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6 volts or 8 volts - that is the start-ling question

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rick 48 cub
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6 volts or 8 volts - that is the start-ling question

Postby rick 48 cub » Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:46 pm

My cub came with a six volt battery (about 500 cc amps). Fully charged, this battery will rotate the engine about fifteen times before it peters out.

The guy who sold me the tractor suggested that I should get an 8 volt battery. He said that I can charge the 8 volt batter with a low amperage 12 charger, or a high amperage 6 volt charger.

Does this sould like sage advice ? I do not want to burn anything out.

Rick
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Bigdog
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Postby Bigdog » Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:56 pm

Your problem is probably not the fact that you have a 6 volt battery. Your battery cables and connections are probably not up to the job. You would be amazed at what clean shiney connections will do. Remove and clean both ends of both cables. Especially, important if you have replacement ends on your cables it to remove the ends and clean them and the cables under them. I replaced the old cables on one of my tractors with heavy welding cable with crimped and soldered ends. Plus a flat braided ground strap that is fastened into one of the mounting bolts in the bottom of the battery box. I guarantee you that when it spins over you would swear it is a 12 volt battery.
Stay away from the 8 volt battery. A 6 volt charger will never fully charge it and if you use a low amp 12 volt charger you can warp plates and boil out the electrolyte if you don't watch it closely. It's not worth the risk.
Repair the problems you have and that 50 year old 6 volt system will probably last another 50 years! :) :)
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Postby Cub-Bud » Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:08 pm

Yeah, what Bigdog said... :wink:
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Dale51
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Re: 6 volts or 8 volts - that is the start-ling question

Postby Dale51 » Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:32 pm

rick 48 cub wrote:My cub came with a six volt battery (about 500 cc amps). Fully charged, this battery will rotate the engine about fifteen times before it peters out.

The guy who sold me the tractor suggested that I should get an 8 volt battery. He said that I can charge the 8 volt batter with a low amperage 12 charger, or a high amperage 6 volt charger.

Does this sould like sage advice ? I do not want to burn anything out.

Rick


Bigdog has the right idea so I will add just 1 thing it could be that the Batt is bad or going bad.
Take it to a shop & have it tested for a bad cell.
It sounds to me like a bad batt.
If it's been broken I did it.
If its not broken wait till I touch it.

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Postby beaconlight » Sat Dec 18, 2004 2:08 pm

grease the connections when you redo them. It will help to prevent future corossion. I hesitate to mention di-electric grease but it will do. Any grease will do in my experience and 4 generations experience in my family.

Bill
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rick 48 cub
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Postby rick 48 cub » Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:24 pm

Thanks for the advice. I am going to find the highest cca, non-deep cycle, six volt battery that will fit in the box. I was uneasy with the thought of not having a 8 volt charger.

As a related note. Many years ago a handyman/mechanic told me to use faucet washer grease for electrical connection. It's cheap, non-toxic, and I have never had a problem with it.
Rick 1948 cub

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6 or 8 volts

Postby mike mix » Sat Dec 18, 2004 5:45 pm

All of the above advice is good, it does sound like a bad battery. One thing to check for is the size of the battery cables. 6 v cables should be double the size of 12v cables. This is very important on a Cub because of the length of the cable going to the starter. Also make sure the ground for the battery is good through out, many times the groung cable is fastened to the battery box which does not have a good connection to the tractor frame because of rust.
Also I don't want to open a can of worms here, but putting grease on battery cable connections does more harm then good. Battery posts & connections are made of lead. Lead is a very porous metal, grease and other materials will be absorbed into the lead adding resistance to the connection. 6v systems need good clean connections.
Mike

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Postby John *.?-!.* cub owner » Sat Dec 18, 2004 6:46 pm

If you still have an original size battery box a group 1 is as big a battery as will fit it. That doesn't leave much variation in CCAs. However a good group 1 battery will do a lot of cranking before running down.
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Postby beaconlight » Sat Dec 18, 2004 7:26 pm

Its the lead oxide, lead sulfate, lead sulfide, copper oxide (used in old rectifiers), copper sulfide and copper sulfate the grease keeps from forming on the connections.
clean them up and keep them clean.
Bill
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Postby Jim Hudson » Sat Dec 18, 2004 10:31 pm

The plan Jane group 1 el cheap o battery from AutoZone has started my Cub for 2 years now. I have no idea what the cca is.
Young man for work, old man for advice

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Postby danovercash » Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:09 pm

What BigDog and Jim said. Been there and done that!! (no tee shirt) did it all with an old 6V chevy truck. 8volts will blow out your bulbs and radio (LOL). The regulator in the truck was set to charge 9v, and the inverter was puting approx. 18v into the CB radio. worked great till it broke. Started faster than 12v. (mechanical starter) Finally put it back to 6v with clean/new conections. worked good as new. Check for continuity and resistance, make sure all conections & contactors are clean and tight. A sage old partsman told me that iff'n everythings right, you don't need more volts, they will just cause more problems.
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FARMALL SUPER A , VERY VERY SLOW CRANKING/TURNING OF ENGINE.

Postby jdd » Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:50 pm

i am new here. bare with me.
i just got a super a. it did not have a battery. unknowingly i used a 12v battery. it cranked over and never started. i then realized it may use a 6v battery. i bought a new one. put it in, now it barely turns over.
do you think i harmed anything using the 12v at first. and why do you think it barely turns over. i may get about a half a turn out of it.
also, i am assuming this tractor is 6v. the "regulator" under the starter has 6v on it.
any assistance is greatly appreciated. this is 1 nice tractor, just can not get it running.
jdd

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Postby Bigdog » Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:10 pm

Look at your battery cables. Most likely, if they have been replaced over the years, they were replaced with lighter gauge 12 volt cables. You need a good heavy cable for 6 volt service as the current draw is higher. Also clean and tighten both ends of both cables. Disconnect your ground cable and make sure that connection is very clean then tighten it well when re-connecting.
While you're looking at things, check the starter motor tag and make sure someone hasn't replaced the original with a 12 volt one.
I'd be willing to bet that the proper size cables with good connections will cure the problem.
Bigdog
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Postby Lurker Carl » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:36 pm

Also check for weak cables. You lose plenty of juice when the the little wires within a cable break.

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Postby Matt Kirsch » Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:26 am

jdd,

You probably blew out the coil and/or condenser, if the engine has a distributor, or a cobbed-up magneto. That's why it won't start.

Remember the four essentials to getting an engine to run:
1. Air
2. Fuel
3. Fire
4. Timing


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