Changing from POS. to NEG. ground

[SoCal'beaming]

Hi All ... While waiting for my brake parts to arrive I've been doing some maintenance on my 62 S2 like lubing cables(sticky tach), hinges, cleaning connections etc. I did a search on the site about changing my pos. grd system to a neg. grd. and can't seem to find anything detailed about the procedure. ... any help on this would be appreciated. Is there an advantage to doing this conversion?

,,,,,,,, Thanks, David

 

[jumpinjan]

Not much to it, just reverse the ammeter connections, and re-polarize the voltage regulator. A problem may arise with the battery & battery connections. The -ground & +Pos cable may not reach the battery terminals when its flipped 180.
Jan

 

[SoCal'beaming]

Thanks Jan! ... Hadn't thought about the cable length. I'm going to replace them and put an ANL 300 amp inline fuse ...The grd. cable is a braided steel one that's full of corrosion. What size cable should be used 1/0 or 2/0? ... As far as re-polarizing the voltage regulator how would I accomplish that task? .. I'm not real savvy on electrical stuff.

...... David

 

[husky drvr]

As for "polarizing" the generator, thats simple to do.
You disconnect the "F" terminal from the regulator or at the generator and jumper the battery output (+ or - depending on if neg or pos ground) and connect it briefly to the "F" terminal of generator or wire 4 or 5 times.

Doesnt matter if you want pos or neg ground, only matters that you set the battery up correctly for how you want to run first.

The generator doesnt care if its used neg or pos ground, the field coil needs to be biased so the control loop is not extremely hysteretic as it regulates.
Left on its own (without polarizing) the field coil would eventually bias itself and work fine.


Another thing to mention is changing over from pos to neg ground, you really also want to change your coil though in the short term it will work fine.

An excerpt from a 2014 post in a thread asking abut re-polarization.

Hope this helps,

 

[jumpinjan]

and put an ANL 300 amp inline fuse

Huh? Are you thinking of fusing the battery? Completely unnecessary.
I acquire my battery cable from BritishWire. They have a 37 strand PVC cable (2 gauge, 0.258"OD) and all the terminals. They also have the grounding braid that you need.
I order 10-11 feet and trim it down to fit. I have in my notes the Alpine S5 cable is 114" (9.5feet); The S5 starter cable is 26".
It's expensive, almost $10/ft. make sure it's not too short.
(You may have to swap around the coil wires too)
Jan

 

[hartmandm]

The Smiths clocks are polarity sensitive if you have one of those. Also LED bulbs if you have switched to any of those. Cigar lighter if it was updated for charging modern stuff.

change from positive ground to negative

anyone done this to their sunbeam alpine. Change the car from positive to negative ground. Is there anything other than the amp gauge that you have to consider. I know the battery but wondering if there is something else.

forum.sunbeamalpine.org

Mike

 

[SoCal'beaming]

Huh? Are you thinking of fusing the battery? Completely unnecessary.
I acquire my battery cable from BritishWire. They have a 37 strand PVC cable (2 gauge, 0.258"OD) and all the terminals. They also have the grounding braid that you need.
I order 10-11 feet and trim it down to fit. I have in my notes the Alpine S5 cable is 114" (9.5feet); The S5 starter cable is 26".
It's expensive, almost $10/ft. make sure it's not too short.
(You may have to swap around the coil wires too)
Jan

Jan ... I was told that running spotlights, reverse lights, radio and more as well as a bare spot from rubbing on the power side of the batt. that is was cheap insurance against your car going up in flames. Was I misinformed? ... Thanks for the measurements, that helps alot!

 

[SoCal'beaming]

An excerpt from a 2014 post in a thread asking abut re-polarization.

Hope this helps,

Thanks for the info. I couldn't seem to find anything in a search here. Probably wrong search terms.

.............. David

 

[jumpinjan]

...as well as a bare spot from rubbing on the power side of the batt.

Oh yes, I would replace the Batt cable!!!
Jan