HELP I need to be educated
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,328
Likes: 124
From: Iowa
Originally Posted by Jag Red 54
Hiball: When I first bought my Fairlane (1993) it had a 12-6 battery in it. They are sold after market. They start on 12 volt, then change to 6 volt to run your lights, etc. Very pricey and only good for about a year, but the starter motor never gave me any problem. (I think these batteries only last a year because they are only being charged at about 7 volts off the stock generator) 
Jag
JagIf you wanted to hassle with the dual voltage, I would think a pair of six volts would be a better option. Be easy to mount the additional battery on our trucks anyway. Most military systems use either dual, or quad batteries. Fairly easy to series or parallel them as needed to get the desired voltage.
Lot of good info on this thread. Thanks.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 4,489
Likes: 5
From: Valley Center, CA
Dewayne, I see that you have come to the same conclusion that I did..... after about two years!! The gimmick is unnecessary. I had bought the 55 from a guy who claimed that it was hard to start. So he had bought this 6/12 to spin the motor faster. However, as the battery got older and needed to be charged, the solenoid on top had to be disconnected once in a while. It would just click when you turned the key. So I learned that if you disconnected a wire on the battery solenoid, then the starter would turn on six volts and the engine would start. 
So it dawned on me finally, that since the engine started without the 12 volts; why not convert back to the standard 6 volt battery? Thats what I did and it has never had a hard time starting. 
Jag 
So it dawned on me finally, that since the engine started without the 12 volts; why not convert back to the standard 6 volt battery? Thats what I did and it has never had a hard time starting. Jag
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,776
Likes: 41
From: Minnesota
I am doing it for the brighter lighting. I have driven older vehicles with a 6 volt system and the lighting didn't cut it for me. My truck starts just fine on 6 volts. I would like the good halogen lights, but I don't think the 6 volt generator would. Beyond that I am good.
Originally Posted by Jag Red 54
Dewayne, I see that you have come to the same conclusion that I did..... after about two years!! The gimmick is unnecessary. I had bought the 55 from a guy who claimed that it was hard to start. So he had bought this 6/12 to spin the motor faster. However, as the battery got older and needed to be charged, the solenoid on top had to be disconnected once in a while. It would just click when you turned the key. So I learned that if you disconnected a wire on the battery solenoid, then the starter would turn on six volts and the engine would start. So it dawned on me finally, that since the engine started without the 12 volts; why not convert back to the standard 6 volt battery? Thats what I did and it has never had a hard time starting. Jag
So it dawned on me finally, that since the engine started without the 12 volts; why not convert back to the standard 6 volt battery? Thats what I did and it has never had a hard time starting. Jag
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,328
Likes: 124
From: Iowa
Christopher
Check out the tech article on brighter lights. It works well for cheap. Not sure what GA your stock light circuit is (surely it needs an upgrade anyway). I ran 12GA, but 14GA should be suffiicient. Don't neglect your headlight switch either. I've seen a few of those melt down over the years. I wouldn't use a 50 year old switch under any circumstances, especially with halogens.
Check out the tech article on brighter lights. It works well for cheap. Not sure what GA your stock light circuit is (surely it needs an upgrade anyway). I ran 12GA, but 14GA should be suffiicient. Don't neglect your headlight switch either. I've seen a few of those melt down over the years. I wouldn't use a 50 year old switch under any circumstances, especially with halogens.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,776
Likes: 41
From: Minnesota
I am going to use relays for the headlights and use the factory switch to control the relays.
Originally Posted by fatfenders
Christopher
Check out the tech article on brighter lights. It works well for cheap. Not sure what GA your stock light circuit is (surely it needs an upgrade anyway). I ran 12GA, but 14GA should be suffiicient. Don't neglect your headlight switch either. I've seen a few of those melt down over the years. I wouldn't use a 50 year old switch under any circumstances, especially with halogens.
Check out the tech article on brighter lights. It works well for cheap. Not sure what GA your stock light circuit is (surely it needs an upgrade anyway). I ran 12GA, but 14GA should be suffiicient. Don't neglect your headlight switch either. I've seen a few of those melt down over the years. I wouldn't use a 50 year old switch under any circumstances, especially with halogens.
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 15,882
Likes: 88
From: Durham NC
One only has to look under my dash and hood to see the result of using old and chopped up wiring. Strange thing is they just replaced the burned wires and left the rest of the rat's nest in place??? ( see the before pics in my gallery for what NOT to do!)
Logistics Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,771
Likes: 80
From: tujunga, calif
and for people who don't want to deal with wiring and possible fire problem, you can buy a new truck with the problems already installed at the factory...........LOL
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Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,328
Likes: 124
From: Iowa
Originally Posted by hiball3985
and for people who don't want to deal with wiring and possible fire problem, you can buy a new truck with the problems already installed at the factory...........LOL
Christopher
I wasn't clear but that's what I actually meant. That is how I am using my headlight switch too.
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 910
Likes: 4
From: Maryland
Originally Posted by Christopher2
I am doing it for the brighter lighting. I have driven older vehicles with a 6 volt system and the lighting didn't cut it for me. My truck starts just fine on 6 volts. I would like the good halogen lights, but I don't think the 6 volt generator would. Beyond that I am good.
On your first post. Found this in a electronics book glossary
watt (w) The unit of power in the metric system. The watt describes how fast a circuit uses electrical energy.
It seems to me that heat is just wasted energy.
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