The purpose is not to debate the faults or advantage of 6 volts vs. 12 volts. This might be fun. May offer some insight to all. What are you running on your T? And have you had a problem.

I have 5 Ts’ all are 12 volt and I lost one bendix that I questioned but was the best I had at that time it was needed. Started playing with Ts” in 1990.

Mike Bender
Tulsa OK.

12 volts in both T's. My 15 touring has a starter added to the original motor. It used to belong to my father. He ran 12 volts in it since late 1960's. Never had any type of starter problems but have rebuilt the engine twice in the past 35 years. Ring gear looks perfect for being an original one. Ran it all year in 2005 on battery cause the magneto ring went open. It will go at least 500 miles on battery charge.

The battery in the car right now is 10 years old. I put it on the charger after every tour. Bought it at Pep Boys for $25 plus tax in 1997.

Royce

Four Model T's, all 6 volts, never any problem whatsoever related to voltage issues In the 27 years I've been driving. (Except of course the occaisional dead battery which can always happen when batteries get old.)

In the 60's my dad had his (mine now) 25 pie wagon engine/tranny rebuilt. The car since will not run on mag. He says he thinks the mag spacing was never set right and he never took the car back to correct it. We have run the car(truck) on battery ever since. It is an electric start. Even with a full enclosed wooden cab body, which surely has to weigh a lot, it runs very well.

Mike,

I run neither - I run 8 volt. The reason I do that is my car has no generator other than a "mag charger" much like the one I made for Fred Houston.

With 8 volts, my 6 volt lighting is very good for the short time that I may need to "get home". It should be also nice to power my underhood lighting at shows (engine off), since the hood shades the engine somewhat.

The only thing I don't like about the 8 volt battery is the extra cell on the grounded end has its post on the same side of the battery as the positive post which prevents me from using the Ford ground strap.

I'm glad you asked!

Seth

oh, it is a 6 volt, all old T system.

My 24 racer will be a 6 volt, timer and coils, with no mag. Hand crank, w/generator. If my arm gives out from cranking, I may put the starter back on.

I have a six volt for the starter and twelve for everything else there are two batteries in the trunk of my coupe.I charge the twelve with the alternator and charge the six with a battery charger .
Rick

6 volt for everything. Never had a problem with starting or the brightness of the lights. The Ford coil & timer ignition even runs on 6V as the magneto died more than 50 years ago. As the car can get up to 75km/h on the flat I'm happy to leave it that way. The battery has lasted five years so far; I'm sure the thicker plates help. Having said that, a 6 volt T is a rarity in this part of the world.

Mike
Did Fred Houston put up to this post? grin
I rebuild 75 Model T starters and generators every year and have seen the effects of using 12 volts on the Model T starting and lighting system. I do not deny it can be done, but in the long run your gonna pay a price.
For everyone who has a reason to convert to 12 volts I will explain why it is not required if your original 6 volt system is working correctly.
Ron the Coilman

Model T's are 6 volts. Hot rods can be whatever you want.

Ron,

It did sound a lot like Fred, but I did this on my own. I really didn’t do a very good job of explaining the question. I can think faster than I can type. Really what it boils down to is the use of 12 volts when the car is equipped with a starter.

You have in the past explained the problems that could or would be encountered, but the fact is we have a lot of Model Ters that have used 12 volts for many years without problems or have not yet found a problem.

My question is how many of the folks here on the forum use 12 volts and what if any problems did they have that could be a result of this configuration. Also how many are using 6 volts for starters and what problems if any, they may have incurred.

Look at the question as a survey: those that respond how many are using 6 or 12 volts and what problem or not did they have with regards to the ring gear, bendix and starter. So far it is about 50/50 with me having the only problem. As it stands right now 6 volts is ahead in the poll.

Fred huh! Somehow I need to get even on that. LOL

Mike Bender
Tulsa OK

Model TT - 6 volts
Model A - 6 volts

No problems with either. Cranks just fine. Lights plenty bright enough to see where your are going at the speeds one goes. Tail lights nowhere near bright enough to be seen by others at the speeds they go, but that is a function of their size, not voltage, especially the TT with the 0 volt oil tail light.

Farmall H - 12 volt

I'm on the third brush plate for the starter. The bendix flew out so hard, the shaft was thrown the other direction (Newton's equal and opposite reaction) and busted the rear brush plate/bearing assembly. I wanted to convert it back to 6v, but it actually belongs to my wife and she let someone talk her into having the starter "Shunted" and keeping the 12v system. No problems since having that done, but there is still a big ugly ballast resistor hanging off the side of the coil.

