I have a 1949 F-1 that runs off a 6-volt battery. I want to put a stereo in it and run it off of a 12-volt but do not want to convert the engine to 12-volt. I have heard there is a battery that supports both. Does anyone know where I can find and purchase one of these?

 

If they did make such a battery, how would you charge it? You
still only have a 6 volt generator. You might as well get a
auxilary 12 volt battery and manually charge it once in awhile.

 

I plan on installing a 12v stereo in my '48 and have been told you can buy a converter that changes it from 6v to 12v for just one component (ex. a stereo), without having to redo the whole truck. I'm sure there's such a converter out there, however i have never looked into it. If you find out, be sure to post it!

 

I saw one in Hemmings (can't recall the company) and called about it. It costs about $100.

What I did is put an extra 12v battery under the hood. My truck has a 6 so there's lots of room. I run the radio off the 12v and still have all the 6v electrical. Every so often I need to charge up the 12v but it works OK.

Another option is to look for a portable CD unit that runs on 6v. Look at the cigarette lighter adapter of the "car kit" and check the output. If it's 6v you can set up fused power line off your current electrical system, but watch the polarity.

ADB

 

go to the website of antique auto battery and they have a battery for your needs.

Mike

 

Check with Radio Shack or any good electronics shop. Ask for a step up transformer. You'll need to know how many amps your stereo pulls. That should be printed on it or you can hook a amp gauge up to it while it is running. This (step up) won't work if your planning on running a killer wattage system. Remember too that your generator only produces a certain amont of current and you can easily exceed this if your driving at night with bright lights, wipers, heater and then throw a high amp stereo. This is where a amp gauge (in dash)comes into play. Except for the starter circuit everything else should go through it. If the system is working properly it will register 0 all the time. if your generator is producing 28 amps and your using 31 it will show -3 amps. Initially after starting it may show some charging as it replenishes the battery but not for very long. Also if your stereo pull 3 amps at 12 volts that wiil double for 6 volts = 6 amps. HEY there whole books wrote on this but I hope this helps.

Thanks Charles

 

A transformer works on AC (alternating current) only. It will not work on DC (direct current). I looked at that website, and if you read carefully, it's what I thought, you can't charge the 12v part of the battery unless you change the generator/alt to 12v.

 

Try J C Whitney current catalog #647J-02 pg. 142 upper right corner. Two models each for positive or negative ground. High and low current. You will most likely need the high. It produces 12.6v @ 2.5amps from 5.0v / 12.6v @ 5amps from 8.0v. your available voltage will determine output. I am not a expert on 6 volt systems but the regulator is adjustable for the type of driving you do ie.. lots of starts and stops or long hiway drives. Anyway it probably puts out around 7.0 to 7.5 volts which will give you around 4.1 to 4.5 amps @ 12.6 volts dc. This assumes your battery, generator, regulator and associated wiring is in good shape. It does not state what amp draw it takes as this varies with the output load. But as I stated before it will probably be double your output if your starting voltage is at 50% of ending voltage. Yours should be a little higher than that around 55 to 58 %. I would like to know your test values you get if you choose this route. It cost $89.99 and weighs 9 oz.
let me know if this works. Radio shack used to sell these but I don't know if they still do.

Thanks Charles

 

Heh... I be darned if I remember at this time where I saw it.,... but I also saw a dual voltage battery.... I know it exists...
If I remember I'll be back

 

If you were able to find an older battery that had cells and bars on the top. You could tap off in the middle for 6 volts and at the end for 12 volts. This is the same battery that they use for those 6 volts/12 volts for start batteries.

Chris

 

I still don't see how you are going to charge a 12 volt battery, no matter how many taps it has, with a 6 volt generator. Are you going to charge only half of the battery?

 

C&G Ford parts has the converter to run 12v accessories on a 6v system. It's $69.95 for one with 3 amp (12v) output. Their web site is http://www.cgfordparts.com/. Click the on-line catalog link and search for "power converter" to find it.

Tony

 

Look up parallel and series electrical wiring or talk to some one that is familiar with it. It would take to long for me to explain in a posting. If hook two 6 volt batteries to your system in parallel, basically running your system with two batteries which will give you one big battery for starting your truck. Then run a wire in series from the (-) post of battery #1 to the (+) post of battery #2, then run the radio from the (+) post of battery #1 to the (-) post of battery #2 you will have 12 volts. Do some research and run the idea by someone that is familiar with electronics and this will be easy. Also some of those old trucks had backward systems so please run this by someone familiar with the trucks electrical systems.

 

It would require the use of isolation diodes that are not cheap. best idea is to use the convertor. It is simple, cheap, and available.

Charles