The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6v or 12v problems

For all the reasons you have stated 12V is the better option especially since you say the gages are trash.

I will take exception to the common belief that a 6 VDC motor is just fine on 12VDC. After all the effort why stay with what is wrong and just do the job rignt?
Yes it will run BUT for how long?

I would for sure carry a spare starter if you go a long ways from town in freezing weather.
JUSTIFICATION for my argument
current is proportional to torque.
speed is proportional to voltage
Horsepower is proportional to speed

the torque demand of cranking does not change. You do speed the motor up -- by near doubling crank speed so it should start easier which is the reason it is favored. I have done it too especially with balky engines or new and tight OR if all I had was 12V.

What may be saving you is the counter EMF being higher at the higher speed thus reducing current.

For your other question on whether it is 6 or 12 now. Count the cells in the battery (3 for 6V and 6 for 12V) or measure volt across battery terminals.
Dan Bentler