Fixing wiring on mower electric clutch

[joshuabardwell]

The wires going to my mower's electric clutch rubbed against a belt, frayed, and broke. Fixing them will be no problem, but the problem is that both wires coming off the clutch are black, so I'm not 100% sure I will get them back in the same polarity that they were. I'm guessing the clutch is some kind of electromagnet that pushes the clutch plates together when DC power is applied, in which case the polarity of the wiring would need to be correct for it to work. Would there be any harm in wiring it by trial and error if I accidentally hooked it up backwards?

 

[oldnslo]

Since there are two wires I doubt it makes any difference which wire is hot and which is ground. I would just double check to see if either wire on the clutch is common to ground first.

 

[eddie48]

Since there are two wires I doubt it makes any difference which wire is hot and which is ground. I would just double check to see if either wire on the clutch is common to ground first.

doesn't matter which way you hook them up. Just tie them out of the way of the belt.

 

[CobyRupert]

I guess they're saying the north end of a electro-magnet will attract a metal spring loaded plunger as well as the south end?

 

[joshuabardwell]

I guess they're saying the north end of a electro-magnet will attract a metal spring loaded plunger as well as the south end?

I wasn't sure if the magnet would push against the clutch plate instead of pulling if the polarity was reversed, but now that I think about it, that would only apply if the clutch plate was also magnetized.