Engine run time

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: Engine run time
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Husted on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 08:58 am:

How far and how long will a model t touring run
on a 6 volt or a 12 volt car battery with no charger hooked up to it? I know there are many factors that enter into it, I'm trying to come up with an average. thanks


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 09:08 am:

Depends on how you run it. If the battery is only used for starting, it will be good for many miles. If you run on BAT and/or use it for lights, not so much. A lot of folks with non-starter cars have all sorts of batteries they use only for starting, and they go for months between charges.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Aldrich Orting Wa on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 12:14 pm:

Mike Conrad ran his 1915 Runabout from Abbotsford BC to Buckley Washington on a single charge (his ALTernator went out). That's over 110 miles.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Husted on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 12:42 pm:

I'm trying to figure out, should I put a generator on a non startered car that has a water pump or just buy 2 or 3 batt. I know the feeling about water pumps, it stays.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 12:49 pm:

Mike,

You are not giving us enough information to answer your question. What is the battery doing? Just to get it started and then you switch to magneto? Or are you running the car off of battery only. Is the battery being used for head lights?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 01:14 pm:

Is there a place for a generator, like this...



...or no place for a generator, like this?



Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Les Schubert on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 01:23 pm:

I assume you have no mag. With a True fire or E timer I would guess 500 miles or more on good new 12 volt battery (group 24 or similar size). On buzz coils probably 1/2 that. With the electronic master vibrator probably somewhere in between. I drove my 1906 Caddac from Spokane to Seattle using ONE buzz coil without recharging. Similar battery. Of course it only has about 1/4 the number of sparks in that distance


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Harold Schwendeman - Sumner,WA on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 02:35 pm:

Les,,,,you touched on just about every type ignition system except the highly despised distributor. Two of my three "T's came with distributors, and all I know is that with my depot hack equipped with distributor (12 volt) I can go to several club events, and a bunch of errand-running in between, spread out over several weeks without re-charging, and I'm sure this entails at least a couple hundred miles. I will also say that I hand crank to start most of the time in order to be easy on my starter bendix with that stupid 12 volt system that the car came with. I just figure that after several weeks without a re-charge, if my occasional starts with the electric starter still works okay, I could still drive many miles before recharging. Hopefully, I'll get that alternator rebuilt this winter,....THAT wasn't my idea either, but that's how the car came, and I guess I'm sort of a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it kinda' guy! I'm sure my "babbling" here doesn't help you much Mike,....but there it is for what it's worth,......harold


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 06:41 pm:

So MANY variables. Lots of people, including myself, have driven 200 mile Endurance Runs on a single charge. My old gray race car I used to have, I ran a small motorcycle battery under the seat. Never had a problem from it in five years. I ran a 1925 Studebaker for a few years without a working generator. Just charged the battery often.
T timer and coils even varies depending on which timer you use. The dwell time in the timer determines how long each coil buzzes each cycle.
A rule of thumb I have heard. If you don't use the starter or lights too much, a good standard car battery (6 or 12 volt) will take you farther than you would want to drive a T in any given day.
More than 50 miles? Put the battery on the charger overnight.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ted Dumas on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 06:55 pm:

At least 24 hours, and more likely 5 days. If your mag is dead buy an alternator kit from the Becker's for $145 plus shipping.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 07:49 pm:

I ran the entire August 2005 All Ohio Tour without recharging the battery . About 400 miles. I missed the first day, it would have been 500 miles but I had to work.

Running on original coils. The coil ring was an original one, and a solder joint gave up after who knows how many hundreds of thousands of miles. Wally Szumuski rebuilt it after the tour. No telling how many centuries it will be until another one is needed.

If you are running coils and distributor it takes a lot more current to operate, thus you can't go as far on battery alone. Obviously batteries come in many sizes and capacities. Mine is a Group 24F from Pep Boys, cost about $79.95 last year.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Husted on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 10:24 pm:

This car is an early T and does not have a place
for a generator. The car has a distributor and is hand crank no coils and a water pump, and Becks kit will not fit with the pump. Texas T has a kit but does not look very good stuck out there. Looking for a very small alt. that self
energizes. Thanks All Mike


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bud Holzschuh - Panama City, FL on Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 11:01 pm:

Mike

Here's some rough guesses based on running the ignition ONLY.

Assuming a current draw of about 2 amps average for the coil/distributor system (probably a little high) you would get about 40 hours on a full sized group 24 battery. A lawn tractor battery (what I use) would give you about 10 hours.

10 hours at an average of 30 mph gives a range of 300 miles or so. Plug it into a float charger at days end and your good to go the next day.

I've used this system for 2 years now and found it to be without problems.

Please keep in mind the figures above are rough estimates only - ymmv!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Huson, Berthoud, Co. on Friday, August 30, 2013 - 01:02 am:

Bud:

How did your pictures of Trail Ridge come out?

Mike Husted:

I used to run the Montana 500 without a generator. I never charged my battery at night. We would have three pit stops during the race and I always started with the starter. I also used he starter in the morning I would also use the racer before and after the Montana 500, without charging the battery. In fact I don't know any driver in the 500 that used a generator. I have one caveat, I will only use INTERSTATE BATTERIES, the cheapest battery that you can buy. You can pay less for other batteries but the INTERSTATE BATTERIES will last you 12 to 15 years. figure out the cost ratio.
My guess is that with an INTERSTATE BATTERY you will be able to drive your car and use the starter as much as you want for somewhere around 1,000 miles and perhaps more, without a charge

racer


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Friday, August 30, 2013 - 07:22 am:

Easy answer, just get rid of the water pump if you need an alternator. The water pump isn't helping anything. You really do need some source of power, and a belt drive alternator is the best solution for you.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Les Schubert on Friday, August 30, 2013 - 02:35 pm:

There is a quite small alternator (1 wire) used on garden tractors / big lawn mowers. I believe check on what's used on some John Deere ones. About 10 years ago I installed one on a A65 Continental airplane engine in a Pietenpol. I made a multi groove pulley to fit behind the propeller.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Les Schubert on Friday, August 30, 2013 - 02:53 pm:

Royce
Perhaps he needs the water pump to get flow to the hot water heater in the cab for winter driving. He will also want a thermostat!!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bud Holzschuh - Panama City, FL on Friday, August 30, 2013 - 05:20 pm:

Dave

Pictures turned out great, but not like being there ! See the post on "trail Ridge"


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