Well my TT is 12 volt and I reckon the 1 I am building will be 12 volt as I have allready bought and installed 12 volt bulbs in the headlights and those brass rings are a pain to remove to swap them out.
Useing 12 allows me to rotate out batterys being the TT isnt driven much and not depended on for transportation I use the oldest battery in it that I have in circulation.Getting maxium service from each battery purchase while keeping my late models reliable as possiable. My 91 lariat has a 8 year battery that is 3 years old.I will put that battery in the TT and install a new 8 year battery in the 91 model as I drive it on trips and like the reliablty.
that older 8 year battery will probably last 5 or more in the TT with no trouble,where as 7 years from purchase on a cold morning it may get weak in the knees and leave me sitting in a later model with computers and all that jazz.
Also when the TT's battery went dead last week,I was able to jump the truck off from a late model vehical without fear of blowing something up.
I made my own battery bracket for the TT that allows for the group 27 battery but due to the tiny battery compartment on the current project I may have to opt for a new battery in it.I dont run anything but group 27 ,1000 amp batterys in all my vehicals but sadly I may not be able to find 1 to fit the current project.That bugs me because the larger the amperage,the less burden you are putting on the battery during it's use.
Therefore makeing it last longer.

Mike
No problem, but be mindfull of my admonition "in the long run your gonna pay a price".
Add my real life experiences of failed Model T generators and starters using 12 volts to your survey pool.
Ron the Coilman

Real Model Ts are ~36 volt a.c.

I have 2 each 6 volt batteries (same size and group)on one of my T's. They are wired in series to provide 12 volts to the lights and such and the center tap (6 volts) feeds the starter. The generator charges both batteries at 12 volts. This car has been set up this way for more than 10 years. The reason I did this is because it is a Speedster with a low mounted gas tank and it would starve for fuel and I could not find a 6 volt fuel pump. I do not drive this car much but I have had no real problems with this setup. I am sure this is wrong on several levels. <grin> Just my .02

Paul

Mike,

Rest of "my story" to your "somewhat loaded" question:

When I bought my car some 2.5 years ago it was fitted with a 12 volt battery - mounted in the trunk on the back of my speedster a long way from the starter. It was connected to the starter and ground with relatively long either 4 or 6 gage cables - not big ones.

I was always very careful in making sure that the timing was after TDC for all starts, though I have no idea how careful the former owner was.

In less than two months of having the car the bendix spring broke. That is when I changed to a six volt battery and mounted it under the car "Ford style" and repaired the starter.

I later switched to an 8 volt battery for the reason that I mentioned in my first post. I've had no more starter problems but I must admit that I only use the starter that first time per outing with my car - the cold start.

Fred has told me that he has used 12 volts forever without problem one and I believe him. I just don't think I'd be as lucky and I never liked the fast cranking speed on 12 volts - it doesn't sound right for a T to me! (My purist side)

Seth

My previous 24 roadster was all 6V and remained that way as long as I owned it. My 25 TT has no starter or generator and was being run on 12V when I bought it, but I've got a 6V power backup battery that I want to use on it(pictured below)Ive got two new 12v gel-cells that were for a big UPS (uninterruptable power source) that are made up of 2 6V batteries connected in series in a case together. I got them for my sailboat but I'm thinking about selling that so I can use the batteries for something else. I want to use one because it will probably run the coils for 2 years without going dead. I could parallel a pair of them or even all four and run lights and everything on 6V for a long time if something happens and my mag turns out to be a problem. The lights and horn presently run off the mag, but the lights dim pretty bad when I blow the horn so I think I got a weak mag. As soon as I have the free time I need to follow Ron's directions on checking it, hopefully I'll be running on it all the time and have no need for the battery anymore except for backup since I don't plan on putting a starter on it anyway!
I'm with Ron on the 12v deal. My 31 Plymouth has a 55 Studebaker V8 that was originally 6v positive ground(which caused enough problems just changing it to negative ground). Didn't take no time until I had starter problems from jamming 12v to it, and the car isn't even road-ready yet. Since I had already painted the starter with House of Kolor candy tangerine, I didn't want to start over so I gutted a 57 starter and now it is 12v. Every 6v car that I've ever ran very long on 12v left me stranded somewhere. The Plymouth hasn't even been driven down the road and it had already fizzled.
Ray

Batteries in the case and a picture of one 6v battery. These are 16.5" long and 9.5" tall. so they won't fit under the seat. I'll have to mount the case under the bed or something if I plan on using them, but the steel case painted black wouldn't look all that bad.

