The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6 volts? Just not enough punch you say!!!

That seems to be the story I hear all most every time I get in a
conversation about Stovebolt electrical systems.
Well, ya must be doin’ somethin’ wrong then, and here’s my story.
I don’t have a show truck, never willing to go to those extremes. I
really don’t have any interest in impressing a judge or the general
public who feels the need to put the old gal up against those tens of
thousands of dollar queens at the shows. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy
looking at and appreciate really fine workmanship, like Izzy’s cars,
(he’s always best of show around our parts), but I have no desire to
reach that level of addiction. I take my old driver, as ugly as she is
to car shows, because I get to park close to the show cars and it
gives me a place to rest my feet when I’m tire of walking around the
grounds and a place to keep a cheap cool drink on a hot summer day.
I’ve only been to one show this year and hadn't planned on going to
anymore and I’ve been to none two years prior.
So…….early this morning, before the sun came up, I was out welding
some in the shop when I ran out of 75/25. Dang, can’t get gas till
Monday morning. Around 07:30 I locked up, went in the house, woke up
my “big old wife” and told her, “I think I’m gonna run ‘Ol Blue threw
the car wash and flush some of the bird dung off her top side. Then
I’m gonna zip over to the Oswego Drag Raceway Reunion car show." In
our parts Oswego Dragway was one of the first drag strips in the
early days of drag racing. It’s overgrown vacant land now-a-days. But
it dated back to the 50’s when guys were dragging out back of some
farmer’s field on the dirt, which is how Oswego drag strip started
out, or there were a few old abandoned WWII air strips around like
Half Day up north.
Now I haven’t driven my ’50 in several weeks, and I don’t use a
battery tender on it and the Blain’s Farm & Fleet’s 6v battery is
dated 2008. She started right up as soon as I got some fuel up to the
W-1. I’ve got a voltage booster to supply me with 12v to power the
Sun-Pro tach and Sony Stereo, which I switched on while she was warming
up. The show was about 20 miles away for me and I we’d found a
parking spot at the show by 08:30. I shut her down and broke out the
bag of Dunkum Donuts and coffee, which I spread out on the tailgate.
The voltage booster is not switched thru the ignition switch, it’s
got its own toggle out of sight under the dash, which I forgot to
switch off.
Had a real nice day, meet a few guys that I hadn’t seen in nearly 40
years, talked with some new friends, had a dog and Pepsi and about
3:00 decided I’d had enough car show. Back at the truck I was cleaning
up all the loose flyers that they’d tossed thru the open window and a
faint voice coming from the radio reminded me that I had just turned
the radio down when I pulled through the gate and that I’d left it and
the tach powered up. Thought I was going to have to face the worst
embarrassment of having to ask for a jump. But to my surprise the
engine spun up just fine, and caught first time round. The amp gauge
laid over about half way to the charge side as I made my way thru the
rows and out the gate. About four or five miles down the road the
generator had done its job and the needle had made its way back down
to the center. I stopped about half way home at a garage sale,
shutting it down and again popped right off when I was ready to go.
Point being, clean contacts, well maintained generator/regulator,
starter and keeping your Stovebolt in tune and even with a 6 year
old battery and running the radio for 6 ½ hours, a 6 volt system is
perfectly adequate for one of these old trucks.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Yep, Denny, when I see a post that says they are "upgrading" to 12v for more reliable starting, but they are not adding any additional 12v electrical devices, I just wonder where they get their ideas regarding what "upgrades" mean (they have simply avoided maintaining their 6v electrical system).

They might as well fix the problem halfway by using an 8v battery? This would allow the upgrade to 12v to take place a few years later.

My Optima 6v battery is almost 10 years old. It stays in my Suburban all winter in our detached non-heated deep-freeze upstate NY garage. When I go out to start the Suburban in the Spring, the Suburban has to crank a little to get gas to the carburetor, but it starts every Spring.

Here are the only necessary "upgrades":

- good 6v battery
- good battery cables (positive and negative 0 or 00 gauge)
- good clean grounds (covered with conductive anti-oxidant grease)
- Sta-Bil in the gas tank at Thanksgiving (maybe unnecessary
- good 6v starter

For long trips, I carry a 12v 5-in-1 electrical unit that includes an emergency Jumpstarter, Air Compressor, 12V Power Inverter, 12V Outlet and Worklight/flasher - this runs my GPS and charges my phone and tablet PC (and is often useful in the house and in the garage).

Dint think anyone would have the time to read all of that, ell, took me 2 hours to type it out!!!!!!

DG

Denny,
Best 2 hours you have had in a while. I enjoy reading your posts. Makes you wonder how all those early cars ever ran on 6 volts. Now people say NO WAY! My 46 is 6 Volt and no problems.
Harold

Convinced a couple of guys here to get rid of the 8volt battery and go back to the 6 volt. Their biggest problems were the battery cables were bad inside the insulation.

I had always heard that the reason for switching to 12 volt systems was because of the higher compression ratios of the newer engines.

