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6 volt power source
phantom - August 10th, 2004 at 12:42 PM

Hi again,

I have a 60 Bug which is a long-term project. It has a siezed engine so I can't produce any power from that. I don't yet want to go and buy a new 6v battery for 2 reasons.....it will be a while before I am ready to have the car going, and I am hoping to make it 12v anyway.

But....

I would like to run power to the car to test the electrics and see how much I have to fix there....lights, horn, etc. Is there some way I can hook something up to the terminals (apart from another battery) to test all this?

Can I 'jump' a 6v from a 12v car? Could I run jumper cables off my Commodore and run the electrics that way?


Anthiron - August 10th, 2004 at 12:48 PM

why not buy a 6v torch battery and use it? wouldnt that work?


68AutoBug - August 10th, 2004 at 01:14 PM

UNless You can obtain 6 volts from Your 12 battery... which seems impossible these days... as the batteries have internal connections... the old style batteries used to have large connections between each cell and You could tap the 6v off these... so I'm sorry to say NO.. is the answer...
a 6v Lantern battery would work - sort of - on the parkers and tail lamps.. but stop lamps, blinkers and headlights would overload a lantern battery... A Car battery holds a huge amount of amperes compared to torch batteries....
Better off to change all the bulbs over to 12 volts and use the commodore 12v battery.. plus coil - choke element -
bulbs in speedo.. blinker unit - if it has one..
All of these things can be gotten cheap from a wrecker --
a NON VW wrecker would be much cheaper than a VW wrecker...
Or You can hook up a lantern battery and test each connection with a multimeter...

Lee


jenz58 - August 10th, 2004 at 03:57 PM

I've had Bel, 6 volt, jumped from a 12 volt....earth one of the clamps to body metal on the 6 volt car as you're doing it....

Something like that....

I've got a 6 & 12 volt combined recharger now....you just flick a switch....