I need a 8 volt battery charger

[royvaldez]

Need some help. Went online to purchase a 8 volt charger for my Studebaker Battery. I do have a 6 volt charger here at home. Not enough. Went online with Amazon. They have one that I wanted to purchase. Problem: They do not ship to Ca. and Or for this item. I need to purchase and ship to someone near the boarder line of South Lake Tahoe and Nevada. They state that I can send this purchase as a gift. So I need an address to send this package. From there, I can schedule a date and time to pick up. Can someone step up to the plate and give me a contact info to send my battery charger.

[larkregal62]

If you have no luck close , you could ship to any Forum member and they could reship to you. I would be glad to do it for you, but I'm in FL. I'm sure someone closer will step up, but if not, I'll do it for you. Gordon

[gordr]

Another idea. If you have an old-style 6 volt battery charger without any fancy electronic regulation, but it does have an ammeter, just buy a Variac, and plug the charger into that. Most Variacs, you ca crank up to 130 volts or so, and that should allow a "six volt" charger to throw a charge into an eight volt battery. Conversely, you could use a 12 volt charger, and dial the input voltage down to about 80 volts. Watch the meter and set the charging rate you want. I have exactly this setup in my shop now. You can probably find a Variac on eBay. A very useful thing to have, incidentally.

[colt45sa]

You shouldn't need an 8 volt battery. Go thru all your connections in the starting circuit and clean them clean, clean, clean. Make sure that you have heavy cables from the battery to the starter and ground. Your starter should spin like its a 12 volt system. 6 volt systems need very clean and very snug connections as well as heavy enough wiring to do the job

[wittsend]

Question? Is the charging system in the car 8 volts? If not then once the battery is charged and the car started do you not have a second problem? With one exception I never dealt with a 6 volt (or heard of an 8 volt) system. The exception was a 6 volt VW dune buggy that I always jump started with the tow vehicle 12 volt battery without issue.

BTW, in a 12 volt system the charging voltage is generally between 13.8 volts and 14.2 volts depending upon the state of charge. So, a charging voltage for a 8 volt battery might be 9 volts +. Would a 12 volt conversion not be better in the long run (save for a concourse battery presentation).

[paul shuffleburg]

I think the easiest thing to do is to adjust your voltage regulator
to about 8.5 volts. Don't go much higher or you will burn light bulbs out.

[Cornbinder89]

I think the easiest thing to do is to adjust your voltage regulatorto about 8.5 volts. Don't go much higher or you will burn light bulbs out.

A lead acid battery has 2.2 volt per cel at rest with a full charge. That means a "8 volt battery has 8.8 volts at rest and needs 9.6 to charge correctly. For this reason 8 volt batterys are a bad idea on a 6 volt system. As other have stated, 6 volt should have no problem. Raiseing the charging voltage this high will cause other problems. Remember, these cars started when new on 6 volt, without a problem. Using an 8 volt battery is like turning up the pump pressure on you well because the line leaks between the pump and the house, better to fix the leak, then turn up the pressure and letting it leak.6 Volts needs good thick cables, 1/2" thick conductors (00 or 000 gauge).

[royvaldez]

I hear ya.

[irish]

I think "Cornbinder" sums it up nicely, bye the way welcome to the forum "Cornbinder"!

[Deaf Mute]

I had a '49 Ford pickup one time (Think Sanford & Son) and the previous owner had put an 8 volt battery in it... and then sold it to me. I adjusted the regulator to about 9 volts... which was fine until I had to drive it home from work one night. When I revved it up to highway speed the regulator for some reason quit regulating and I burned out both head lights AND the tail light, along with a dash light or two. I did get home (full moon, deserted roads in Iowa, and nary a cop in sight) safely. That weekend, I tore into it, cleaned everything & used "no-ox" on all the grounds and hot leads, added another ground strap from the starter bolt to the frame. I purchased a new 6v battery and started it up, re-adjusted the regulator & all was fine. Then I purchased new bulbs. I drove it another year or two and bought a used '68 Chev PU that needed body work.
That 8 volt battery sat around till I pitched it.