12 volt start, 6 volt run

bobbydamit

I bought a pacemaker from an old guy who had installed a "Reliant" battery system, where the 12 volt battery had a solenoid mounted in the center of # 3 & 4 cells, so the car could be started with 12 volts for an extra winter kick, and then when running it reverted back to half the battery and ran on just 6 volts. Great idea, but it was kicking the hell out of my starter and the fly wheel teeth.



I took out the solenoid and ran heavy jumpers to join the 2 positive posts and the 2 negative posts to make a couple of 6 volts batteries in parrallel. It works fine and saved the new battery, and my starter, rather than retiring it to a 12 volt car. I have had cars that I replaced the 6 volt batt. with an 8 volt farm batt. and got brighter lights and snappier starts as well. And the generator kept them up just fine.

Jon B

Just an additional thought: it might be that a more powerful 6-volt battery (with greater cold cranking amps) could also be the answer to winter starting problems. There are still a number of different 6-volt batteries manufactured, including the new gel-type batteries, and CCA now range from a low of 525 to a high of 850. So, be careful what you buy. Oh...and be sure the cables are clean and of the proper size to handle 6 volts!

bobbydamit

Again Jon, You are so correct. If the cables are not twice as large in diameter as the 12 volt ones of today, you cannot deliver that all important punch upon starting. I also use a good insul-grease on the battery posts and connectors to avoid corrosion. I was just saving the new battery that came with the car, and reducing the ware and tear on my starter motor and fly wheel teeth. A good farm rated 6 volt, with high cold cranking amps, is the best for starting, and the 8 volt ones are the best for brighter lights for night driving, as the nights get darker and the lights get dimmer, the older I get.

Unknown

After reading a recent post about starting problems when hot, I replaced my Farm and Fleet six volt battery (525 CCA's) with a new group 2 six volt with 780 CCA's. It seems to have done the trick. Now my 48 starts very quickly when hot.

[Deleted User]

and again, "battery cables are us" . . . www.birchindustrial.com best you can buy... and reasonable priced besides.

brnhornet52*

Hi Evan,

When I firdt bought my 52 Hornet, I trusted a battery outlet"s advice a got a 525CCA 6 volt. The car was somewhat hard to start when warm. After I reringed it, it was impossible when hot, just as the other poster described. It turned out the battery sold to me was basically for a 6 volt VW.

DuBois Battery in Dubois, PA took the time to listen and gave me valuable advice regarding the whole different battery grouping, and CCA's. A good rule of thumb is talk to an ANTIQUE battery outlet, and get the most CCA's you can ina battery that fits the tray. My first battery was dwarfed in the stock tray which should have been a red flag. Some places will sell you anything to make a buck.

bobbydamit

Sad but true. Don't buy the cheapest battery that will fit. Little batteries are for energizer bunnies, and personal appliances. As a kid. Driving Hudsons, I bought monster 6 volt and 8 volt batteries from Fleet Farm., You could literally put the car in third gear, let out the clutch and drive a dead or out of gas Hud off the hwy., to the safety of the shoulder, on the starter alone! Without a hesitation. Now that battery will overcome a whole hell of alot of [vapor lock] or our Minnesota winters. And yes, we northerner's do start them each month in Jan., Feb. & Mar., just to remind ourselves how they always started, out in the street, burried in snow, in -30 to -40 Deg. F, all winter long. Impressing the neighbors with Fords and Chevs, and the Hudsons sounded like a dying bear cranking over, and then!, that alto familiar sound of a DC-3 Goonie Bird, as #2-3-4-5-6 off our beloved flatheads, started to fire. Wow! "what a car".

[Deleted User]

DC-3 firing up - its ironic that during this past weekend, a friend of mine who is an inline flathead fan such as myself, was trying to categorize the sound of inline sixes while winding up on the road. We hopped in his P-15 Plymouth and headed out for a little six-symphony and I suddenly realized it. I said, this sounds like a WWII bomber winding up on the tarmac. He said, if you can get one of your Hudsons to sound like a P-51 - you'll have something!



On the batteries, it seems like the more I fool around with the coupes - the more I don't want to change things. Namely the 6 volt system. Its different in a world of 12 volts, and if I can pull off a performance build whipped to life by a 6 volt - I would think that to be cool.



I am running into two obstacles however. Radios and fuel pumps.



Is it possible to have a step up transformer to run those two off a 12 volt circuit alone? I'm not an electrical genius, its my weakest subject in things automotive. What possible problems would I run into trying such a transformer arrangement? Would there be heat issues, amperage issues?



