The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Dead Battery after 6->12 volt convertion

Yesterday, I finished my 6 to 12 volt convertion. The truck started right up. Turned off when it was suppose to. Thought I'd go out tonight to try it.............Dead battery.

Can anyone tell me what is the typical cause ?

argh !

Many things could cause a dead battery. For starters, do you have a draw on the battery when the truck is turned off ? Be sure everything in the truck is turned off, heater, lights, ignition switch, etc..

Take your POS cable off the battery. Put your test light between the POS battery terminal and the POS cable. If the test light comes on, something is drawing current..

I did put a light between the cable and terminal and yes the light is on. Ign switch is in the off position. Headlamp switch is pushed in all the way. Heater switch is turned off.

argh !

You will need to go through the circuits one at a time, leaving the testlight hooked up, and pulling each fuse until the draw stops. If the fuses dont do it, then you may have to chop into your wiring a little bit to find the problem. A short term solution would be to disconnect the battery inbetween uses, or use a master disconnect switch like they do on race cars.

Rob,
Thanks for your reply. Your suggestion is what I will do. I'll first spend some time trouble shooting, wiggling wires etc. I hate to put in a master switch but this just may help in the long run. I only use my truck maybe once a month. Who is a good source for such an item. Any switch in particular ?

Thanks
Craig

When you converted from 6v to 12v, did you use a change to a 12v generator or alternator?
If you changed to a 12v generator, did you polarize the voltage regulator?

Tim

Alternator was installed.

Get one of those door open buzzers, and hook it up between the battery and the hot lead. Then you don't have to get out and look at the light every time.
Dennis

cmayna,
Your local auto parts store should have a switch that will work for you. there race sanctioned switches are installed so they are accessible from the outside of the vehicle and have a sort of key, or just a flip lever to cut the whole electrical system. For the short term, you should be able to find one that will connect to your battery terminal and will probably have a large screw handle, you simply unscrew the connection and your battery is unhooked. Good luck on it. the door buzzer suggestion is a good one too
Rob

Try unplugging alternator wiring and then do the test lite trick the others have suggested. My guess is you have the regulator portion of the alternator hooked up to a " hot at all times " circuit. Just because it turned off with the key doesnt mean the alternator turned off, just the ignition coil.

Did you install a new alterntor or used? If used, it could have some bad diodes allowing the alternator to discharge. If you are not running an alternator charge lite, then you wouldnt notice. Usually when a diode goes bad, the idiot lite will glow with the key off. However, it is possible to substitute a resistor in place of the lite, and you have no indication of the diode problem.

Does the battery charge with the engine running?

HOT OFF THE PRESS !!! IT'S FIXED ( I think )

I took Bill Miles suggestiong first by putting a test bulb between the Postive cable and the terminal. Started to disconnect any wire that I had touched (regulator, generator, heater, etc)

Finally I disconnected the DA yellow wire from the ignition and guess what?

Obviously I had originally connected the yellow wire to the wrong ign stud. Thus I ran a circult test between the + side of the coil with the 2-3 different wires connected to the ign switch.

YUP, I found the right stud. Hooked everything back up. Check the test light and it's out (nobody's home)

Thanks to the likes of Bill Miles, Rob Arends and others, I think I resolved this headache. I really appreciate all that you have done for me.

Regards
Craig Maynard

50 - 3100 : - )

By' em books and By 'em books and all they do is....

Sorry you had trouble, In DA plug instructions it says "check your wiring" you should only have power to the DA plug when the ignition key is in the "on" position"

This happens every once in a while, so do not feel to bad, you are not the first..(nor will you be the last) The obnocious colors I use for printing the "obstruction" sheets are in hopes that you won't lose them and might even sit down and read them before you start. They also have my phone number included so you can call me, and tell me you did not read them, and I will answer your questions over the phone. You wouldn't be the first to do that either.

Come to think of it... I don't read instructions very often either, that is kind of like stopping to ask for directions...--Randy