Can Single Phase motors be reversed by changing the polarity?

Single phase motors have two windings, the main winding and the auxilliary winding. The auxiliary winding is used to start the motor and may be disconnected once the motor picks up sufficient speed.

Reversing a single phase motors cannot be done by reversing the polarity of the supply to the entire motor. To reverse the single phase motor, the polarity of the supply to only one of the windings needs to be changed.

This can be done by reconfiguring special links which may be provided in the terminal box of the motor.