The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6v to 12v Converter usage

Hi, has anyone ever tried one of these to operate a 12v Radio in a Truck running on a 6v system?

It seems odd to me that 6v could even be turned into 12v. I'm concerned that were I to do it I'd be running the 6v battery down.

Thanks,
Dave

it's not so much "turning 6V into 12V", it's a matter of supplying the required amps, higher you step up the voltage the less amps you get .... depending on the rating it'd probably be fine for just a radio, but you wouldn't want to have it on when the truck wasn't running .... could just switch the truck to 12V - or you could use 2 batteries, one 6V for the main setup, with a 2nd 6V in series to give 12V for the radio, just take some creative wiring for charging both

Bill

A 12V motor cycle or lawn mower battery will run a standard radio for hours. They are easier to hide than a second car battery. Keep it on a trickle charger when garaged.

How many amps will your radio draw?

Bill's question is quite pertinent: are you asking about using the radio with the truck on/charging or when the truck is off?

Bill I would just be using it for running the radio while the truck is running.

My guess is it would draw between 40 to 60 amps based on what I'm seeing on my internet research. Do you think my generator would be able to keep up with that or would my 6v battery wear down over time?

Actually, I used a motorcycle battery for 10 years now, but when I saw I could get a converter to 12v... it made me would if I could save myself the hassle.

If you need 40-60 12v amps, I doubt if this could provide enough power.

I had a feeling this might not be the magic box I had hoped.
Thanks for the expert advice guys!

as Tim points out, no .... your generator won't even put out that much, the standard generators were 25-35 amps .... I think you might be reading the sound output, different measurement, you want to look for the current draw of the radio, the original radios called for a fuse about 12-15 amps so they would have been drawing maybe 10-12 amps, doubt newer versions would be much more unless they're real boom boxes

Bill

40-60 amps? Not a 12V car radio.

I may be off on the amps needed, confusing it with the speaker watts. Here is the one http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL029038&pathId=139&page=3 I'm thinking to install - I don't really see how many amps it consumes in the specifications.

Do you think this could be run by a converter without draining the battery?

No sweat 3600, I've been running a Sony AMFM/CD stereo in my
stock 1950, 6v system for almost seven years with no problems
what so ever. I also power a SunPro 12v tachometer with it,
at the same time no problem.
Here's the Voltage booster that I'm using:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/139692811

No mystery to it. The 6v DC is turned into 6v AC then boosted up to
12v AC thru a step-up transformer, then it's rectified back to
12 DC. All done for you in that little Solid State cube.

As Charlie alluded to, a 12v SS car radio isn't gonna draw down
your battery anywhere near as much as your old 6v tube radios
did. You probably could play the radio for hours with the
engine shut off before it caused a problem.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks Denny that's great news - thanks I'm going to order your converter tonight!

Btw, I grew up in Somonauk and I found my truck in a falling down barn in Hinckley IL way back in 1981. Best $150 bucks I ever spent!

You still around the area????

If your not then you wouldn't know that they're tearing down all
the old barns and putting up subdivisions now days around here.

Denny Graham
Somewhere north of Sandwich, IL

Here is a little more versatile/powerful (and more expensive) 6v to 12v converter. That company/person makes a converter for 6v pos or 6v neg ground to 12v neg ground.

The more commonly available converter shown by Denny also has a 6v pos or 6v neg version.

I moved to the Crystal Lake area but I had my truck at the Somonauk Summerfest so I've seen the changes.

Thanks Tim but I ordered the negative ground Autosounds like Denny has; it looks durable and it was only $59

It's finally warming up to install the converter, any advice on the best location to tie into on the wiring harness.

Is there a best location?

My thinking is after the ignition switch but I don't see anything much for a fuse box and I don't want to draw power away from a line meant to feed the headlights or brake lights, etc.

I forgo the desire to make it keyed off the ignition, I could just tie it directly to the voltage regulator output - in this way I would not be drawing from the master input source.

Electrical systems are definitely not my expertise, so any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave