6v gen. to 12v

[Guest dylans1952]

a guy who had a parts truck i was pillaging,told me he knew of guys who converted 6v generators so they would run on 12v systems,my truck has previously been converted to 12v but i would like to get rid of the ugly alternator if i could. does anyone know what this intails,and is it hard on the coil fields? dylan

P.S. still looking for pieces to patch my running boards. thanks

[Frank Elder]

Why not just get a 12V genny, they were on mopars sometime in the 50's. And early 60's I think......

[Young Ed]

56-60 for mopars with the exception of the 60 valiant. Look for a green tag instead of red.

[Guest dylans1952]

will they bolt right up or do they need some kind of fabracation work to make them fit?

[ggdad1951]

I've heard of a guy here in MN that does a rebuild in the old housing to do that.

Edited December 21, 2010 by ggdad1951

[Reg Evans]

I have a 12 V MoPar genny in Old Yeller and it bolted right up. Can't help with the year ......it's been too long since the conversion.

[HanksB3B]

the main purpose of converting from a 6V to 12V is to use an alternator in lieu of a generator because generators do not charge well at idle, whereas alternators do charge at idle. I could see that regardless of whether you use a gen or alt the advantage to going with 12V is that you can install a radio and am I correct in assuming that a 12V system cranks over more robustly that a 6V. But how do you set up a 12V generator is it positive or negative ground. Can a 6V positive starter work as 12V negative and survive?

Thanks,

Hank

P.S. With all new wiring, new brushes and 6V I have no problems other than no radio.

[Young Ed]

I've heard of a guy here in MN that does a rebuild in the old housing to do that.

Im pretty sure B&E can convert them to 12v. Not sure if they can do the alternator in a gen housing. The couple places I know that do that get big bucks for them.

[Dave72dt]

the main purpose of converting from a 6V to 12V is to use an alternator in lieu of a generator because generators do not charge well at idle, whereas alternators do charge at idle. I could see that regardless of whether you use a gen or alt the advantage to going with 12V is that you can install a radio and am I correct in assuming that a 12V system cranks over more robustly that a 6V. But how do you set up a 12V generator is it positive or negative ground. Can a 6V positive starter work as 12V negative and survive?

Thanks,

Hank

P.S. With all new wiring, new brushes and 6V I have no problems other than no radio.

A 6V starter turns over much faster on 12V and will work fine either pos or neg setup. Used to convert old 6v tractors over to 12v with alt and never had a problem with leaving starter as 6v. Just don't grind on the starter. It'll get hot and throw the solder out of the armature

[Don Coatney]

One other issue running a 6 volt starter on 12 volts. The bendix gear engages at twice the speed. This caused chatter and the starter gear locked into the ring gear a time or two on my car. I converted to a 12 volt starter and have had no more problems.

[maverick]

Douglas battery here in winston-salem nc can convert them. they did my generator for about $280 and it is better than new.

http://www.dbautocare.com/services.php

[Dan Babb]

Did that place in W/S convert a gen from 6 to 12v or put an alt in a gen housing?

[Merle Coggins]

Here's one alternator in a generator case option. http://www.gener-nator.com/

Merle

[maverick]

Did that place in W/S convert a gen from 6 to 12v or put an alt in a gen housing?

They just converted mine but theres no telling what they could do.

[Guest dylans1952]

thanks to everyone who responded to this thread,all your replies were helpfull. my dad found a 12v gen. on ebay from a gen/starter shop in cali., they rebuilt and painted it up for us and shipped it for under $200,and just like Reg said it bolted right up. my belt is in much better alignment than it was with the alt. now just need to find a regulator,would like to find one somewhat vintage looking if anyone makes something like that? thanks again,.....Dylan

[41/53dodges]

One other issue running a 6 volt starter on 12 volts. The bendix gear engages at twice the speed. This caused chatter and the starter gear locked into the ring gear a time or two on my car. I converted to a 12 volt starter and have had no more problems.

does your car have "inertia drive" or is there a lever on top to actuate the bendix? most trucks used the lever, so YOU initiate the bendix, much more durable... inertia drives start the motor and grind the gears before they truly engage.

[Don Coatney]

does your car have "inertia drive" or is there a lever on top to actuate the bendix? most trucks used the lever, so YOU initiate the bendix, much more durable... inertia drives start the motor and grind the gears before they truly engage.

I have an "inertia drive" starter in my car. If I had the lever action engagement the 12 volt conversion would be much smoother and the issue I brought up would not be an issue.

[Phil Martin]

I have a friend who is a great mechanic and do anything to cars. He says a gen does't know 12 volts from 6 and it is all controlled by the volt regulator. What do you guys think of this? Also I need a new battery for my 6 volt pos grnd. Can I use off the shelf or does it need to be charged for pos grnd?

[Dan Babb]

no special battery needed. Just make sure you connect the ground cable to the positive post and you're good to go.

Don't know about the other thing. I would think that the generator is wired differently to output 6v or 12v...otherwise, why would they have different part numbers/tags.

[Reg Evans]

Yeah....a 6 volt gen. puts out a little over 6 volts and a 12 volt gen puts out a little over 12.

[Don Coatney]

I have a friend who is a great mechanic and do anything to cars. He says a gen does't know 12 volts from 6 and it is all controlled by the volt regulator. What do you guys think of this? Also I need a new battery for my 6 volt pos grnd. Can I use off the shelf or does it need to be charged for pos grnd?

With a friend like that you dont need this forum:rolleyes: Ask him your battery question.

[Dave72dt]

Hook your charger up the same as any other battery. Pos to Pos, Neg to Neg.

[Plymouthy Adams]

basically the fact is true as I read it..you can over drive the 6 volt generator to produce higher voltage as it is speed sensitive and controlled by the regulator (field saturation)..however the difference may very well be in "service life" the 12 volt field and armature will have twice the windings as that of the six and thus engineeered to produce the correct 12 volts within the speed limits (rpm) and without overheating..if you pump the 6 to 12 volts the heat from the internal current will eventually leave you with a failed unit..in the industry the ability to do the work with the least effort and wear and tear will always give you a more stable device..one could easily experiment with a different pulley size to up up the output voltage if need say if just jumping up to a basic 8 volt battery and still maintain at the lower RPMs..but to push for 12..questionable life and service..these device will "lead" very quickly when overheated..

Edited January 26, 2011 by Tim Adams

[Phil Martin]

I didn't agree with him just wondered what others thought.

[Plymouthy Adams]

as for you battery..the polarity of the battery has no knowledge of its application ..the key is hooking it up to the properly polarity system..ie connections are neg to neg and pos to pos..as for charging one off the shelf..it is a good idea...todays batteries are wet serviced already and not dry charged for shipping like in the past..any battery dry charged, topped off with electrolite was to be charged prior to use to get max amperage available from the get go..but as said, the wet celled maintenance frees are already charged and should be good to go from off the shelf..however if you have the time and means, it is always best to let these also trickle up to the proper level prior to use..