The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay How to wire voltage booster for my tail/brake lite

I bought a voltage booster for my 6 volt 51 Chevy 1/2 ton truck. The plan is to send 12 volts to my new LED tail/brake/turn lights (they put out very little light when the truck is idling with the headlights on. I have installed their own ground wires & checked all the wiring. Evidently these lights just need more than 6 volts). How can I wire it up so only these lights get the 12 volts? It's OK if the front parking lights get 12 volts too.

Does Jim Carter not support the products he/they sell or is the drawing he provided not specific enough for your application? Do you have a way to direct us to a drawing or schmatic of the EL219? BTW, I have narrowed down the issue of "Rod & Custom" to June, 2011 which has the drwings for a 6 to 12 volt voltage doubler but haven't located it yet.

Here's a circuit that turns 12V into 20V. If it does that, it would probably almost double your 6V output as well. When a 6V charging system is working right, the battery terminal voltage is actually about 7.5 volts.

http://electroschematics.com/648/555-voltage-doubler/

Jerry

The instructions are for folks who want to run an accessory like a 12 volt radio on a 6 volt system. You pretty much just splice this thing into whatever wire is powering what you want to feed 12 volts to. That would be pretty easy to wire. I can figure out how to wire it so the tail lights are fed 12 volts. Or so the brake lights have 12 volts. I can't figure out how to wire it so that both have 12 volts. It seems like I need two of these things. But I wanted to check with you guys to see if I was missing something.

If all you're wanting are brighter lights try brighter 6v bulbs. I more than doubled the light output of my '38 over stock.

I'll assume that this doubler has four wires, a plus and minus 6 volt input and a plus and minus 12 volt output. If this is correct then I'll take a stab at it. #1... output from light switch for tail lights. Cut or lift the output wire for the taillights and hook the doubler (+12) wire to the one that goes to taillights. BTW all (-6 & -12) wires go to good ground. The cut wire from the lightswitch goes to the (+6) volt input. This should give you 12 volts at your taillights. Note: if your front marker lights are 6 volt and come on with your taillight then you must find that junction, cut and reattach to the input (+6) of the doubler where the 6 volt output of your lightswitch goes. #2...stoplight and turn signals. The brake lights with turn signal option should start at the back or down stream side of the brake switch. The orginial wire is lifted. A wire should be installed on the back side of the switch that goes to the (+6) volt side of the doubler. Another wire is then run from the (+12) volt side of the doubler to the orginial wire that went to the back side of the brake switch and then to the brakes lights and such. . The turn signal front bulb also must be addressed. If stand alones (not joined with your parking lights) then change bulb to 12 volt and replace your 6 volt turn signal cans to 12 volt. If front turn signal bulbs are joined (dual filament) with parking lights then #1 above needs to be "tweaked" and bulb and cans changed. It's early on the 'right coast' and have only a 1/2 cup of coffee in me. Hope others read and tweak this if (I'm sure) I missed something or am completly wrong.

The only problem with the above arrangement is that the brake light is fed separately because it comes therough the brake switch.

I would suggest going to 12 volts or forget it. You are going to end up with real headaches with all these patches.

There are three wires on the booster: a wire to input the 6 volts, a wire to output the 12 volts, and a ground wire. I mounted it on the firewall, and inserted it in the wire that leaves the taillight fuse. I now have incredibly bright taillights. Unfortunately, since the brake light/turn signal lights are still 6 volts, you don't even notice when they come on. I may switch it to the brake light fuse wire for now ( I plan on buying another booster for the other lights).

You are on the right track. Remember, all the orginial lights are fed from a single voltage sourse (battery/alt. or gen.). You just have to find the correct point to break the six volt wire, hook that feed wire (from the voltage source) to the input of the doubler, then hook the doubler output wire to the other side of the break or light wire.