8volt Battery in 6volt Ghia...Questions
ToddEllenB
I read in a posting a few weeks ago about a guy who put an 8volt battery in a 6
volt VW and it started easer, lights were brighter, and th wiper moter ran
faster. My question is, is this an accepted practic? Will the lights run
brighter, but only for a few minutes untill they fry? Will it burn up a wiper
motor? What needs to be done to the voltage regulator? All information will be
appreceated.
Thanks
Toad
Dave Hall
Not a problem, since you only get about 5 volts on the bulbs with
all the poor connections there are likely to be. Even at 8 volts,
you only get about 6 or 7 volts at the lamps. One of the best ways
to get light on a 6-volt Beetle is to use a double relay and bring
another (fused) very thick wire as the feed current. The (floor)
dipswitch drops another 0.5 volts! (Pre-'61 over here).
You have to adjust the regulator output voltage.
Oddly, I remember 1967 when 12-volters came out, and the agents ran
out of 12-volt bulbs; they didn't realise 12-volt bulbs with their
thinner filaments are not as robust as the 6-volt ones!
Dave.
--
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Please delete "spam.me.not" when replying!
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See new page on finding your VW's production date.
---
ToddEllenB wrote in message
<199805051722...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
John Connolly
Don't forget that the battery is only going to get charged to the
voltage the generator/alternator and regulator allow. You could put a
12V battery in there and it would only charge so much.
John
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nospam Rob Boardman
In article <199805051722...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
todde...@aol.com says...
>
>I read in a posting a few weeks ago about a guy who put an 8volt battery in a
6
>volt VW and it started easer, lights were brighter, and th wiper moter ran
>faster. My question is, is this an accepted practic? Will the lights run
>brighter, but only for a few minutes untill they fry? Will it burn up a wiper
>motor? What needs to be done to the voltage regulator? All information will
be
>appreceated.
>Thanks
>Toad
This was quite a common practice in Australia in the 6volt days, and you can
still get the 8 volt batteries I'm told.
All the 6 volt systems run just fine with the 8 volt battery, without any
significantly reduced life.
And John (con...@sisna.com), you DON'T need to change your charging system.
The 6 volt generator puts out slighly more than 8 volts, so it will still
charge the 8 volt battery - just a bit slower as the voltage difference is
smaller. The 6 volt regulator MIGHT need replacing if it's tired anyway, but
thats it, according to a long time VW mechanic here who has done it many
times.
--
Rob
R(dot)Boardman(at)bom(dot)gov(dot)au
(1970 1500 beetle, one owner, 240,000 miles on it's original engine)
Derrick Lathem
When I bought my first Ghia, which is 6 volt, my father was telling me
to buy an 8v battery. According to him, this was a common practice
years ago, mainly on tractors which were 6 volt to make it spin
faster, etc. I never looked for an 8v battery, but I would check at a
tractor supply dealer.
I would try it. I don't think 2v is going to make enough difference
to damage anything.
Your mileage may vary
Derrick
'63 Ghia - 6v
'65 Ghia Convertible - 6v
'74 Beetle
'62 Ghia (soon) - 12v
John Connolly
I never said you had to change your charging system! Why is it that
people always think I say something I didn't? Close, but that's NOT what
I said. What I said was that the only thing that has changed is the
battery, and the generator and regulator are still only going to allow
it to charge to a certain amount.
Basically, the battery will be undercharged all the time. Whether that
is a problem and creates a bad battery in a shorter period of time, I
don't know. But I know a half discharged battery can't be a great thing!
I am aware that a "12V" electrical system operates at greater than 12V
(14.4 to be exact), and the same thing is true of the 6V systems. If
they did NOT, a 12V battery would NEVER charge since it is the voltage
difference that allows charging (or it would take too long to be
useful).
I'm just trying to point out the obvious (to me) aspects of what is
going on, and they might be things that people haven't considered.
John
nospam Rob Boardman wrote:
> In article <199805051722...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
> todde...@aol.com says...
> >
> >I read in a posting a few weeks ago about a guy who put an 8volt
> battery in a
> 6
> >volt VW and it started easer, lights were brighter, and th wiper
> moter ran
> >faster. My question is, is this an accepted practic? Will the lights
> run
> >brighter, but only for a few minutes untill they fry? Will it burn up
> a wiper
> >motor? What needs to be done to the voltage regulator? All
> information will
> be
> >appreceated.
> >Thanks
> >Toad
>
> This was quite a common practice in Australia in the 6volt days, and
> you can
> still get the 8 volt batteries I'm told.
>
> All the 6 volt systems run just fine with the 8 volt battery, without
> any
> significantly reduced life.
>
> And John (con...@sisna.com), you DON'T need to change your charging
> system.
> The 6 volt generator puts out slighly more than 8 volts, so it will
> still
> charge the 8 volt battery - just a bit slower as the voltage
> difference is
> smaller. The 6 volt regulator MIGHT need replacing if it's tired
> anyway, but
> thats it, according to a long time VW mechanic here who has done it
> many
> times.
> --
> Rob
> R(dot)Boardman(at)bom(dot)gov(dot)au
> (1970 1500 beetle, one owner, 240,000 miles on it's original engine)
--
Eric
After setting the voltage regulator to 9.2 volts, the battery will work fine. If
you check the voltage across the terminals of the headlight when it is on you will
probably find less than 5 volts on a "stock" bug. The 8 volt battery gets it up to
almost 7 volts. The original setting for the factory battery is about the same.
The old, undersized, corroded wiring is the reason for using an 8 volt battery in
the first place.
Eric