Playing the Odds, Eh?

There is no reason why one couldn't install many votage regulators without polarizing before encountering a problem. It's such a simple procedure, though, must of us take a few seconds and do it when installing a votage regulator and/or generator.

In any event, if you're paying attention to your dashboard ammeter, you'll know if you need to polarize or not.

If the generator WAS working before cutout or VR replacement, it will work AFTERWARD, NO polarizing required. The regulator has NOTHING WAHTEVER to do with the generator retaining residual magnetism in it's field polepieces.

Replacing a battery, ASSUMING the battery was connected properly before AND after the swap, has NO effect on the generator, and once again, polarizing is NOT needed. (Think about it... the cutout points are "open" at shutdown, so the generator is not even directly connected to the battery... the generator does not even "see" that the battery has been swapped.)

If there is a question about which polarity the generator was last charging, or the battery polarity HAS been "wrong", and has been corrected, you MUST polarize.

If the generator has not been run for a LONG time, has been removed, and banged around a bit or taken apart, polarizing is MANDATORY.