Author Topic: Negative earth A10  (Read 1778 times)

Offline A10Boy

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Negative earth A10
« on: 22.08. 2008 11:46 »
I bought a 1959 "golden" gold flash recently. I took the seat off to check the battery and it is wired up as a Negative Earth. They should be positive earth from about 53 onwards, it seems to work ok, charges well, the regulator is the original.
Has anyone else got this on their A10s, and does anyone know if the dynamo / regulator will charge the battery whatever the polarity?
I remember yonks ago when we had them on cars, we used to polarise dynamos, I wonder if this one has been reversed?

I am wondering if someone has simply reversed it by mistake. Any thoughts ?
Regards

Andy

1958 Super Rocket
Plus
Harley Super Glide Custom
Yam XJR 1300

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Re: Negative earth A10
« Reply #1 on: 22.08. 2008 13:11 »
The polarity question is a legacy from the fifties and sixties. +VE earth was advocated as a measure to combat corrosion. Your Flash electrical system will operate happily either way round it makes no difference at all. I have converted my bike to 12v -VE earth, and the reason for doing so was because I wanted to fit LEDs to the speedo and rev counter, and they are available as -VE earth only. You can obtain +VE earth LED rear lamp/brake lamp fittings, but for all practical purposes with conventional lamps it does not matter.