Generator 6 to 8V

I broke down and put a 8V battery on the H. Boy what a difference in starting. Can the original generator and voltage regulator be adjusted to put out 8.4V without taking to a rebuild shop? Any help as always greatly appreciated.

Pete in NC

We used to do this on our Allis Chalmers when they started hard in the winter,It takes longer to recharge but plowing snow was long enough time to have the battery up to snuff

If your generator system is in good shape it will charge the 8V battery without any modifications at all.

Then again, if your generator system was in good shape your tractor would start on 6V.

Your money would've been better spent getting the charging system back up to snuff, and replacing your battery cables. The 8V battery will work good for a while, but in a few months you're going to be back in the same boat you're in now.

You don"t have to do anything to the generator. You will have to close the current relay point gap in the regulator until you get a plus charge reading on your ammeter while the engine is running, about 5 amps max so you don"t over charge the battery. It should be reading in the negative now. If your H has a distributor, you may find your points will start pitting sooner than usual because of the increased voltage, also any lights on the tractor will be OK, but may burn out quicker, also because of the increased voltage, especially if they are the originals.

Keep your ignition ststems in good shape and you will never need any more than 6 volts. Over the years I have had H's, M's and Super's and never a starting problem even in the winter time. Regular maintenance on your ignition stystem is all you need.

mkirsch has a good point. There is no reason why 6 volts won't spin an H over with no problem if your battery cables, connections, and starter, and charging system are in good shape. If they aren't, those problems will just keep getting worse with the 8 volt battery, until that won't even work. A place to start is to make sure all your battery cables are at least 1/0 gauge (2/0 is better on a 6 volt system) and that all your cable connection points and grounds are clean. That alone generally makes a huge difference in the speed these tractors turn over.

(quoted from post at 07:09:06 04/27/09) I broke down and put a 8V battery on the H. Boy what a difference in starting. Can the original generator and voltage regulator be adjusted to put out 8.4V without taking to a rebuild shop? Any help as always greatly appreciated.

Pete in NC

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Have you checked the voltage out of your generator yet? I used 8V batteries in an Oliver S-55 for years and never changed the regulator. I couldn't find an 8v. one time and replaced it with a 6V and it only lasted 1 year (it was [u:568d20506e]not[/u:568d20506e] over-charging)... 8V would last 3 or 4 years.
BTW, where do you even find an 8v. any more? I haven't seen one on a shelf for years. I don't need one now as my 240U has been changed to 12v., but I know people that would like one.

Since you already bought the 8 volt battery, not much good in trying to convince you otherwise, that being said:

If you have a Cutout Relay and LHBD light switch charging system, it should charge an 8 volt batetry with NO changes, it may not set the world on fire but ought to keep it charged......

If you have a Voltage Regulator with ONLY a current control relay/coil (NOT a voltage control relay/coil or a current/voltage combo) it can still charge an 8 volt battery unmodified.

HOWEVER if your VR contains a Voltage Control relay/coil it would work better if adjusted..

Theres a lot of different VR's floatinG AROUND OUT THERE Id just GIVE IT A TRY N SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

If its a coil ignition ideally you would want to add around 0.5 ohms of series voltage droping (8 to 6) external ballast so the points last longer n the coil dont run over warm butttttt Ive seen them work with no ballast added, although the points will burn up a bit sooner. Similar the lights will glow brighter but burn up sooner.

John T

Not trying to hijack the thread but I just installed a 8v battery in my SM and it had nothing to do with voltage.

When the SM came to me it had an 8v battery that was pretty much dead (would only hold a charge for maybe a start or two). I've always been of the "if it's setup right, 6 volts will do the trick" group. Well I went to a bunch of different battery places looking for a group 3 battery. You would not believe how hard it is to find one these days! When I did find a place that could get one it would have been back ordered for 4 to 6 weeks. Then he said "oh, and you're not going to like the price", after tax almost $200 bucks, yikes...

I asked if he could get an 8v battery, he said he could have one tomorrow. So for $70 bucks my SM starts like a champ. I just built some wood spacers to take up the extra room in the battery box.

So I think some times 8v does make sense....

K

Thanks for the varied responses. I do have new battery cables of 2/0 cable. The battery I purchased is readiy available from any Interstae dealer. I paid 82.00 from my local fillin station. Fits nicely inside original battery box. The old 6V I replaced when fully charged sometime struggled spinning the motor. With the 8V it cracks right off. Again thank you for the information.

(quoted from post at 07:44:54 04/27/09) Not trying to hijack the thread but I just installed a 8v battery in my SM and it had nothing to do with voltage.

When the SM came to me it had an 8v battery that was pretty much dead (would only hold a charge for maybe a start or two). I've always been of the "if it's setup right, 6 volts will do the trick" group. Well I went to a bunch of different battery places looking for a group 3 battery. You would not believe how hard it is to find one these days! When I did find a place that could get one it would have been back ordered for 4 to 6 weeks. Then he said "oh, and you're not going to like the price", after tax almost $200 bucks, yikes...

I asked if he could get an 8v battery, he said he could have one tomorrow. So for $70 bucks my SM starts like a champ. I just built some wood spacers to take up the extra room in the battery box.

So I think some times 8v does make sense....

K

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I didn't buy a group 3 for my SM either. I bought a group 2 and it spins it over extremely well....
mike

(quoted from post at 17:12:18 04/27/09)
I didn't buy a group 3 for my SM either. I bought a group 2 and it spins it over extremely well....
mike

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Geeze, don't make it sound so simple. Are group 2s a common battery?

Group 3s made every one scramble looking through old books and making phone calls to manufactures/distributors. Group 4s on the other hand seem really common (used a lot in sets of two).

K