Battery polarity

MY 87 year-old friend charged his 6-volt battery
wrong and it is now reversed. Has this damaged
the 6-volt voltage regulator? I am now discharging
the battery and will re-charge it correctly.
Advise please. Thanks

Probably did but you wont know till you try it. repolarize the gen after the batt gets charged.

" Has this damaged
the 6-volt voltage regulator?"

A commom way to damage a VR is to start the tractor with the Gennys polarity opposite that of the Battery Polarity. Therefore assuming the genny was already previously polarized one way,,,,,,,, and the battery got reversed (if that's actually so???? I have no idea from here),,,,,,,,,,, and the genny wasn't re polarized correctly ITS POSSIBLE THE VR MIGHT BE DAMAGED but that's NOT a certain thing, I cant tell from here, heck it may well be fine GIVE IT A TRY

HOWEVER to be safe, once the battery is okay (IF it is, I cant say from here) I would definitely Polarize the genny BEFORE start up THEN JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS, it may be okay (good chance) it may not, sorry I cant say.........BUT NO HARM IN TRYING ONCE POLARIZED

ALSO I have no way of telling the true battery condition/state/charge/polarity from here, all I can say is that above, so don't anyone have a calf lol

John T

i suspect the only way you could charge a battery with reverse polarity is the battery would first have to be a complete discharged condition otherwise i believed arcing, possibly severe with heat, would occur. i would be more concerned with the battery's condition.

I have seen batteries get reversed charged, you just have to run them dead with a slow drain and them charge them back up with the correct polarity.

This was 12 volts rather than 6 volts, but I was working in local TV/radio/appliance shop back in late 60s when a kid brought in the radio from the late 50s Chevy his grandpa had given him. I tested the radio and could not find anything wrong, and he took it home and brought it back a day or two later , and I still could find nothing wrong with the radio, so I told him to bring the car in so I could check the wiring. He reinstalled the radio, and brought the car in (really beautiful old car), with half the dash and all the heater controls, etc. laying in the floor. When I started checking it with my voltmeter I realized the voltage was reversed. Checked the battery, and it was installed correctly (neg ground). but battery polarity was reversed.

I asked him some questions and he had taken the battery out and carried it across a field to jump start Grandpa's M, then put it back and next day drove a 150 or so mile round trip. Removing and reinstalling a battery does not normally cause a generator to reverse polarity, but something happened this time. I do not know if he connected the cables backward, then realized the problem and corrected it or what, but the dash only had an idiot light, not an ammeter, and he drove a long enough trip that it discharged the battery and recharged it backwards. I told him to take it home, and leave the lights on till the battery was completely dead then put a charger on it and recharge the battery, and also showed him how to polarize the generator once the battery was recharged. All worked as it should afterward, but the nearly new battery only lasted about 6 months or a year, apparently it did not like being treated that way.

First car-54 ford. Drove until batt got weaker and weaker ., finally dead. Went to charge and charger went nuts-polarity reversed. Replaced in car and jumpstarted. Every day got stronger and finallywAS okay. Drove on coupleof years at least. True story Dave Guest in 1962

Many years ago I changed generator on my 9N Ford. At the time I knew nothing about "polarizing" a generator. I proceeded to use it for half a day. It wasn't until sometime later I noticed the ammeter displaying opposite of normal. Oops, I had run it long enough to completely discharge and recharge the battery opposite polarity. Ran it that way for several years. Got vertually normal life out of the battery. When I replaced the battery I polarized the genny.