Mark

Jon B

Mark, I'm a bit confused. I thought you had resolved to go with 6 volts. If so, are you trying to run a 12-volt fuel pump and radio off a six-volt? Or vice versa?

coverton

bobbydamit wrote:

I bought a pacemaker from an old guy who had installed a "Reliant" battery system, where the 12 volt battery had a solenoid mounted in the center of # 3 & 4 cells, so the car could be started with 12 volts for an extra winter kick, and then when running it reverted back to half the battery and ran on just 6 volts. Great idea, but it was kicking the hell out of my starter and the fly wheel teeth.



I took out the solenoid and ran heavy jumpers to join the 2 positive posts and the 2 negative posts to make a couple of 6 volts batteries in parrallel. It works fine and saved the new battery, and my starter, rather than retiring it to a 12 volt car. I have had cars that I replaced the 6 volt batt. with an 8 volt farm batt. and got brighter lights and snappier starts as well. And the generator kept them up just fine.

I am getting "old" But when I was in the electrical supply bus we sold welding cable to all sorts of "do it yourselfers" for jumpers -car boom boxes etc.May just be that a # 2 or 4 fine stranded wire would help ? Also what [for my info] would be wrong with two parallel batteries. Plent of CCA's with that ? No change over then needed from 12 back to 6 ?

[Deleted User]

Jon B wrote:

Mark, I'm a bit confused. I thought you had resolved to go with 6 volts. If so, are you trying to run a 12-volt fuel pump and radio off a six-volt? Or vice versa?

Trying to run a 12 volt fuel pump and/or radio off a 6 volt system.



I'm wondering if I can use a step-up transformer safely and effectively to do that.



And, the more I've thought about it, it would be nice to run a cigarette lighter outlet off 12 volts as well. So, I could carge up the cellphone in transit and possibly run a self contained "carry" radio/CD player in lieu of a fully installed audio system. That way I could repair the original 6v radio outfit in the Wasp and still be able to "carry" my tunes with me. Kinda the best of both worlds (and I could take the "carry" outfit in either car!).



I could simply hide a cigarette lighter outlet/power outlet under the dash of the '49 and not change a single thing about its spartan interior.



Mark

Jon B

Just curious: why a 12-volt and not a six-volt fuel pump?

Jay_G

You need an inverter to run 12v from 6v. Radio Shack did make one years ago and they can be found at swap meets. I bought on for $5 at pomona about 8 months ago. The problem is you can not step up 6V with a transformer alone brcause it is DC voltage and transformers need AC voltage to work. As for the fuel pump it will suck to many amps and burn up any inverter you use. So the fuel pump will need to go to 6V. JC Whinity has one for a reasonable price. Just put it on my 53 and it works like a dream. I am in the process of putting a 12v radio in my 6v positive ground 53 with the inverter, when I am done I will update. the problem with the radio is the same one as the fuel pump, amps. you can't have a big amp, cd changer and radio and expect to run everything off a small guage wire am little inverter. Going up in voltage is much harder than going down and with a 6v system remember you need bigger witer to care the increaded amps. Remember the power needed to run 12v and 6v may be the same but because the voltage is less with 6v you need more amps.

Jay

[Deleted User]

ahhh, 6 volt fuel pump - problem #1 solved. I wasn't aware I could get one in 6v.



I am laughing at myself over the AC/DC idea and not remembering transformers were AC only. I'll study up on inverters and see what I can find in that area - I really appreciate the advice!



I'm not looking to run a huge radio off a power socket. Basicly one of the battery powered "carry" jobs with a DC jack to fit into a cigarette lighter. No huge load (amperage) required. I may be wrong, please advise me on what I may not be realizing at the moment. On the Wasp, it would be pretty easy to run a cigarette lighter off an inverter to charge a cellphone and/or run a power jack appliance, wouldn't it?



Thanks,

Mark

Unknown

I got into my car the other day and turned the switch.....nothing at all happened. I thought at first it was the ignition switch. I put another one on it and still nothing. My car has 2 6 volt batteries running parallel. This gives 12 volts only to the starter. The parallel switch is an Orpin Model B 6/12 volt series parallel switch. I've done a search online and can't find a thing. Using a jumper I can touch the contacts on the parallel switch and get it to crank. Can anyone help or give me any ideas? Please, please email me at bradsarcade@yahoo.com

Thanks,

Brad