positive to negitive ground

[hrtuffenuff]

can i change a 12 volt positive ground system to negitive ground by changing voltage regulator.
Or does gen. need to be changed internally?
 

[gene bender]

polarize the gen
 

[Nebraska Kirk]

You do not need to change anything in the generator, but after changing to negative ground, you will need to repolarize the generator.
 

[pete 23]

A generator does not care which way it is grounded, neg or pos. Some voltage regulators do but most you buy now days work with either ground. Ordinarily a regulator is marked if it is polarity sensitive, on the under side or on mount somewhere saying which ground it is. At any rate, you need to polarize it to the ground system you are using. Momentarily , with everything hooked up but before you start engine, flash the generator terminal to the battery terminal. Just use any kind of a jumper wire to touch them terminals so you get a spark and that will turn those little electrons so their north and south poles are pointing in the right direction.
 

[wisbaker]

If it's a gasser (spark ignition) you should also change the coil polarity & the leads on the ammeter.
 

[mkirsch]

On a generator/regulator setup, you only need to do three things to swap ground:

1. Switch the cables on the battery.
2. Switch the cables on the ammeter.
3. Polarize the generator.

Please note you can NOT do this to an alternator system.
 

[John T]

As noted and first of all, the genny can charge at either Pos or Neg Ground and of course, you need to Polarize the genny BEFORE start up. Some VR's are labeled as suitable for use at Pos or Neg ground, so you might wanna check that. If its a batery powered coil distributor ignition and you change battery polarity the coil leads need swapped also as well as the ammeter leads (if it has one) or it would read bass ackwards.

John T