8 Volt Battery

[Mike@DRH]

Has anyone ever used one of the eight volt batteries on the totally stock six volt system? I have one and would use it but will my six volt system charge it and/or will it burn up stuff?

[Dave72dt]

the 6V system will charge it after resetting the voltage regulator but IMO will shorten the life expectancy of the gen, regulator, lights (they'll be brighter but won't last), may affect accuracy of gauges. A 6v system in good condition, good grounds works very well. 8v batteries have often been used as a bandaid for an ailing 6v system. It's a temp fix only6.

[Jerry Roberts]

I don't have first hand experience with an 8 volt battery but here is what has been written on the subject in the past ; Your bulbs are rated at 6 to 8 volts so you are OK there . Some people have had to " tweek " their voltage regulator to get a higher rate of charge , and some have been just fine without the tweek . No one has reported any damage caused by the 8 volt battery . Some have reported brighter lights and better starting . Others have said that you don't need the 8 volts if everything is working as it should including the important clean grounds . If it were me and I already had the 8 volt battery , I would just go ahead and put it in .

[JBNeal]

I ran the 8 volt battery in the '48 until it pooped out, which took several years. In that time, gauges & lights operated adequately, but I would have to charge the battery (on the 6 volt setting) after the coldest day of the year. Once I shook out all of the electrical gremlins on that truck, I went back to the 6 volt battery, which needed charging after the coldest day of the year.

[NiftyFifty]

I saved myself some heartache and just converted my truck to 12V, cheaper batteries, cheapier lights, easier to add accessories and I went to a alternator and dumped the gen as well....also way better starts..although I didn't change the starter yet and that would deff have a shorter life span with the 12v

[Adam H P15 D30]

I saved myself some heartache and just converted my truck to 12V, cheaper batteries, cheapier lights, easier to add accessories and I went to a alternator and dumped the gen as well....also way better starts..although I didn't change the starter yet and that would deff have a shorter life span with the 12v

X2 but the starter doesn't know the difference.

[NiftyFifty]

X2 but the starter doesn't know the difference.

Oh it does, no long cranks or in a short time you will know why 6v is different from 12....they get warm real fast

[Ole Goat]

I tried an 8 volt battery once and I tell you never again will I ever use one. Yes you have to tweak the Reg to put out 9.2 volts this can be tricky. reason being is they the Regulators have to be at an constant ideal temp, plus now your Gen will work harder to produce the voltage necessary to keep up with the battery demand.

There is not a damm thing wrong with the 6 Volt system. i see quite a few using the 12 volt cables, wrong. Use heavy wire Cable I use and make my own when necessary from welding cable Guage 001.

Also I use an Agri Battery the ones for Farm use they fit just nice, and the one i use has 940 Cold cranking amps. Make sure you have good clean ground and charge your battery at least half way through the winter months. Make suer the Starter is in good working order, and all should work just fine.

We use to have winters a lot colder than we have lately and they did the job back then. Worst thing you can do is leave a Battery sitting still, it will destroy itself in a matter of time. The acid in it will actually eat away at the plates rendering it useless.

As for leaving a Battery sitting on a cement floor, as some will tell you will shorten the life of it. That is a lot of B/S, take a look at the bottom its made of rubber. What will happen is that the floor being cold will do the same as if it were sitting in a cold vehicle over the winter months.

I take mine out of the truck and just for the sake of it place it on a piece of wood, but do charge it once during the winter months, and give it a bit of a shake to move the acid around in it.

So for what I have said above is all from experience not here say, also advice from people in the know. One other point of interest if you ever have a Starter rebuilt make sure that the rebuilder installs 6 Volt field coils there is a difference.

[Dodgeb4ya]

The above is 100% right on!!

[41/53dodges]

X2 but the starter doesn't know the difference.

x3

for short cranks (which is all it needs!), it couldnt care less!

[Don Coatney]

I have said this many times before. There is a potential problem running a 6 volt starter on 12 volts.

Running a 6 volt starter on 12 volts will work well espically using the foot engagement system. The starter motor will spin faster.

What I found when I converted to 12 volts using a solonoid engaged bendix on a 6 volt starter did not work so good. Not only does the starter motor spin faster but the bendix also engages faster. On my application this would cause the starter gear to lock into the ring gear on the flywheel occasionally. I would have to put the car in gear and rock it back and forth to get the starter gear to pop free. My fix was to install a 12 volt starter from a mid 50's Plymouth. Once I did this I have not had that problem.

[Mike@DRH]

I've used my truck several times over the last two weeks with the 8 volt battery and I have to say it starts a whole lot better than it ever did.

The thing I notice the most is when I make a short stop, anytime under 10-15 minutes, my truck would always turn over a little slower (with the six volt battery) than normal. It always starts but has me worried sometimes. Now that I have the 8 volt battery it spins over great all the time.

I put a volt meter on the 8 volt battery, not running and then running. When not running it has about 8 1/2 volts, after start up it goes to just shy of 9 volts so the stock system has enough volts to charge it back up to eight volts.

As far as lights go, you can't tell. They don't seem any brighter than with the six volt.

It appears the 8 volt battery works pretty good. I know this is kinda short term but will see how it works thru the summer.

[Merle Coggins]

If you are charging at 9 volts you were probably overcharging your 6 volt battery causing it to get hot. When it was hot it may not have been able to pass current as well causing your slow cranking issue. Either that your you inavertently cleaned up a dirty connection when you changed the battery and now the current can flow better through clean connections. It's also no doubt that it will crank faster with more volts.

Merle