Battery problem, sulphating (?) terminal

[duffeycycles]

Andy it's more than my experience ,I used to polarize each time until an old biker told me it's not necessary with a good genny I haven't done it on any except old worn out originals that don't charge on startup since then.If it charges it's polarized correctly and does not need to be done

[awander]

I can't help but laugh-you say it's "more than your experience", then explain how "an old biker told you it was not necessary", and that since then your experience has been that it's not necessary.

So, OK, it is "your experience" plus the word of "an old biker".

I'd rather trust the Motor Company engineers, No offense meant.

I agree, that if it charges, it is polarized correctly. But how many guys are going to check to see that the generator is charging the battery every time they put the fuse back in and want to go for a ride?

[ricmoran]

6,000 + miles on this bike and have been disconnecting the hot lead by removing a mini fuse after each ride and no problems.

A close friend with 12bikes on 6 and 12 volt does the same thing, no problems as well.

So while the procedure stated by the factory might be to polarize each time, it certainly has not seem to cause any probelms.

By disconnecting the charging system, would also mean that once the switch is to the "off" position, the electrical system is in disconnect already so polarization would then be requried.

By disconnecting the hot wire from the bike, the wiring has no access to allowing the greening to continue over time providing more years of use as stated prior.

However, as stated by awander the manual states: "it is advisable to flash field coils whenever wires have been removed from gen/reg or after gen or battery has been removed and installed." Seems advice can go either way.

After 6,000 miles without issue, what can I say?

One piece of advice given is if your charging light does not go off when the bike is started this could/would be an indication to flash the field coils.

The manual does state that if the polarity is reversed, relay points will vibrate and burn.

With that it would seem if there is concern of reverse polarity an inspection of the contacts would reveal whether or not the reversed polarity condition exsists.

With this, if your going about disconnecting as I do, suggest to keep it in mind that inspection of the relay points can be incorporated into your PM cycle of lube at 500 mile interval if necessary and corrective action taken if required.

[duffeycycles]

the generator wire is not controlled by the switch.The old man ran a very famous bike shop for many years. I also asked another old man that was my mentor before I quit polarizing every time.I run a bike shop that specialises in old Harleys and my experience goes well beond a couple of bikes

[awander]

Again, though, it is just your experience. I don't mean to sound snotty, but I could ask a lot of people who I think know a lot also, and that would still be just what I have heard and my experience.

My experience has been that it does no harm to polarize the generator each time I disconnect and reconnect a piece of the charging system.

Turning off the ignition switch is not the same as disconnecting the battery. I must admit I always thought it was funny advice in the manual, since the cutout relay disconnects the battery from the generator, and the generator is what could potentially lose the residual magnetism.....

But anyway, you have never had a problem by not polarizing your generators, but you also state that you need to do it if you have a "weak generator". How is somebody supposed to know if they have a "weak generator"?

I'm sorry, but I just think it's irresponsible to promote ignoring what the Motor Company recommends, based on the advice of some people you knew, no matter how knowledgeable you consider them to be, and no real evidence other than your experience. Why did they recommend doing?

[kg993]

Have to ask, has anyone ever seen a generator sit unmolested and repolarize it's self backwards? Maybe possible if it lost polarization and when starting the bike the motor kicked back and spun backwards fast for a short time? I've never seen it happen.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the only way for a good generator to loose polarity in a reasonable amount of time is to either touch the A. post to ground or have an internally "dirty" generator, letting energy drain through the conductive particals.

Kerry

[kg993]

I was only thinking of 2 brush gen's. when I said that.

Kerry

[awander]

The "polarity" we are talking about is the residual magnetism that remains in the pole pieces, even after there is no longer and field current. This is what allows a generator to "self excite" and begin to start charging, which raises the magnetic field and makes the charge stronger, etc, building from there.

I'm pretty sure that dirt would not be able to affect this, though getting smacked around could(physical shock can cause demagnetization)

Again, I'm not really sure what the Motor Company's reasoning was for recommending the repolarization every time the electrical system is worked on, but I still do it every time!

[duffeycycles]

I have had many customers with bikes they bought new or slightly used with generators .I ask each one as I'm reviving their babies if they ever polarized the gen. So far the answer is "I don't even know how".My friend who bought '65-'69 electraglides new in black and kept all of them until recently said that until a couple of years ago he had not polarized any of them ever.If the light goes out it is polarized

[upsrod]

Just put felt washers on the posts and oil them!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARLEY-FLATH...item4166334973

[kg993]

[QUOTE=upsrod;121662]Just put felt washers on the posts and oil them!

Gotta love how the threads get altered.

Kerry

[awander]

Yeah, I must admit, I didn't think my reminder to follow the service manual would result in such a brouhaha.

[ricmoran]

Reading more into the reason behind polarizing is the fact that the field coils loose their magnetic force over time if the bike or engine is not operated.

From this I gather that disconnecting the battery for a week or 2 would not alter the fields enough to cause concern and even going a couple three months, but if a barn find comes up, where the battery has been removed or is still in the bike without it's charge, this would be a reason to polarize.

I wonder how many people with barn finds or bikes that have sat for a long time, were able to run without doing the procedure and how many were not.

From the years being around these things I've yet to hear of or see anyone doing this when a bike is complete and has been running on the road, but have done it and seen it in rebuild of gen where new field coils are being installed or service work is done, namely cleaning the armature contact area and installing new brushes.

In the world of altenators being 99% of what is out there for the charging job, there is no worry about polarizing so the theory and practice is certainly one that few today if not with these systems know or understand.

One tid bit as posted here is, if your generator light does not go off, I would think that polarizing would be the first thing you'd do to see if it corrects the symptom. if not, the next step would be to check the charge rate.

With battery terminals that have a build up of acid emissions on their terminals, a check for charge rate should be done to be sure your not overcharging along with also checking regulator points possibly being burnt/stuck together.

If not these symptoms, the leak theory I would think would be then suspect or a cracked cap at the cell top.

[upsrod]

6 volt car batteries do the same thing at the posts.

[duffeycycles]

I feel that telling people that don't know anything about the system to take a wire and make a spark on the wiring is more potential problem than leaving it alone ,starting it and looking at the light before any other action.Sparking wires is not a comfortable thing to do for most