Joe Flanagan Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 This is purely out of curiosity. I was reading over the threads about jump starting a 6-volt system with a 12-volt battery and I notice that some advise to disconnect the wire going to the "Batt." terminal on the voltage regulator. I was reading about how the regulator works and as I understand it, current from the battery can't flow through the voltage regulator until the generator gets spinning at a certain speed, at which point the circuit breaker in the regulator closes and makes the connection with the battery. So if you jump started your car with a 12 volt battery and did not disconnect the wire from the "Batt." terminal, wouldn't the regulator be safe in any case unless you really revved it and got the generator spinning up to enough speed to close the points in the regulator? It's my understanding that generators don't charge at idle, so I guess at idle you'd be safe too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 for the time of a "NORMAL" jump it isn't and issue. If you are doing a lot of grinding, it might be a good idea to disconnect it. Don't forget to reconnect when you get thing sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly jack Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 jumping from a 12 volt battery to a 6 volt battery is an invatation to disaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1949P17BC Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 I have done it plenty. The secret is a little goes a long way, not if a little is good a lot will be better. The only reason you want to do it is to spin it fast the first time to get it started and then make the need timing and carb adjustments. Its not to crank and crank to try and trouble shoot things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captden29 Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 in addition to my many chrysler products, i owned a 51 buick for many years. i have jumped them all with 12 volt batt's and never had a problem. my old 58 silverton boat was converted to 12 volt, but i could not get a 12 volt starter that would fit, so i left the 6 volt starter in and as long as it started quickly, which it did cause it spun so fast, i never had a problem in all 10 years i owned it. i still have some of the old 6 volt parts that nobody wants.it was a flathead 6, international block. capt den Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Cool a IH powered boat. What engine? Silver diamond? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
49roadster Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 In the mid 1950's my Dad had a lower class used car lot. It was normal to jump the 30'S and 40"s cars with 12 volts. ( two 6 V. batteries hooked together) and sometimes 18V. I did this hundreds of times ( a guess) and never had a bad experience. Maybe I was just lucky. We also re-grooved tires as a normal course of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captden29 Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 young ed, it was called a greymarine [or graymarine ], and there were many of them around. mine was a 109 model, which stood for the horsepower. very reliable and smooth, but they had a reputation for burning valves. had to adjust them with a slight tapping noise to make them last longer. i still have the valve compression spring tool used to get around the manifold. i only had to do them once while i owned the boat. sold it in 1991 and finally went to a fiberglass boat. capt den Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captden29 Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 the graymarine was a continental block, not international. last ones around 1966 or1967. capt den Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinsailor Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 Back to the 6 volt/12 volt issue, i recently got my 48 pilot house on the road. From it's condition I didn't expect any of the charging system to work so I just stuck in a 12 volt to get good cranking speed. Over a 3 month period I started it many times, ran it fast, slow and for an hour or two at times. I had the battery both ways, positive and negative ground, just which ever way I happened to be holding it. You can imagine my surprise when I finally went to drive it, put the 6 volt battery in as positive ground and the charging system worked perfectly. Can you hurt them? Gene G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Neon Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 I have been jumpstarting every spring as SOP w/ a 12v battery for 20 years w/ no troubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Can I jump start a 6 volt set-up, that does not have a battery with a 12 volt battery?. I of course am taliking about my 52 Chebby, 6 volt -grnd. Before I start spending money, I want to start this engine, see what I got, and see what the charging system is doing. I am not being cheap, but if I have a bad genny and regulator, I most likely will convert to 12 volts, if I am up against this type of expense. If not, I need a new 6 volt battery, I got 1 with the car,it was bought brand new never used, and is over 10 years old, I could not get it to charge much, load tested it, and it is done. If all is well with the starter,genny and reg, will stay 6 volts, and have new battery cables made, and a new battery will be bought, which are close to a 100 bucks here. I notice the gas gauge moved, when I truned the key to on, so I would like to avoid 12 volts going to it or the genny, also the coil, have a ballast resistor I could wire into that circuit. Hey this is gonna be fun again........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruffy49 Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 I'd just have the gen/reg bench tested at a decent starter/alternator shop. Starter, generator and regulator off pretty much any 235 from 55 and up should fit your 216. Gas gauge too... for that matter, 90% or better of the common aftermarket fuel gauges are spec'd for 12v - GM use... Straight 6 was in trucks through end of model year 1984. Parts are dirt cheap, dirt common, every bone yard in the country that hasn't sold out for 10 years or newer only has what you need. GM products are almost too easy... Borrow an internally regulated coil off a friend's V6 Ranger or Bronco 2 that is old enough to have an actual distributor. Coil will say no external ballast required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55 Fargo Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 I'd just have the gen/reg bench tested at a decent starter/alternator shop. Starter, generator and regulator off pretty much any 235 from 55 and up should fit your 216. Gas gauge too... for that matter, 90% or better of the common aftermarket fuel gauges are spec'd for 12v - GM use... Straight 6 was in trucks through end of model year 1984. Parts are dirt cheap, dirt common, every bone yard in the country that hasn't sold out for 10 years or newer only has what you need. GM products are almost too easy... Borrow an internally regulated coil off a friend's V6 Ranger or Bronco 2 that is old enough to have an actual distributor. Coil will say no external ballast required. Thanx Scruff, your the only 1 who took time to answer my taboo Chebby ?.........LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave72dt Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 You can do a quicky bench test the gen with good 6v battery charger to see if it will "motor". 12v battery will work but the 6v reg and gen won't kick in untill the battery gets down to about 6.5 volts or less and will only recharge it up to about 6.8 or 7. A lot of your farm equipment of the era also came Delco gen equipped, both 6 and 12v so that may be another source for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P15-D24 Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Just make sure you get the polarity correct! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 (edited) I did blow up a 6v battery by jumping with a 12v from my Caravan. But---it was a real cold day and the 48 coupe was being real hard to start. Cranked for too long. I was just going to unhook the cables when.....BAM......the 6v blew. Made a heck of a mess under the hood......white acidy stuff all over the place including the newly painted motor. That's the only time that has happened to me.......otherwise have jumped quite a few 6s with 12s no problem. Just try to remove the cable from the 6 as soon as it starts. Edited April 12, 2013 by BobT-47P15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamfordsgarage Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 I've boosted a number of 6-volt cars with 12-volts BUT always disconnected the live cable (non-ground, either +ve or —ve) first and ensured lights and radio etc were off. This includes remembering not to step on the brake pedal! Never a battery explosion, generator problem, or other mishap as far as I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Way, way back in time when I was barely out of dipers my furd field race car had a flat battery. I jumped it with my dads 52 shiverlay. Problem was the furd was parked head first in the barn stall. So I drove the shiverlay up behind it where both bumpers were touching. Both cars were positive ground and the bumpers completed the ground connection. I then connected one jumper cable to the negative battery post on the chevy, the other end of that cable I connected to the second jumper cable, and the other end of the second jumper cable I connected to the negative battery post on the furd. I hit the furd starter and nothing happened. So I bounced the bumpers together to get a better connection and the furd fired off. Pictured is the furd racer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobT-47P15 Posted April 12, 2013 Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 Don........I was waiting for the part of the story that said......."I forgot that the Furd was in first gear and when it started, it ran right thru the back side of the barn". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T120 Posted April 12, 2013 Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 (edited) Doing a 180 after bumper contact with the Chevy, a la Thunder Road ?... ...Having fun in a shoebox Ford. ...Kinda reminded me of a couple of scenes in the 1958 movie Thunder Road where Robert Mitchum does a couple of abrupt turns Edited April 14, 2013 by Ralph D25cpe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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