Should I switch to 12 volt?

J

jdp8402

Member
I'm trying to decide if I should go to 12 volt or not. What all needs to be switched if I decide to do it. I switched my Farmall H over and all I had to change was the bulbs and coil. I replaced the coil because I didn't want the resistor. The reason I'm thinking about switching is because the generator needs rebuilt and if the battery dies on me somewhere no one drives a car that runs on 6 volt for a jumpstart. I would also want it to be a negative ground. What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Jeff
 
Well, its not hard or expensive to rebuild the generator.

These monsters can be jump started with 12v. Just don't leave the jump cables attached any longer than necessary.

If you want negative ground, thats easy to do.

I see very few good reasons to switch to 12v.
 
Patrick L. said:
Well, its not hard or expensive to rebuild the generator.

These monsters can be jump started with 12v. Just don't leave the jump cables attached any longer than necessary.

If you want negative ground, thats easy to do.

I see very few good reasons to switch to 12v.
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And an alternator looks ugly, doesn't look right at all.
 
I know that it might not look the best. I did it to my tractor when the battery was dead one day and I burned up a $200 generator trying to jumpstart it from a 12 volt system. I will admit that I had jumped it before from 12 volt with no problems, but it just takes that one time to cost extra money. Does anyone have a reason other than appearance why a person shouldn't convert to 12 volt?
 
' Appearance ' ? One doesn't have to use an alternator on 12v. The generator is just as happy on 12v.
 
jdp8402 said:
I'm trying to decide if I should go to 12 volt or not. What all needs to be switched if I decide to do it. I switched my Farmall H over and all I had to change was the bulbs and coil. I replaced the coil because I didn't want the resistor. The reason I'm thinking about switching is because the generator needs rebuilt and if the battery dies on me somewhere no one drives a car that runs on 6 volt for a jumpstart. I would also want it to be a negative ground. What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Jeff
Click to expand...

What's that funny looking lug wrench for besides wheel nuts? Or you can just push start it, when I was younger I was pushing it a lot!
 
chamokie said:
Change the fields and brushes, and you have a 12 volt gen.
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You do not need to change anything internally on the generator. You do need to rework the cutout to close at 13V or switch to a diode cutout configured for negative ground (positive output) like the Model T's use for a diode conversion. Then re-polarize (flash) the generator. You could also use one of the Funprojects 12V neg regs. but your max amperage output is limited to much less and you need to polarize the gen before installing it or it will go poof!
 
OK I've two A's One is a 6v alternator the other is a 6v generator. No reason to change either one since they both work. My criteria is (tractors) if the cost to rebuild a 6v generator exceeds the cost ($35) I go with the 12v negative ground alternator. Yes 6v positive ground worked for many years but all manufacturers did go with 12v negative ground.
 
Cars originally went 12 volt due to greater demand for more amperage. 6 volts is more than adequate for the model a unless your loading up assessories. Its easier to push start your car in 3rd than it is to jump it.
 
Unless you're going to add 12 volt accessories (and maybe not even then) there is no reason to go to 12 volts. Save your money for gas and drive the car.
 
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