voltmeter on a 6-volt Hudson?

Jon B
Jon B Administrator
edited November -1 in HUDSON
I'd like to hook up a voltmeter on my '37, to monitor the electrical situation and make sure there are no "spikes", prior to fitting 6-volt halogen light bulbs again. I think the new old stock voltage regulator will solve the problem but don't want to risk losing another $50 worth of bulbs 'til I'm sure there are no more voltage spikes.



All I see at the auto parts store are 12-volt negative ground voltage gauges. Is there a readily-available, not too expensive one for 6-volt positive ground?

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    You Might Try A Tractor Supply.most Of Them Did Not Change To 12 Volts Until Late 60's.also,i Had Austin Healey 66 Sprite That Was 12 Volt But Was Positive Ground
  • faustmb
    faustmb Senior Contributor
    It might be tricky to find one made especially for positive ground. Your best bet might be to find the 12V unit with the most divisions that will give you better resoution in the 6V range. Some of the inexpensive units I've seen are little better than an idiot light, showing 12V with really no scale + or -. Insulate the housing and run both wires to use a (-) ground unit and it will work fine.



    Good luck.
  • Richard E.
    Richard E. Senior Contributor
    Jon, I put a voltage meter on my 6v positive ground '50C6 when I switched from a generator to a 6v positive ground alternator. It is a Sunpro, I got it at Napa and it reads from 0- 18 volts. So it works for 6 or 12v cars. I don't think that it cares whether it is positive or negative ground? It works fine. I had to switch to an alternator when I put in my 6v air conditioner, the generator just didn't produce enough juice. I think that this is easy, ask at Napa.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    If the meter has both + and - connections on the back, wire it accordingly and you're in business. (I've never seen an internally grounded, single-connection voltmeter. Can't imagine why they'd label them as specifically positive or negative ground. Ignorance, I guess).
  • Richie
    Richie Senior Contributor
    Jon B wrote:
    I'd like to hook up a voltmeter on my '37, to monitor the electrical situation and make sure there are no "spikes", prior to fitting 6-volt halogen light bulbs again. I think the new old stock voltage regulator will solve the problem but don't want to risk losing another $50 worth of bulbs 'til I'm sure there are no more voltage spikes.



    All I see at the auto parts store are 12-volt negative ground voltage gauges. Is there a readily-available, not too expensive one for 6-volt positive ground?



    Jon B, there is a volt meter on e-bay that claims to read 2 to 22 volts. Check this # Item number: 280252021698 Richie.
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    Hudson325 wrote:
    You Might Try A Tractor Supply.most Of Them Did Not Change To 12 Volts Until Late 60's.also,i Had Austin Healey 66 Sprite That Was 12 Volt But Was Positive Ground



    Problem is, old tractors all have ammeters, not voltmeters. Never have seen a voltmeter on an old tractor.
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    I have a multi-meter - measures AC volts, DC volts, DC mili-amps, Ohms, milli-volts and temperature (tho I don't have a clue as to what that is.



    It doesn't seem to care if I'm checking positive or negative ground - if the needle goes backward, I just switch the probes.



    I bought it at a yard sale years go for $15.



    I just happened to think - it's got 4 AA batteries in it that havn't been changed for 30 years!!!!!!



    Hudsonly,

    Alex Burr

    HudsonTech

    Memphis, TN
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    Jon, I doubt whether you will pick up "spikes" on a volt meter. Any old meter will do the job, as they will have + and - marked on the teminals. I find an ammeter more use than a volt meter, as you can tell exactly how much current is going in to the battery.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Jon B wrote:
    I'd like to hook up a voltmeter on my '37, to monitor the electrical situation and make sure there are no "spikes", prior to fitting 6-volt halogen light bulbs again. I think the new old stock voltage regulator will solve the problem but don't want to risk losing another $50 worth of bulbs 'til I'm sure there are no more voltage spikes.



    All I see at the auto parts store are 12-volt negative ground voltage gauges. Is there a readily-available, not too expensive one for 6-volt positive ground?
    Put an AMP gauge in your car, the wire from the alternator hooks to the gauge and the wire that returns goes the battery connection on the starter solenoid. This is your battery charging wire. Use 10 gauge wire for this job. When you shut your motor off all is dead. If charge reads reverse, just reverse the wires on the gauge. A volt gauge must be hooked up to show no reading with ignition switch off. Walt.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Jon B wrote:
    I'd like to hook up a voltmeter on my '37, to monitor the electrical situation and make sure there are no "spikes", prior to fitting 6-volt halogen light bulbs again. I think the new old stock voltage regulator will solve the problem but don't want to risk losing another $50 worth of bulbs 'til I'm sure there are no more voltage spikes.



    All I see at the auto parts store are 12-volt negative ground voltage gauges. Is there a readily-available, not too expensive one for 6-volt positive ground?
    If you still use a generator, run the wire from generator to the gauge and back to the BAT connection on the voltage regulator. Walt.
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Thanks for the tip. If it's an amp (not voltage) gauge, will it show me if the voltage itself "spikes" temporarily (which is why, I suspect, the halogen lamps originally blew out)? I'm not very electric savvy so forgive my stupid questions, please!
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    Jon B wrote:
    Thanks for the tip. If it's an amp (not voltage) gauge, will it show me if the voltage itself "spikes" temporarily (which is why, I suspect, the halogen lamps originally blew out)? I'm not very electric savvy so forgive my stupid questions, please!



    It depends very much on the type of gauge. Some gauges have inbuilt dampening, to smooth out minor fluctuations. However, a normal ammeter with no dampening will flicker around a bit as the regulator does it's job.

    Geoff.
  • dwardo99
    dwardo99 Expert Adviser
    Jon, we use a 12-volt voltmeter on the Hornet. It doesn't care about polarity. The only ones you can get are for 12-volt cars so it won't use up much of the gauge and for that reason is hard to read. It doesn't really detect voltage spikes. The main thing it's good for is making sure the output of the regulator is correct.
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Hmmmm..... So, I guess what you folks are saying is that a voltmeter is useless for detecting spikes? Any thoughts as to how I MIGHT monitor my system to see if it's sending out intermittent additional voltage.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Jon B wrote:
    Hmmmm..... So, I guess what you folks are saying is that a voltmeter is useless for detecting spikes? Any thoughts as to how I MIGHT monitor my system to see if it's sending out intermittent additional voltage.
    Don't play around. Take your generator and voltage regulator to an electrical shop and have them set it for 25 amps and 6.2 to 6.9 volts and you will have no problems. Walt.
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