Dwell/ tachometer

Daves55Sedan

Daves55Sedan

Well-known member
Looking for a dwell/tachometer for use on old 6 volt cars.
Found one for 12volt at Autozone, but that dont help me.
If not, anybody know somebody that refurbishes old testing equipment like this? I have (2) old Sears units not working.
 
Tach/dwells that I have, or have used, are not voltage or polarity sensitive, so I don't know what's 12 volt about the one you looked at. There are many on Ebay to chose from if the Autozone meter won't work.
 
Bill Steiner said:
Mine works on 12 or 6 volts also. Bill
Click to expand...


My old Sears testers require an internal battery. Those types do not connect to the car battery. The new one I just bought does connect to the car battery and it is for 12 volts only.
I used these Sears units back in the early '70's and was always careful to remove the battery after each use, so I am sure that they are not corroded from battery acid.
I looked at all units available on ebay. The Equus meter is okay but I would rather have a dual meter like I got.
Fould a place in St louis that might be able to repair one of these old Sears meters. Im gonna call em tomorrow.
 
Next time you are at a swap meet see if you can pick one of these up...mine has to be at least 30 years old (bought it new back then) and works great on a 6 volt 53' Merc, when hooked up to the 6 volt battery (even thought it says 12 volt).
 

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I know I used my 12 volt dwell tach on my 6 volt '54 ford, can't remember specifically how I did it, but I did it. That reminds me, it may be time for new points...
 
There is no need for a 6 volt specific dwell meter. Most of the 12 volt cars you test with a meter have a ballast resistor in the circuit which will already have dropped the voltage almost to 6 volts.
Most I have seen just connect across the coil anyway.
Regards
 
I sent a Email to ACTRON and they replied back. The unit I bought should NOT be used for a 6volt system and they do not make one that does. I took it back and got a refund. I wasted a lot of time searching the internet for auto testing equipt repair shops and called a list of them. None of them will repair the Sears units because there are no Replacement parts readily available. I will just get one from Ebay. They have one for 6volts.
I had a really good quality set of points in there that lasted for many years. Finally the engine idle began to drop and I discovered that the points had developed a ***. So I filed them down quite a bit but cannot get the pitts out. So I installed a cheapo set of points and just set the gap with a feeler guage. Engine runs good as new.
 
Just wondering, are you not going to spend about as much for a dwell meeter as it would cost for a Petronix? I don't think you will need the dwell? Just a thought. Gerry
 
Bought this at a swap meet this last weekend for $3.00 if works great on my 53' Merc with a 6 volt system, and does all you need it to do.
 

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I've got a old and I mean old dewell meter from radioshack. I connect the red lead to the postive side of the battery and the negetive side to the distributor side of the coil. It works fine. My friend one day wanted to see just what my points were set at and I had to remind him it's POSTIVE GROUND. He switched his lines and got the reading he was looking for. And his meter was a lot newer than mine. It just depends on how you set it up. The gauge will read whatever voltage is going through it but, you have to have it connected right.
 
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