Hmm,
Prior posts were awesome. So here is what I took from all that. The battery was hooked up with a negative ground rather than pos. ground - that was wrong! Is there any conceivable reason why this might have been done deliberately? Is there a way to determine if it SHOULD be negatively grounded?If not, what could have been damaged in the process? The auto parts store says the battery appears shot...might that be due to having been hooked up wrong? What about the generator? Is it likely junk having tried to charge an incorrectly hooked up battery? I see a couple of approaches. I can buy a new 6 volt, hook it up pos. ground and see what happens. Not sure at this point if the ammeter works as I have seen no needle movement (perhaps due to the battery being hooked up wrong?). Assuming the ammeter is broke, is there a way to tell if the generator is functioning? (I have a voltmeter if that helps). Or, I can say screw it, junk the 6-volt system and make the conversion to 12 volt, rewire using the diagrams I've found on the site, and call it good. [I'd prefer to keep it 6-volt just for originality, but not at the expense of major additional costs, or headaches.] Or I can drop in the 12 volt battery temporarily, and see if the starter works. If I do that, should I first disconnect the generator? Would I disconnect all wires from it, or would I need to leave some connected? Also, if I do that, do I hook the battery up pos. or neg. ground? Anyway, mostly I'm wondering what affect the battery, having been hooked up wrong, might have had on the overall electrical system. Thanks VERY much to all who have replied.
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