The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 8 Volt battery

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with 8 volt batteries.
I have used them in 6 Volt systems on tractors and at one time, had one in a 51 ford
The only negetive I can recall is that I would occsionally
burn out a bulb. The 6 volt generator wouls charge the 8 volt fine simply by adjusting the voltage regulator.
It seems to be a solution to the slow cranking problem.
Any comments?

If all your cables are the proper size and your grounds are clean,starter and charging system is in good shape,there shouldnt be a slow cranking problem.
Lotsa times a cable will get changed with a smaller gauge,,then the problems start.

Any comments? Marty is correct.

. . . a simple solution to slow cranking problems.

1. 2/00 battery cables - both cables (unless care has been taken, most cables used over the past 40 years are for 12v systems and inadequate for a 6v system).
2. Good, clean connections at all ends of battery cables and at all ends of all ground cables.
3. Rebuild the starter (or get it rebuilt or buy a new starter).
and/or
4. Get a good 6v battery (such as an Optima Red Top).

If all the above do not result in adequate cranking, maybe your engine is too tight.

Tim

What Marty said....Joe

Ditto the above. An 8v battery is a bandaid for a different problem.

Here is a word from someone who is using an 8-volt battery. I bought it before I started reading the posts from the wiser guys on the Stovebolt page. On the one hand, after having followed these kinds of posts for a coupla years, I will go back to a 6-volt battery when my current one dies. The last few posts and many others like them make a lot of sense to me. On the other hand, I have had none of the problems (yet) that the wise guys have predicted. Contrary to the advice of the Parts Store, I had to adjust the voltage regulator (of course), but since then I have had no problems.

Still using a 8v in the 49 just because that is what i had at the time. this sping will put the 6v back into it, had to small of a cable on the pos. side, should be fine now

Thanks guys for the replies.
I realize that an 8 volt would only be a temporary solution to the problem of slow cranking,the starter likely needs a rebuild. 56 years isn't bad for starter life!!
All the cables are new,(and correct) so I guess we'll go with a rebuild kit.

One additional thing I did that helped mine a lot is connecting the ground cable directly to the starter. That makes the current path direct instead of traveling through a bunch of rusty bolt connections.