|
|
Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.9.37] on Sunday, December 23, 2012 at 02:43:34 :
In Reply to: Gee, never thought of it.... posted by Chris Case [75.36.45.219] on Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 15:24:50 :
And it does work. I don't think the regulator is entirely happy about it, and you won't get as much current out of it as you would out of a same-size 12 volt generator, but it will do the job on a truck that doesn't have any aftermarket 12 volt accessories.
What will happen electrically is this: The 12 volt regulator will only put out half the field current that a correct 6 volt regulator will. That 6V generator field likely has half the number of turns of wire that the 12 volt one does, or something along those lines, so between those two factors, the amount of magnetism produced by the field could be as low as 1/4 of what it would have when operating as a 6 volt generator. That means the armature current (which charges the battery) could be as low as 1/4 of what it would be with a "proper" setup. Engine RPMs may need to be a bit higher was will before the generator "kicks in". The resistors on the bottom of the regulator will likely get hotter because they're driving into a lower-resistance load.
On my M37, the 6 volt generator in a 12 volt system works well enough to keep up with some extra lights and a heater blower if I'm driving the truck, but not at idle speed. Once it kicks in, I get about 15 amps out of it, which is good enough. 12 volt generators are common enough, but if it's a choice between devising a new mounting scheme, including the pulley, and just replacing the 6 volt regulator with a 12 volt unit, the latter might be good enough and less work.