Oooops...dang.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 15,554
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From: Eagle, Idaho
Oooops...dang.
I haven't fired up the '54 in a while so I decided to pull all 12 car covers off and give it a go. I rolled my Schumacher battery charger over to the car, flipped the dial to the appropriate 6 volt setting and let it charge for a while. Funny thing was the little needle on the charger didn't move much. So, after 20 minutes I make sure it's in park, reach through the side curtain (they don't have windows), turn the key a few times and start it up. I walk around to unhook the battery charger and the cables are hot and battery acid has bubbled out of the vent holes in the little caps on the battery. What the... I put my glasses on and look at the setting on the charger and I had it set to 12V 10 amps. Dang-it.
My mind starts processing. Let's see...I didn't open the doors so the dome lights are good, but I did turn on the ignition and start the car. I didn't turn anything else on or honk the horn. Maybe I only blew the amp meter, fuel sender potentiometer and fuel gauge coils, the power supply to the Wonderbar radio and the generator/voltage regulator.
With it running, one by one, I turned on the radio, still good. Turned on the lights, good. Turn signals, brake lights, good. Then I looked at the gauges. All are working. The fuel tank shows 3/4 tank, but I don't remember if it actually had 3/4 of a tank in it. Hmmm. The amp meter is charging a little high, but it moves up and down with engine RPM like it usually did when the car was first started. Then I turned everything on at once, high beams, brake lights, turn signal, radio, horn, e-brake light, etc., and the amp meter stayed in the 1-2 amp plus area while idling.
Maybe vettedaddy or someone else with 6 volt experience can tell me if I dodged a bullet on this or if there is something else I need to look at before I drag it out again.
My mind starts processing. Let's see...I didn't open the doors so the dome lights are good, but I did turn on the ignition and start the car. I didn't turn anything else on or honk the horn. Maybe I only blew the amp meter, fuel sender potentiometer and fuel gauge coils, the power supply to the Wonderbar radio and the generator/voltage regulator.
With it running, one by one, I turned on the radio, still good. Turned on the lights, good. Turn signals, brake lights, good. Then I looked at the gauges. All are working. The fuel tank shows 3/4 tank, but I don't remember if it actually had 3/4 of a tank in it. Hmmm. The amp meter is charging a little high, but it moves up and down with engine RPM like it usually did when the car was first started. Then I turned everything on at once, high beams, brake lights, turn signal, radio, horn, e-brake light, etc., and the amp meter stayed in the 1-2 amp plus area while idling.
Maybe vettedaddy or someone else with 6 volt experience can tell me if I dodged a bullet on this or if there is something else I need to look at before I drag it out again.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Middle TN by way of KY, OH, VA, IL, CA, FL, NY, SC, HI
P=IE, so voltage doubled and current was halved. High current is often more damaging than high voltage within the values you're talking about here. Voltage is about the dielectric strength of the insulation, and current is about the cross-sectional area of the conducter.
Plus you have no real voltage divider circuits or semi-conductor circuits I don't believe.
I think you'll be fine.
Plus you have no real voltage divider circuits or semi-conductor circuits I don't believe.
I think you'll be fine.
