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| | | | Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 94 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2003 Posts: 94 | Can I use the same tach dwell meter on a 6-volt as well as a 12-volt vehicle? Mine does not have a voltage selector, so I'm a little hesitant to try it on a 6-volt system. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,796 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,796 | Some work OK, others don't. You won't hurt anything by trying, since the internal resistance of the meter will prevent any overload on 6 volts. The readings might not be accurate, though.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,107 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,107 | i have a modern sears/craftsman analyzer. i have ony been able to use it for rpms. when dwell is selected, i get nothing that makes sense so i stopped trying to use it. i just set points with a feeler gage. some have told me that it can be done but no one has shown me how. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,796 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,796 | It's possible to use an old-fashioned analog voltmeter (the one with the needle, not digital) as a dwell meter. When the points are open, the meter will read applied voltage, the same as is coming to the coil. "Points closed" will read zero volts, or a tiny fraction of a volt if the points are a little dirty. It's pretty simple to figure out the voltage that will be indicated for a particular percentage of "points closed" time, and convert that to a "degrees of dwell" reading. Since most distributors work best at about a 66% "points closed" time, adjust the point gap to read about 1/3 of applied voltage to the coil with the engine idling.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,107 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,107 | since i dont have an analog meter i was wondering if my analog analyzer set on the volt function would work the same as a analog volt meter would?  | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,796 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,796 | It probably would work that way. If the points are set right, there should be about 1/3 of the applied voltage to the coil at the distributor primary terminal with the engine running at idle.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 2 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 2 | There is a simple way to get the 12 volt meter to work on the 6 volt ignition system. It requires a battery from a motorcycle, dry cell from a light, whatever has 12 volts.
Connect the power wires from the tach/dwell to the 12 volt battery, then, add a ground wire from the 12 volt battery to the engine, and connect the sensor wire form the meter to the negative post on the coil. read dwell/rpms, set accordingly.
The power supply from the 12 volt battery will NOT interface/interfere with the 6 volt system. The ground wire from the 12 volt battery to the engine proper only completes the READ circuit on the meter, the two different voltage systems remain separated.
Dwell meter/tach reads correctly when connected in this method. | | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,107 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,107 | Dwell meter/tach reads correctly when connected in this method. CONFIRMED, thanks. | | |
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