Running on battery

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Running on battery
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By scott thayer on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 11:31 am:

I have a 23 T is it ok to drive on battery,will it stay charged with lights on,or do i need to change something?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Thode Chehalis Washington on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 11:35 am:

Scott,
As long as your car has a working generator you can drive it without ever charging from an out side source.

If your car does not have a generator you would have to charge it ever so often.

Does your magneto work? It is does it will run better on the mag.

Jim


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By scott thayer on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 11:46 am:

shuts off when i switch to mag


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 11:55 am:

Has it ever run on mag since you bought it? Or is this something new?

It will run on battery for many years, it will just be slower than it would be on mag.

If it used to run on mag and then stopped running on mag, it could be a bad switch or bad connection between the mag and the wires leading to the switch. In that case find and repair the problem. You can test the magneto with an analog AC volt meter and a light bulb. See other posts showing exactly how this is done. If the magneto shows a good AC current about 6V at idle and increasing to near 30 volts at high speed, your magneto is good.

If the magneto tests bad, and the engine is otherwise dependable and doesn't need repair, you can run on battery as long as you wish. Then the next time you pull the engine, you can repair the magneto.
Norm


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 11:59 am:

If it doesn't have a generator, it won't run for long. If it has a generator, but the generator does not work, it won't run long. If it has a generator that is improperly set, that undercharges the battery, it will run for awhile but the battery will eventually discharge and it will stop running. If it has a properly set generator that fully charges the battery and everything is set properly, it will run as long as it has gas. Since the magneto is wired independent of the battery/generator system, the car will not run if you have a bad magneto or faulty magneto connections, such as a mag post contact that has slipped off the button or lint between the button and contact. Jim Patrick


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By scott thayer on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 12:08 pm:

just got it,seems to charge good by the ammeter.I went to snyders and got a couple books,try to figure out mag,car sat 25+ years.just wanted to make sure driving on bat.would not hurt.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeff Hood on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 12:36 pm:

If your generator is charging it will run forever. Some T coils don't always run as well on 6V, but others run fine. Either way, they don't draw much from the battery.

I have a truck that does not have a generator or a working magneto and I have made several 100+ mile tours where we stopped many times for sightseeing, coffee, lunch, etc. and always use the starter to get going again, and still have battery enough to run the starter after returning home at the end of the day.

Even when the battery is low enough that it won't turn the starter, it will power the coils for a long time.

I usually put the charger on it every couple of months, but with a working generator, you shouldn't even have to do that.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve McClelland on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 12:39 pm:

Scott
Like stated above as long as your showing (charge) on the ammeter your good to go even running the lights... It works just like the modern car charging system, the generator is putting the stored energy back in the battery as you drive...
Be safe...!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 01:52 pm:

Over charging is a problem equally as or more dangerous than not charging. We've seen multiple T batteries expire from over charging. Ideally the car shows only a slight + charge when driving at cruising speed with the headlights on.

If you install the Fun Projects voltage regulator in place of the cutout you reduce greatly the risk of ruining batteries or generators.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By James Michael Rogers on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 03:22 pm:

You might want to remove the inspection cover on the hogshead and look inside to see if it has a mag ring or magnets.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep NZ on Thursday, November 01, 2012 - 12:06 am:

i drove on AA batteries and when they went flat the car was pretty immobile.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Thursday, November 01, 2012 - 03:08 pm:

A friend of mine used to run his '12 on a six volt lantern battery. He would run for months on one. He liked it because he could easily carry a spare under the back seat and when it started to run poorly, he would just put in his spare. He thought it was great until out in the middle of nowhere on a tour, his battery when went dead. His spare under the rear seat turned out to also have gone dead. Some finagling was in order to get him going again.
As far as running on regular car batteries is concerned. Many people in the antique care hobby have run cars (both Ts and much larger cars) by charging the battery after some number of miles. They nearly always ran at least a full day, even on major tours where the mileage was way over a hundred.
I have run several speedsters without starters on several 200 mile endurance runs using rechargeable lawn mower batteries. I carried a spare (learned from my friend), but never even came close to needing the spare. On one occasion, I ran the endurance run, then followed it with a local tour for a total of nearly 300 miles without recharging that lawn mower battery.
The only concern I have with running on battery only, is sudden battery failure. I have never had that happen with an antique automobile. But I have had it happen with my modern cars a few times. Most recently my 2001 Ford Expedition left me stranded in the grocery store lot with frozen food. Carry a lawn mower battery as a spare, and a little wire to connect it just in case.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


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