The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6V battery on 12V charger?

Quick and simple:

Will charging my 6 volt battery on a 12 volt charger fry it?

Any idea of how to test if the battery charger is working? It's the type with no settings, just on or off.

Thanks!

Don't do it.
Get an electrical multi-tester to check your charger to see if it works, but still don't put 12v charge on a 6v battery. It will ruin it and possibly violently.

Invest in a battery charger that will do both (Harbor Frieght) sells one at a decent price that I have had good luck with. Buy one with the amp gauge on it the gauge will tell you if it needs a charge or when it is charged. Sears sells similar models for around $100 cheap when you consider what blowing one up might cost. Cautionary tale my neighbor years ago hooked one up no safety glasses, sparked, battery blew up in his face and he eventually lost one eye. Be careful, use good equipment and follow safe practices they can be very dangerous.

Thanks, I have a charger for 6v, and one for 12v, but one I hook the 6v charger to my battery, the needle on the charging gauge doesn't move. So I'm wondering if it's actually charging, or if it's broken. I'll see what I can figure out with a multimeter.

The newer chargers won't turn on if the voltage is too low in the battery. The Optima battery site has a procedure to connect another fully charged battery to the dead one to let the charger turn on and charge both till the dead one gets up to min voltage. Then charge the low one like normal. This may work for you.

That might be what's happening....Thanks for the tip!