Rustyfarmall,
I totally agree that a gen. will charge....if...your pole shoes actually still contain magnetism.
Let me ask a couple of questions here..Why do you polarize a regulator ? When you polarize a regulator…..are you actually polarizing the regulator or the generator fields? What exactly does a field coil do, if a generator will charge without it being excited?
Here is the way I understand it…
When you are told to polarize the regulator, you are actually polarizing the generator fields.
Supposedly, the pole shoes stay magnetized, but along with varying the magnetic field, the field coils also keep a magnetism in the pole shoes. The magnetic field is varied by voltage being applied to the fields by the regulator. The more voltage applied to the fields…the more the generator will charge. A regulator does basically 3 things……….it applies voltage to the field coil to increase the output of the generator when needed…..or takes it away when you don’t need it.
It contains a cutout relay to connect the generator output to the battery when it is charging, so it will charge the battery…..disconnects it when the output from the generator decreases to a point that it would discharge the battery.
The regulator also contains relays to limit the upper and lower voltages that is being sent to the battery, and it also limits the amount of current to prevent burning up your generator. Please note…that this is just a basic explanation………. By the way…..I love this forum …there is much knowledge to be gained here……..
Gary
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