Jim

I think a good deal of the time people try to milk the
electrical system dry. I mean rather than keep up with the
cleaning and replacement they will just keep on living and
complaining about how the 6v system is inadequate. When dim
or erratic lights, sluggish cranking, charging problems and
such are the result of a poorly maintained system.
As you point out Roy, no matter how hard you try, placing the
red and green anti-corrosion washers under the cables,
covering them with grease, battery terminal protective spray,
etc. they will still corrode back under the insulation and
should be replaced periodically.
Galvanic corrosion between two dissimilar metals, that is,
copper wire terminals and steel frame/body is always present
as long as there is any moisture in the air. Your lighting
connections if left for decades could be only making contact
over an extremely small area, creating a high resistance
where much of the 6v potential is dropped instead of being
available at the bulb.
I hate to see 8v batterys used as a fix for a poorly
maintained system. My '54 had one when I bought it and it
came out the day I brought it home and now serves as a
DC power supply at the radio bench in the basement. The
generators and regulators aren't designed to supply a
steady 8v in a Stovebolt.
One thing that's being left out of this discussion is, that
this hobby is supposed to be a fun thing and we should be
doing what we want to customize our trucks to our own
taste.
If you feel better with 12v, an alternator, power steering,
multiple carbs, dual exhaust, Peptronics ign, tilt wheel,
etc, then go for it, it's your truck, do what makes you feel
good. Just don't blame all the problems that your having
with your newly acquired stock Stovebolt on the original
electrical system, it was adequate when new and still is
if you keep up with it.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

One other advantage of the 12 volt system was getting all automakers on the same page with voltage and eventually polarity. Some vehicles were positive ground while others were negative. Some 6 volt while others 12 volt.

Another advantage with 12 volts was they could use smaller diameter wire to do the work. Saves a little money on buying wiring for vehicles if the wires are smaller.

At one time some vehicle manufacturers were talking about going to 48 volts because they could make the wire for various systems even smaller and save weight on the vehicle as well as having to use less copper for the wire. So far it seems that idea was scrapped.

I would think what small weight savings gained from reducing the wire gauge would be more than offset by the extra lead plates in the higher volt battery. Shaving a couple thousands off of the wire diameter in a harness isn't going to net much savings.

Denny:

Nice read, thanks for posting. I too am in the camp that thinks 6v electrical systems work just fine. My '46 Jeep still runs a 6v system. I was going to stay 6V on my '52 up until the day I decided to add A/C. That decision forced me to switch over to 12v which, of course, works just fine as well.

It's not much difference in these old trucks since there isn't a lot of wiring to begin with, but it does make sense on a modern vehicle.

An 8V battery is a solution to a nonexistent problem. The charging system must be adjusted to 9.5 V to keep the battery charged, which it is perfectly capable of doing- - - -just be ready to buy a lot of light bulbs. The headlights will be nice and bright, for a short time before they burn out. Heater motors, windshield wipers, gas gauge, etc.- - - -it's a crapshoot if they will survive the higher voltage. Just finding somebody who knows how to adjust the regulator properly can be a challenge.
Jerry

6 volts, 12 volts...OK here we go. If you have a 6 volt system, keep it. If you have missing parts? Find them. If there is a 12 volt system in place, use it. Now, for the other stuff, IPod, Stereo, GPS, whatever, Use an inverter to get 12 volts where you need it. If you have 12 volt system, then fuse each item and you are good to go. Clean connections are needed for each to work. Yes, it can be difficult to find lights, Tractor supply places are helpful. There are replacement regulators, generators, starters, coils and what not for both. If you need more current, more than 35 Amps, then you might need to change. AC comes to mind, really? AC? OK now you got me into the dreaded "Opinion" mode, My bad. Back on task. This is the arithmetic involved,
Watts(power) = Volts X Current.
Power is what makes things work.
6 Volt system: So for a headlight, (Watts) 120 = 6 Volts X 20 Amps(I just used the fuse value, so think closer to say 100 Watts for real world stuff. But the numbers are easy to see if I keep the "designed" numbers in play).
12 Volt system: Headlight, (Watts) 120 = 12 Volts X 10 Amps.
As you can see, the same power, brightness, uses less current at 12 Volts. That is the gain for the manufacture. Smaller wire. Less cost. Better profit. No it is not a conspiracy, they(the makers) pay people good money to figure this stuff out every day. It is how they stay in business. So, for our needs, Keep what you can, use what you need and last, but not least, It is your Truck. It is your decision. But, use good reasons to make that decision. Alternators, are good things, Generators, are good things. Voltage regulators? You will find one in place no matter what you use. It is just hiding inside the 1 wire Alternator case. Or it is on the firewall like my truck. It came with an alternator. It worked. I kept it. I did find a genny, 6 Volt. If I find a regulator,6 volt I will keep it to. If the 12 Volt system dies, then I will get to decide. There is no real advantage to either system. But...the genny looks cool. Not to many under the hood anymore. Hey guys spend dollars and time putting 2 carbs on the intake, cause it looks cool. Good enough for me. Rant over.

Are there any electronic wizards ready to take on the task of making an all-electronic 6 volt regulator which fits inside the all-mechanical original's cover?

been done Carl, look around and you'll find it, also a 6 or 12V alternator in a generator case, always folks inventing better mouse traps, always folks to pay for them ... and still have mice chewing their "stuff"

Bill