Thanks, thats the fella, black box with clip off lid and electromagnetic
> contacts you have to keep clean and check the gap on every decade or so.
Has
> a lot of spade connectors on it for tangling your wires.
>
> Seriously though, it was a genuine question. The device seems identical to
> the ones I had on Austin, Morris, MG and Triumph cars in the 1970s. All
> their polarities were -ve though and I'd never encountered a +ve earth
motor
> except old Beetles before. Is the part number the same throughout Series 2
> and 2a until the alternator was introduced?
>
>
>
>

Lucas number RB108 but if you clean the points it needs to be reset with a
multimeter, checking the gap won't do!
If you want to change the polarity, to fit a radio for instance, very easy
to do but an alternator would be better and providing you've got the
mounting bracket, also very easy to do.
Martin.

snip...

> Lucas number RB108 but if you clean the points it needs to be reset with a
> multimeter, checking the gap won't do!
> If you want to change the polarity, to fit a radio for instance, very easy
> to do but an alternator would be better and providing you've got the
> mounting bracket, also very easy to do.
> Martin.
>
>

When the previous dynamo bearings gave up a couple of years ago I did
consider this, but thought 'why bother?' in the end. fitting a new dynamo
and repolarising it was easy enough once a very helpful newsgroup sparky
pointed me in the right direction. the vehicle acts as a local kids
equipment carrier for 10% of its life and a towing work tractor for my job
as a groundsman for the rest of its time. It does about 800 miles a year,
and all of this in daylight so an alternator seemed pretty unimportant. as
the vehicle is a completely untampered with 2a and very original I thought
i'd keep it that way. recent posts on the provenance of tax exempt vehicles
seems to vindicate this. it seems to be time to stock up on awkward spares
now as they get harder to find.

I did have a radio when I bought it. It was wired directly to the battery.
About a month after getting it on the road I was happily tootling along when
smoke poured out from the dash. One of the radio leads had chafed on the
bulkhead entry (no grommet). The radio had to very rapidly become a wireless
as I ripped the smouldering cables off the battery with bare hands. I don't
recommend this technique. No further damage incurred and no problems with
the loom. I have since left any ambitions to fit radios etc. well behind.
You can't hear them anyway when you're pulling a 15cwt roller or a
chainharrow anyway. It's even harder to hear a radio with six 8-year-old
boys on board.

Thanks everyone for the help that this ng provides. It's a very human
version of a green bible or haynes manual where such comments as 'refitting
is the reverse procedure to removal' are brought into perspective. My
experiences with the tank filler pipe change recently proved that.

Keep it up!

Eddy

Series 2a 1966 88" Petrol

I have since left any ambitions to fit radios etc. well behind.
> You can't hear them anyway when you're pulling a 15cwt roller or a
> chainharrow anyway. It's even harder to hear a radio with six 8-year-old
> boys on board.
>
>

LOL I see your point!

Martin