Heck, I dunno...I'm having too much fun to worry about it a lot! As long as the little 12V Jet-Ski battery don't mess up my coils (Ron??) then I ain't gonna concern myself a whole lot with making a bunch of changes. Like I said, I need to quit having fun for long enough to check my mag and get the old fella running on it, then I can forget about monster batteries and all that.

I need to read posts when I come in from work at 3AM, but wait till I've slept until I post. I just posted two times and didn't add a single thing to the poll being taken...sorry fellas.
Ray

Ray,

The horn draws lots of current if it is like the battery horn that I have on my car (some 3 amps). So, it sounds quite normal for your horn to dim the lights like that.

If, while running your truck on a battery, your mag will burn out an 1156 bulb at high engine speed your mag is just fine.

My recommendation would be to use one 6V gel-cell battery for cranking since it should make it easier. Recharge it while you drive and there are plenty ways of doing that, the best of which (IMO) would be current limiting and voltage regulated. Also, by having the battery you'll never be stranded if the magneto output goes away.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

Seth

Our coupe is converted to 12 volt so we can use the air pump/dvd player, etc when we go camping in the T. Last trip was Nov 17th, 18th about 120 miles. Try it, you'll like it. Rick

Ray Elkins - if your truck doesn't run on mag I strongly suggest tearing into it this winter to find out why and repair it. I just posted what I found on a T last weekend that I fixed the mag in. The car ran fine going onto the trailer but was an accident waiting to happen. I posted it on the other forum under "bad idea".

Your not that far from Memphis and if you need you magnets re-charged give me a hollar.

I have a TT that starts on mag so it doesn't even have a battery hooked up to it. With good coils and a good mag you will really enjoy the truck (plus impress folks by starting it on a 1/4 pull of the crank every time).

Gary is right.

See: linguini

This post has been done many times before. Pay attention to what Ron Patterson says. The main problem with starter T's, is the electrical system. If you have new wiring, and a GOOD starter switch you should have no problem with the six volt system. For a hand cranker, a 12 volt battery seems to energize the coils a little better than a 6 volt. I use one in my '13, and it usually starts on the first or second pull.

Thanks Gary, sounds like a smart plan after reading that. My wires have been re-routed so that they power the lights though a separate aftermarket switch, so I think my problem lies most likely in the original switch itself. I can't think of any other reason someone would bypass the original switch. The key switch powers the coils when turned to battery but, since the mag wire has been unhooked at the firewall and re-routed to the aftermarket switch, there is no current available to the coils through the mag side of the switch. I have assumed that the original light switch is bad and that is possibly the reason for the re-routing, but I think I'll stop the fun momentarily and make sure since we all know what assuming can do :-)

thanks
Ray

Since I got my 26 T back in May of 2006, I have been trying to decide if I should switch over to 12 volts, or go with a True-fire ignition. My magneto no longer works, however, the car does seem to run well on 6 volt battery. I have been told that the car will run better on 12 volts, but I am concerned about the starter and my Coilman rebuilt generator.

I think if I don't teardown the car to fix the mag, I will probably try one of the True-fire ignitions, or put in a 12 volt and hand crank the car.

Anyone running a 12 volt because of their mag being dead? If so, do you hand crank the car or use the starter? How does the car perform?

Thanks,

Tom L
26 Touring

I converted my '26 Fordor back to 6 volts. It had an 8 volt battery in it when I got it, with off-the-shelf modern 12 volt cables. I put in a new 6 volt battery, and had new 2/0 cables built to length. The starter now runs faster than it did on the 8 volt system, with none of the risk of damage that comes with 12 volts.

Also, Paul mentioned earlier that he couldn't find a 6 volt fuel pump. Sacramento Vintage Ford sells one for $45, and AutoZone sells a pressure regulator that goes down to 1 PSI for $27. I live in a very hilly area, and I'm not interested in backing up hills. This, along with turn signals are two modern concessions I'm willing to make.

- Bruce

Many 12 volt solenoid pumps work just fine on a 6 volt model T. They also draw way less current than a 6 volt one and probably won't need a regulator when operated on 6 volts. This one pumps fine at 4 volts and needs no regulator at the 9 volts that I run it on. It is made by Kyosan Denki in Japan. I've had it for 15 years or longer and can't remember where I bought it. I would bet that the small square pumps made by Facet and sold at Auto-Zone and Advance Auto Parts, among other places, would work just fine on a six-volt system.

