The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6v & 12v ?'s For All You Sparkies

New to my truck and have some electrical to do. The wiring is a gonner, but should work for a fire up. Batt is done as well.I really like the old starting system so have decided to stick with 6v for now. Picked up a 6v Optima and will have 2/0 cables made as sugested by others for better cranking power.

My question is,if anyone has run 2-6v batteries in series so you have the best of both worlds? 6v for everything that needs it and 12v for the starter and whatever needs more power? Would the generator charge the first cell and balance to the other? Would this work? What obvious problem am I missing in this???

J.C. Whitney used to sell a kit to do just that. It would start a 6-volt system on 12 volts and a 12-volt on 24. After converting one of my tractors to 12 volt and going through several starters, I found that the original 1/0 cables were so badly corroded inside the insulation that very little voltage was getting to the starter motor. With new cables on there and a 12-volt battery, it cranks faster than it idles.
The short version of that is: try new cables first. You might be surprised.

Unless you're wanting to power a bazillion watt stereo a simple step-up would work to power 12v accessories.

Voltage booster Read the description not the listing header.

If you want to spend big bucks it seems they now have high power boosters as well.

See,I was thinking the oposite. Just using the 12v for the starter and the headlights, and the 6v going to the gauge cluster ecxt. Not like I'm going to put in a big stereo or anything just thinking it would start better? Stock but better? 12v can't be any more out of place than the 6v optima I just bought? I was just curious if anyone had done it before or if it could be done? Also two optimas would be about the same size as the original batt?

Once again, if your just going to power up a couple of 12v
devices the small voltage booster cubes fit right under the
dash, one wire to gnd. and one to a hot spot and you're good to go.
I power a SunPro 12v tach and Sony AM/FM/CD stereo from one:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/139692811

As far as starting goes if you have a good 6v battery, proper
sized cables, solid clean connections and a good starter then
starting is not a problem with these stock 216 or 235 engines
and the lighting system is perfectly adequate.

You won't be able to fit two batteries that have enough cranking
power into the space where one lived, so you will have to find
another spot for the second batter. The wiring would be a real
pain in the ars and you will have to rig some way of putting
them in series to the starter and 12v accessories and then in
parallel for the 6v generator.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Alright, I'll just continue on the straight and narrow for now. Try to get it fired up today, and fix it IF there's actually a problem. Who knows the engine could be crap and that could turn this whole project in another direction?

Straightjacket,
I ran 6 volt for several years. I made sure to park on a hill just in case. The thing about a 6 volt system is, when everything is new and all connections are clean with no corrosion it works just fine. The rub is, as time passes and battery is no longer new and connections corrode, the weakness of the 6 volt system raises its ugly head. I have used an eight volt battery and that turned the starter over faster than 6 volt and I didn't have to change any bulbs. The 6 volt generator put out enough voltage to charge the battery. I was happy with that until I drove a buddy's AD converted to 12 volt that still had the 6 volt starter. You stomp on the foot starter and she starts up and I mean right now!

i converted a 1953 truck to 12v a while ago. i heard a long time ago just to leave 6v starter in. in the process of getting the truck run after 15 some odd years, i was using a 12v batt.....bypassed harness and ran jumper to +pos side of coil and started it up. changed all bulbs, alternator with charge bulb along with nos amp gage. there has been no problem since and 6v starter cranks engine over like it SHOULD

Prevented by good old fashioned maintenance. My coupe is 75 years old, 6 volt and working just fine.

I know you are just trying to get it started, however once you have things tuned up, a well maintained 6V system will work fine.

Both 6v and 12v batteries get old very slowly if they are kept charged and stored off the ground.

Corrosion can be eliminated on both 6v and 12v systems: clean contact areas and use an anti-oxidant highly-conductive "grease" on terminals and ground/hot cable connections (di-electric grease is not conductive).

NAPA - 7652569 (small "jar")
NAPA - 7652568 (small tube)

NAPA - 728283 felt corrosion protector rings are an inexpensive addition

Not sure if you were referring to the old myth about not storing a battery on the concrete
floor Tim, “kept charged and stored off the ground,” but if so I’ll have to disagree with ya
on that one. I’m a pretty disagreeable character lately aren’t I?
Here is a short article on that subject from Interstate Batteries Tech Talk:
http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechTalk_Batteries_on_Concrete.htm

The biggest problem with any lead acid battery and its life span is the material that flakes
off the plates will build up on the bottom of the case over time and shorts them out.
Discharging because of dirt i.e., grease, mud, condensed acid vapor and what ever is an
easy fix and should not be a problem if a regular annual maintenance schedule is
followed. As should be cleaning the electrical connections, especially at the battery
cables.
Hard starting with these older vehicles is quite often a lack of compression also. The
compression may check out close enough to the specs when you check it cold so you
might dismiss this as a problem. And they may start just fine in the morning but once you
get them all warmed up and everything expands the compression could be well below the
minimum needed.
My first car was a ’41 Caddy 346 flathead V8 with very low compression. At 16 I just
didn’t have the money to rebuild that engine. She started fine when it was cold but once it
was warmed up the 6v battery which still turned it over at the proper speed would not
start it. A cheap fix was to carry a 12v battery on the passenger side with jumpers hooked
to the 6v under the floor. The extra boost and the faster starter rotation was just enough
start it cookin’. The girls weren’t to nuts about sharing the floor board with the battery,
but it did get them to curl up a little closer to the driver.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL