Will a 12v timing light work on 6v car if...

[Mr. Belvedere]

I have a 12v inductive timing light with three connections: two alligator clips for the battery and one to clip over the plug wire. I am thinking that I can hook up the the two clips to a separate 12v battery and just put the other inductive clip over the plug wire on my 54. I am guessing that the battery connections on the unit are just to power the light?

[Norm's Coupe]

I have a 12v inductive timing light with three connections: two alligator clips for the battery and one to clip over the plug wire. I am thinking that I can hook up the the two clips to a separate 12v battery and just put the other inductive clip over the plug wire on my 54. I am guessing that the battery connections on the unit are just to power the light?

Your thinking is correct, you can use your 12v timing light that way on the 54's 6 volt system. I got rid of my 12 volt timing light some years ago. Picked up a timing light that plugs into a 110 volt wall outlet instead of a car battery. So....the alligator clips are just used to power the light bulb.

[Mr. Belvedere]

Could I use my 12v tach and dwell meter the same way? It also has three clips two for the battery and one green alligator clip for one of the coil terminals.

[Norm's Coupe]

I've been told by mechanics you cannot use a 12 volt tach/dwell meter on a 6 volt system. I picked up an old bench model Penske engine analyzer that works on 6 and 12 volts to do the other checks. They are pretty cheap at swap meets and ebay. Got mine off ebay for $17, including the shipping charges.

I had both for 12 volts prior to buying the Penske unit but never tried them based on what I was told.

[Ed Griffin]

I've been using an older model actron timing light and tach and dwell meter from Autozone. Both work using the 6volt battery but the tach and dwell meter has a 6/12 volt switch. If in doubt you can do like you mentioned and use a 12 volt battery. If using the timing light on the 6 volt make sure you hook up the battery the same way you would a 12 volt, pos to pos, neg to neg. Positive ground does not apply to this way to hook up power.

[greg g]

you might try both the timing light and the tach dwell of the 6 V battery, If it soesn't work it likely will not hurt anything. I power my timing light off my jump pac. It (old craftsman) will work on 6 v but the lightit much brighter with the 12v power. The tach should work with 12 v aux power since the counter runs off the make break of the points and most coils are running off resisted (droped) current in 12V cars.

[Don Jordan]

I'm still looking for a 6 v tack and dwell. The one I used would not work with the positive ground. Maybe I hooked it up wrong. The Sears timing light worked perfectly hooked to a 12 volt battery.

I bought a 6 volt timing light at a swap meet and can't find it. I'm sure I put it somewhere safe.

[Norm's Coupe]

I'm still looking for a 6 v tack and dwell. The one I used would not work with the positive ground. Maybe I hooked it up wrong. The Sears timing light worked perfectly hooked to a 12 volt battery.

I bought a 6 volt timing light at a swap meet and can't find it. I'm sure I put it somewhere safe.

Don't think you hooked up your tack and dwell meter wrong. Like I said a mechanic said the 12 volt tack and dwell meters won't work on the 6 volt cars. You can pick up a bench analyzer like picture number 1 cheap on ebay and swaps. It has a switch to switch from 6v or 12 v. I've also seen the dwell meters like picture number 2 on ebay. The one in picture number two lets you set the points on the work bench. I found it at a rummage sale several years ago.