Car Batteries

I'm showing my age!!

Does anybody make a car battery that has external connectors (buss) between cells. If I remember correctly all batteries use to have this back in the '50's ±.

Here's my problem. I converted my 1948 Pontiac to 12 volts. All bulbs have been changed along with the ignition coil and the alternator. (6 volt starters LOVE 12 volts. Spin real fast!!) However the standard solution to run the gauges is to install a giant drop resistor. Seems to be an inefficient way to handle this.

On old batteries you simply drove a sheet metal screw into the lead buss on top of the battery and tapped as many cells as you needed to get a lower voltage. Can present day batteries be tapped somehow? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Ivan Vegvary

Reply to
Ivan Vegvary
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Use two 6 Volt batteries? Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Reply to
Gerald Miller

"Ivan Vegvary" wrote: (clip) Can present day batteries be tapped somehow? Any ideas? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Those bus bars must still be there, only covered with tar, or other black insulating material. I suggest you figure out where the correct bus bar ought to be, and try digging down to see whether you can make contact. You might just try probing with a meter lead. If you find the spot, run a self-tapping screw in and connect to it.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Wow! Can you say 'void the warranty'?

Anyhow, I don't know how much current it takes to run the instrument panel, and I don't know your level of electronic expertise, but you might want to consider a simple voltage regulator. Single chip regulators in 1 amp varieties are available in most voltages. And ones that can handle greater currents are not that difficult to build.

Reply to
Bill Browne

I've done just this many years ago to power a 6V radio. The lead bars were there, just buried. However, if you go this route be very careful and don't blame me if it goes wrong. The voltage regulator option is far better.

John

Reply to
John

I like that answer best, Simple reliable elegant

Second to that a few IC's and a few circuits on the web would easily make a 6v regulator that owuld happily feed the instrumentation with a few amps of power if the instrumentation needs that much.

I think a single Power op amp can do it easily and quickly in fact

Reply to
Brent

I've done it too, the lead bars are usually submerged under acid. Can be done, it's messy ;)

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

Reply to
nick hull

Brent fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@1g2000hsl.googlegroups.com:

Oh, come on! A 78H05 and one 1.3v zener diode would do it (or two ordinary silicon diodes in series, and forward biased). For this simple an application, any-ol NPN power darlington and a 6.8v zener would work, too.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Isn't that going to unbalance the cells?

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Use a large 6V Zener in series with the load. Depending on the current use a good heatsink. Very easy. ...lew...

Reply to
Lew Hartswick

Lew Hartswick fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Even simpler, but it might need to be a VLZD to dissipate up to 25 watts! Some of those old hot-wire gauges are pretty current-hungry.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

this should answer your questions

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if not search other hot rod or street rod web sites.

Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Reply to
Randy

There is a thriving industry making period batteries for correct restorations. Here is one site:

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Reply to
DT

7806 - most will do an amp at 6 volts, some will do an amp and a half - just 12V, ground, 6V, a couple of capacitors.

You'll want a heat sink.

If you need to feed things that want more than that all together, the simplest method that will work safely is to break them out into multiple 6V feeds that will each work on 1.5 amp or less, as "paralleling" the outputs can be messy. There are other ways to get more amps out (combining a regulator with a transistor), but they are somewhat more complicated, and KISS rules.

54 cents for a 1.5 amp version here:

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(Just a customer. Stick to mail on the shipping method...)

You could do it with a switching DC-DC converter, but that's more complicated. KISS. Drilling a hole in the battery - not so KISS.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

Here's a solution, not cheap but allows 12V starting while not changing the car in any way.

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Reply to
Stupendous Man

Yup so inefficient that Ford used a dropping resistor on it's gauges right up until 1995!

Nothing made today has open connections. Best bet is to install individual dropping resistors OR replace the original meter movements with 12 volt items. I did that on a couple vehicles. Not very hard since most are just crimped together.

Reply to
Steve W.

"Spehro Pefhany" Isn't that going to unbalance the cells? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I assume the current draw is going to be small, so the battery probably won't even notice. If you are really worried about it, you could switch to the other half of the battery every month or so. If you are REALLY obscessive about it, you could install a flip-flop type relay to do the switching for you every time you start the car. That would probably cost more than some of the more sophisticated electronic methods that have been described, but it is more easily understood by an old fart like me.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Hi Steve

I too wanted to comment about the use of "inefficient". It didnt seem that the gauges used alot of power. It sure is easy to install resistor/resistors to make the gauges work in all the systems I have seen.. I thought all car manufacturers used resistors to set their guage voltages. If the car has a 6 volt solenoid type starter it sure is better to replace the solenoid with a 12 volt one. That will save alot of wear on the drive (and flywheel ring).

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry

How are you going to do that with everything on a common ground?

Reply to
Pete C.

The intercell connectors in most batteries no longer run "over the top" and the cases are hard plastic. You will NOT be successful digging in the top of the battery. Better to just get a solid state voltage regulator and use it for the gauges. I've done it many times on 12 volt vehicles where the old thermal regulators caused radio noise.

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

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