Seth

"Many 12 volt solenoid pumps work just fine on a 6 volt model T". Not only that, but also many other motorised accessories; for example some heavy duty 12V air compressors for pumping up tyres work reasonably well on 6V. Generally, the higher the current the motor draws on 12V, the more likely it will work on 6V.
For things like phones, CB radios etc, you can get 6-12V converters. They made tons of the things during the 1960's & 70's for VW owners. I've only ever paid $2-$10 for them at swap meets.

I would never suggest using a 12 volt pump on a 6 volt '37 Ford with a heavily-modified V-8 sporting three Stromberg 97s but for a T with up to 40 horsepower, sure, why not? How much fuel does a T need? Maybe 3 gallons per hour with a hopped-up engine and even less with a stock one.

Seth

Seth, Purist that I am, I normally hide such things as relays and mag chargers and such, however, your charger was so beautiful with it's rpm related green brightener a constant reminder of my Louzana friend that I put it right on the firewall beside the coilbox (glove box).

Since you designed this amazing little one eyed jewel, maybe you can explain why my chirping solid state flasher goes nuts when I rev the engine? It's rated from a single led to 32 amps, any mix. And perhaps explain how I can protect the flasher from the mag?

By the way, the battery stays up very nicely on tours.

Your OKie friend,

Fred

Okie friend from Broken Arrow,

I e-mailed you but here will do fine.

I assume that you've had the electronic flasher which worked fine before you added the battery charger.

If that is the case, then the most logical reason to me that you are now having a problem with the flasher is the half-wave pulses from the charger making the input voltage to the flasher fluctuate - this is called ripple. If you remove the inline fuse there will be no ripple because there will be no charging from the magneto - does the electronic flasher behave now?

I also gather that you bought this electronic flasher so that you could run LED signal bulbs, correct?

Now that you have some 3-4 amps of battery charger, would you consider using incandescent signal bulbs so that you could use a cheap thermal flasher which wouldn't care about the ripple?

If you are OK with that, a simple buzzer plus two diodes could be connected to the lamp wires and you could have your desired "buzz when flashing" reminder.

It would be far more complicated to filter effectively the half-wave output from the mag-powered charger to eliminate the performance problems with the electronic flasher, in my opinion.

Others may disagree and will probably say so if they do - fine if it will help you with your problem!

Best to you from Loo-easy-anna,

Seth

Tom L,

If your magneto is dead, there are two immediate options open to you, both of which I have tried:

1) Keep the 6 volt system in place for starting and lighting, and buy a small 12 volt battery that will fit under the front seat, next to the gas tank (I bought an Interstate Cycle-Tron Plus, #FAYTX9). This battery will be used for ignition only. Wire this 12 volt battery to the magneto side of your ignition switch (make sure you disconnect the magneto first!). Now, after you start the car using the 6 volt battery, switch the key to magneto, and you'll now be using 12 volts to power the coils. Since ignition doesn't use much current, you will only occasionally need to charge the 12 volt battery, depending on how often you drive.

The upside of this option is that it is relatively inexpensive, you don't damage the ring gear using 12v to start, and you get to keep the cool sound of the clicking coils. The down side is that there is the inconvenience factor of having to occasionally recharge the 12v battery.

2) Buy a TrueFire system and keep everything 6 volts.

The upside of this system is superior performance, and no maintenance issues. The down side is the cost of the unit, and you DON'T get the cool clicking sound of the coils.

In my experience, powering coils on 6v is unsatisfactory, powering coils on 12v is better, and using the TrueFire system is best of all three options, provided you have the dough to spend on it.

Bob

Yes, you do get the cool clicking sounds of the coils with TruFire. My understanding is that the early units were silent, but a buzzer/clicker was added in later and present models. Don't have one myself, (my distributors are out in the open, not disguised), maybe someone who does can say for certain.

Jerry, I am presently using a TrueFire that I purchased last year, and believe me, although the performance is great, the clicking noise it makes is a poor attempt at simulating the sound of genuine trembler coils.

Bob

While fixing my leaking bendix drive cover today, I noticed things didn't look quite right.
I pulled the starter (12 volts), this was a brand new bendix from Mac's, about a hundred starts ago.
[IMG]http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q32/olfart100/ModelT.jpg[/IMG]
I've got chunks of babbit all over the place in there! I guess its time to get serious and do some big time engine work on this car before I destroy the original (matching numbers) engine.
I've got a pal who offered me a completely rebuilt engine/trans a while back, guess it's time to disguss cash $$$.
I'll also be looking into ways of reducing the impact on the starter.

