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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Batteries

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Batteries -- page: 1 2     56MarkII 07-13-2019 @ 7:48 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 63 Joined: Jan 2012 I used to have an 8 volt in my 50 Merc and it was a pain in the @$$ with no pill to cure!! Battery chargers are a problem and many smaller chargers don't go quite high enough on the voltage to properly charge. I couldn't find a battery tender that would handle 6,8,&12 volts either unless I purchased from the States living up here in the Snow Mexican republic of Canuckastan. Finally I realized I was pushing my headlights, radio and other things too hard! The proper charging voltage for a 6 volt is about 7.10 volts and for an 8 volt is 9.4 volts and this is what your headlights, radio etc. are subjected to. Finally I just went down to the local hardware/agriculture supply and purchased the largest 6 volt that would fit in my battery box and reset my regulator properly using an extremely accurate volt meter. You want to use a fully charged battery, allow the voltage regulator to reach proper operating temperature because they are trmperature sensitive charging the battery at different temperatures depending on the temperature. The colder the higher and the hotter the lower is how they regulate. Also KEEP THE COVER ON! It is tricky carefully removing and reinstalling the cover on a live operating system but these regulators need the cover kept on in between adjustments! The cover keeps the heat of the relays in and also has an effect on the magnetism as well. While your at it look at the condition of the cables and as others have mentioned 6 volts means higher current so keep 12 volt cables out of this application. My new battery doesn't sweat or gas and everything is clean and corrosion free compared to flogging a dead horse to go another one hundred miles. Another thing to keep in mind is have the engine running at a faster idle so the generator is properly charging and don't be in a hurry making adjustments allowing the regulator to be at the proper temperature between adjustments. Give it time while measuring the voltage. When you feel you are in the ballpark turn on your headlights while the engine is running fast enough to see if the charging system can keep up with the constant load. Depending on your regulator and what it has for a current regulator? The current regulator controls the maximum current your generator supplies. If it is set below the maximum current rating of your generator, let's say 30 or perhaps 40 amps it won't be able to keep up and as long as your lights are on the voltage will drop and your battery will eventually go dead. Too high of a current setting will cause your brushes to wear out fast or cook your generator. I have an alternator/ generator test bench where I place the generator and regulator on and then I can let it run continuously and this makes setting the regulator easier as well. A carbon pile is also required to place a steady load on the battery to measure constant current setting of the regulator. Long winded but too much info is better than not enough ;-) This message was edited by 56MarkII on 7-13-19 @ 8:06 PM Sneezer 07-09-2019 @ 5:37 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 63 Joined: Aug 2016 I had a 6v Optima in my 35 coupe. It was laid on it side facing forward toward the front of the car. Made it easy to disconnect the battery without the problem of removing the floor mounted battery cover. Just tok a little work. jimlamarca 07-09-2019 @ 3:59 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 30 Joined: Jun 2019 Thanks, trjford8. My battery is under the floorboard in front of the driver's seat. I have to make sure the Optima you recommend fits, or figure out how to make a modification. I'll look into it. Thanks again, Jim jimlamarca 07-09-2019 @ 3:54 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 30 Joined: Jun 2019 Charlie, I guess if you can tweak, you can untweak. But, I do get your message, Thanks. Jim trjford8 07-09-2019 @ 7:18 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4232 Joined: Oct 2009 Jim , the red top Optima is the one that most people use. Robert/Texas 07-09-2019 @ 3:33 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 108 Joined: Dec 2009 Mine has a red top and I'm sure they would work in any 6-volt car but there could be a fitting problem. I also have them in 2 Model A's and a Model T. I bought all of them from Amazon. Robert jimlamarca 07-08-2019 @ 4:44 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 30 Joined: Jun 2019 Robert, in checking the Optima line of 6-volt batteries, they have a confusing (to me) array of models. There's the Red Top Starting Battery, The Yellow Top Dual Purpose, and the Blue Top Starting and Deep Cycle, among others. I have a '36 Convertible. Which type do you find works best for you, and do you think it'll work for my car. CharlieStephens 07-08-2019 @ 1:44 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 894 Joined: Oct 2009 Remember your charging system may have tweaked for the 8 volt battery and you might need to untweak it (did I just invent a new word?) Charlie Stephens jimlamarca 07-08-2019 @ 12:45 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 30 Joined: Jun 2019 Thanks, Robert. Good suggestion. I'll look into it. Dealing with the 8-volt seems to be more trouble than it's worth. Robert/Texas 07-08-2019 @ 3:45 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 108 Joined: Dec 2009 I put a 6-volt Optima battery in my ’37 and used a fake cover that makes it look like a regular one. It only weighs around half as much as a group 2 battery. It cranks the engine noticeably faster and even though the car is seldom used, the battery stays fully charged. They seem to last around 10 years or so. They don’t leak acid, which is especially important for Fords with the batteries mounted on the firewall. The only negative that I see is that they are getting quite pricey.

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