Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.112] on Monday, January 27, 2014 at 23:14:26 :
In Reply to: Re: I would try it posted by gmharris [71.105.36.203] on Monday, January 27, 2014 at 22:49:09 :
If the battery is fully charged (7.2V) and the ammeter is still showing amps going into it, then yes its over-charging the battery.
A 12 volt generator requires a lot less field current to put out 6 volts than a 6 volt generator does. The 6 volt regulator might dial back the field current to a level that cuts off a 6 volt generator but it's still enough to make the 12 volt generator put out more than 6 volts. If I wanted to really get into it, I'm sure I could modify the regulator (probably by changing the resistors on the back of it) so it would adequately regulate in this application, but I wouldn't attempt to explain how to do it here.
Plus, even if you can get the charging right, you can only get half the rated current of the 12V generator, and that itself is half the rated current of a 6V generator of the same size. Given that these generators are already pretty week compared to an average alternator today, it wouldn't be a very satisfactory long-term solution anyway. Better to find a 6 volt generator somewhere. People are always replacing them with 12 V alternators, so there must be some around.
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