Dennis.

Dennis,

A six volt battery might be the best way to reduce the impact on the starter. If the bendix stays in good shape the bendix cover might stay put, oil will likely stay inside the engine, and babbitt will probably stay attached to the bearings.

Seth

Following what Seth said above, check your starter shaft and bendix for straigtness. It might be hitting the cover as it turns causing the problem.

If you installed the Tru fire system because the magneto stopped working, you might have babbit from the rear main bearing in the starter. It would be in direct line with the flywheel to the starter. That might also be the reason the magneto stopped working.
Norm

I've only had the car about a year and a half, it was , complete, running and 12V when I got it.
Starter shaft it straight, no signs of impact with bendix cover,
When I re-wire the car I may return it to 6V anyway.
(which maybe sooner than I had planned on)

Dennis.

Dennis
I don't know how many folks actually looked at the photo of your failed Bendix drive.
The Bendix drive gear runs on the shaft screw and should stop upon hitting the stop nut before the counterweight can come into contact with the ring gear. The counterweight serves no other purpose than to counterweight the drive gear and support the drift pin which keeps the drive gear from moving on the shaft threads when not in use.
I think you will likely find the Bendix drive spring is badly elongated allowing the Bendix stop nut to move too far into the starting motor support, the starter mounting is wrong or a piece of metal (like a magnet clamp) is foating around inside the transmission.
Ron the Coilman

Ron,

He also stated he's got some bits of babbitt collected in the bendix cap. Maybe it's from his rear main thrust faces and the resultant fore and aft movement of the crankshaft is allowing the ring gear to drift back into the bendix counterweight.

I like your elongated spring idea too, never considered that possibility.

The bendix spring was broken (as was the bendix in a similar manner) when I got the car, I replaced both.
I've got lots of "stuff" floating around in the oil! I've repeatedly changed the oil and each time more chunks of (non magnetic) "stuff" falls out in the drain pan.
I've had the pleasure of driving this ol' girl around town for about a year now without as much as twisting a wrench on this engine. I suspect the crankshaft is dancing around in there pretty good by now. The back of the flywheel is "machined" just inside the ring gear from impact by the bendix.
Ron, you mention "wrong starter mounting"? please explain, I was under the impression that ALL these starters are the same?
Bottom line, it's time to pull this engine/trans assy. and have it completely rebuilt by somebody
who knows what they are doing while it's still a "runner". The Mag was dead on arrival when I got the car, so it's likely that there are more "problems" in there than I really want to think about.
It's time to bite the bullett and put some $REAL$ money in it, the front axle is shot, the rear end no doubt has some "issues" in it too.
This is my first REAL Model T and I LOVE it! It was a complete and unrestored "runner" when I got it but I don't know squat about it!
My last "T" was a glass bodied, tube frame, with an early Dodge Hemi in it.
Rather than waste valuable web site space on this right now, you can contact me at,
oldfart101@comcast.net
with suggestions on engine rebuilders and starter advice, I will probably return this car to 6V while I'm at it when I re-wire it.
Thanks for your time.
Dennis.

Dennis
If the Bendix spring breaks the drive sleeve & gear can move forward enough so the counterweight comes in contact with the side of the ring gear pushing it off the gear. It is only swedged onto the drive gear as it is only a counterweight and support for the anti-drift pin.
My comment about starter mounting is I once saw a fellow who used two thick cork gaskets on the starter to hogshead mount causing Bendix and ring gear alignment problems.
Bendix springs can break using 6 volts too, but that whopping 60% torque increase when using 12 volts is hard on everything.

Ron the Coilman

Looking at this chart, does "modified on 12V" mean an actual 12V starter rather than running a 6V starter on 12V? I notice that the torque doesn't rise above that of a 6V though the starter rpm is close to twice as much.
I've been through this 6V-12V issue with other old cars and Harley's that I've owned and it doesn't take an electrical engineer to figure out that running an electric motor on twice as much voltage as it was designed for is really rough on it.
I'm using one original style gasket, in fact I glued this starter on so well that I had to pry the starter off after removing the screws.
I'm talking with Tim up in Mass. right now about my rebuild, I want to keep the coils/timer/mag ignition system rather than converting to a Bosch 049 and a single coil.
I have the generator I took off when I put the alternator on. I think it was converted to 12V back in 1959. It has a rebuilder's tag with that year on it.
I just got lazy, the generator wasn't charging when I got the car, I was screwing around with the 3rd brush and "smoked" the regulator.
I tend to "complicate" things by trying to make them "better" than original. I'll just return the car to 6V when I re-wire it. My coils "appear" to be working just fine right now but we'll see what happens when I try to make them operate on 6V and a functioning mag. We may be doing some business in the future.
Dennis.

