Voltage reducing

notjustair · Dec 31, 2012

I finally had it - I went to town and bought an alternator for the 8n.

I took the advice of some folks and drove over to the guy that rebuilt the generator and bought a regulator from him. It was the exact same China junk I have been buying everywhere else. It worked for all of two minutes and then started messing up. I was over it. The alternator was three dollars more than the regulator I wasted money on earlier in the day. I have NO machinery that is 6 volt anymore.

Here is my question - how strong are those 12-6 volt reducers? The lights on this tractor are only a year old and I am hoping that I can put a reducer in front of the light switch and use my 6 volt lights. I have two front and one rear light.

I happened to have one laying around so that is what I am going to do for the coil. When it eventually dies I will go with a 12 volt coil. It would be really swell if one reducer would do everything, but as I recall you have to have one of those for every "appliance", right?

souNdguy · Dec 31, 2012

won't work,

voltage reduction via a resistor will be based on load.

your coil and your lamp assy are NOT the same load.

if you have a front mount and the oe coil.. you need the oe resistor and a proper converting resistor to drop primary current to a max of 4a.

if you are sidemount and oe coil.. then just the resistor.

me? i'd squander the 35$ and get 3 new lamps and a new coil if sidemount.. if front mount.. tat will be about 45$.

otherwise, if you can do without a tail lamp, you can open upt he 2 front lamp shells and wire the front lamps in series and run them that way.. when one pops you lose both as it breaks the circuit.

you've spent 'this much' so far. go ahead and finish it off and not have to worry about it.

the resistor and coil, vs new coil isn't the issue. the lamps are the issue.. you won't be happy trying to come up with a fixed resistance to run them correctly..

Royse · Dec 31, 2012

I agree with SoundGuy. If you're converting, in for a penny in for a pound.
Rather than cutting and splicing in resistors, I would just get the right components.
Every extra connection is another potential point of failure.

NOXJohn · Jan 1, 2013

I went through the same frustration and did the same thing and converted to 12 volts. Do as Soundguy suggests and do it right. Spend a few more dollars and you will not need to work on your electrical system for a long time. I went so far as to gut the old 6 volt coil and to convert my front mount 1949 8N to using a real 12 volt oil filled no resister needed round coil. The total cost was less then $200 and it works great. Now if anything fails I can buy replacement parts right off the shelf at the local auto parts store. A good charging 6 volt system worked great for 60+ years but decent parts are now hard to find. I don't want the frustration of wasting my money buying junk just to keep my tractor looking original. All of mine are working tractors. They will not work with a dead battery.

JMOR · Jan 1, 2013

(quoted from post at 00:27:54 01/01/13) won't work,

voltage reduction via a resistor will be based on load.

your coil and your lamp assy are NOT the same load.

if you have a front mount and the oe coil.. you need the oe resistor and a proper converting resistor to drop primary current to a max of 4a.

if you are sidemount and oe coil.. then just the resistor.

me? i'd squander the 35$ and get 3 new lamps and a new coil if sidemount.. if front mount.. tat will be about 45$.

otherwise, if you can do without a tail lamp, you can open upt he 2 front lamp shells and wire the front lamps in series and run them that way.. when one pops you lose both as it breaks the circuit.

you've spent 'this much' so far. go ahead and finish it off and not have to worry about it.

the resistor and coil, vs new coil isn't the issue. the lamps are the issue.. you won't be happy trying to come up with a fixed resistance to run them correctly..

t is almost a crime that anyone ever called those resistors a "voltage reducer"..........so misleading. Makes the average Joe think it is a black box that takes in 12 volts & puts out 6 volts. Those resistors will do that at one specific load current, but not at any other load current. To further exacerbate the problem, not all "voltage reducers" are the same resistance value, so that 'specific current' where 12v goes to 6v is different for each different resistor. What a bunch of bull! (Note: this rant is for "average Joe", I just thought it the most relevant spot to post it.) Of course, on the other hand, every resistor with a current flowing through it is a "voltage reducer" ............from some voltage to some other voltage, depending on resistance & current values! :roll:

Mr. T. Minnesota · Jan 1, 2013

JMOR,
I enjoyed your (rant for the average Joe) and you explained it right.
Happy New Year!
Mr. T. Minnesota

Ken(Ark) · Jan 1, 2013

The lights on this tractor are only a year old ............ I have two front and one rear light.

When it eventually dies I will go with a 12 volt coil.

As it has been said , you can wire the head lights in a series and get a $1 bulb for the rear .

When the time comes , you can get a "No Resistor" need coil aka 14v , or 3-1/4 to 3-1/2 ohm coil for about $15 , gut your old square coil , and eliminate most of your headaches .

P.S. box up and save those 6v parts ,even if they are bad . Someday one of your grandkids will thank you .

Voltage reducing

notjustair

Well-known Member

souNdguy

Well-known Member

Royse

Well-known Member

NOXJohn

Member

JMOR

Well-known Member

Mr. T. Minnesota

Member

Ken(Ark)

Well-known Member

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