Dennis
The "Modified on 12v" torque curve is an otherwise original Model T starter where the field windings have been rewired in series as opposed to the original series/parallel arrangement and using a 12 volt battery.
An original Model T generator will charge a 12 volt battery, but you have to keep the charging rate low to avoid exceeding it's maximum capability and destroying it.
Ron the Coilman

Ron,
What is your opinion of the "modified 12V" starter? When I got my touring, it was 12V with no mag, VW distributor, late 50's 12V Ford generator, and a 6V starter with a few extra springs under the seat. It really hit the flywheel hard, and spun the engine so fast that I had to pull the spark lever down as it cranked so that the spark could catch up with the rapidly decending pistons! Since it had a relatively new battery, and the generator was good, I decided it was cheaper, easier, and faster to rewire the starter in series. Now it cranks at a much lower speed, like a 6V starter, and it starts with the spark lever in the right position, but it still hits the flywheel harder than a 6V, although not nearly as hard as a 12V. Someday I will put the mag back in and make it run on 6V coils again, but for now this was my solution. Just curious as to your opinion of the modified starters since they don't get mentioned too much.

Thanks for the info Ron, I actually understand most of that!
On the generator, the 3rd brush controls the amperage, what controls the voltage, 12V field windings?
This all "academic", as I put this car back together, I'm going to back to original anyway.
Dennis.

Jeff
Modifying the starter is my first choice for running 12 volts. Next is using 12 volt cables to reduce the voltage to the starter. As for torque the chart speaks for itself.
Dennis
The Model T generator has no voltage control. In it's stock form it will charge a 6 or 12 volt battery, but as I said you have to reduce the current as the generator has a maximum capability of 100 watts. If you exceed that for an extended period is will simply overheat and fail.
Ron the Coilman

Ron, is there an economical way to convert a small amount of 6v power to 12v....stock T, generator, coils, starter, lights, but I'd like to power a GPS from the auto electrical system, rather than use the GPS batteries that are short-lived.
Thanks, Dave

I use 6 volts in my '24 without any problems. Of course our weather here in the Puget Sound region isn't very cold. I did run the ground battery cable directly to the engine block rather than the chassis, used new 6 volt battery cables and a new starter switch (old stock). I also use 10W-40 Castrol to reduce cranking effort.

Dave,

What you really need instead of a 6-12v converter to make your "cigarette lighter receptacle" 12 volts is a different "DC power adapter" for your GPS.

The GPS probably has 2 AA batteries - so it operates at 3 volts. Seems silly to me to manufacture 12v from 6v to simply turn around and drop it back to 3 volts!

Your "DC power adapter" for your GPS has output data on the back of it. With that info and the correct plug, producing a device that would drop the 6v from your dash receptacle to the 3 volts would be the way I would do it. You shouldn't need more than 100mA (0.1 amp) and a series-pass regulator would be all it would take.

Seth

Dave,

This is what I'm talking about. If you need 3 volts DC at 100mA or so and you have DC power at 5-7.5 volts, this is all you need other than some wire and two plugs. This is one transistor, one resistor, and one zener diode. Don't be scared of "homebrewed solutions".

Seth :-)

I started my old '25 pickup yesterday afternoon for the first time in 3 months. It also has a fairly new Interstate battery. Every electrical wire in the car has been replaced with reproduction looms that I had made to match the originals. (the so called show quality looms might look good, but are far from being correct).The engine spins over like there is a 12volt battery, but it's only 6 volts.

How many of you would like to use electronic conveniences such as GPS when driving your car, but would like to connect to your car's 6 volt electrical system to save on battery life or prevent "battery letdown"?

Click on my name and e-mail me if you'd rather not discuss it here.

If you'd like to discuss it here, I'm game. Just be prepared for me to ask you lots of questions.

Thanks in advance,
Seth

Seth,
I would. . .but I have no knowledge of such things as transistors, resistors, and zener diodes.
Dave

Dave,

You only need to tell me what the power requirements are of your gadget and I can take care of the rest. If you purchased a device that you wanted to use in your modern car with a 12 volt system, it would come with a DC "adapter" that plugs into the cigarette lighter and also the device. On the back of that "adapter" it will define its output. That information and the output plug configuration is all I need to know.

Thanks for your response!

Seth