Im taking out the 6 volt harness made from lamp cords and other cords that some hack made! What gauge wire for the lights , blinkers? Im told 6 volt is higher amps . All the fuses have been taken out over the years ill run some in line. Are there 6 volt fuses is there such a thing ? what should have fuses ? Should i use one on everything like one on the lights , blinkers , break lights ? should there be a fusible link before the power to the ign ? Where does the ign pull its power from the starter or reg . Its a basic wiring harness but i can see the wire gauges are different anything i should do as far as that goes . Im wondering on the horn too there are some thick wires going to the horn from a three prong box under the reg on the firewall this is a 40 chevy what is that box is it a horn relay what does it do . Thanks in advance
Ive done some searching and i still dont know . The theads ive read say 12 volt harness will not work with a 6 volt battery needs heavy gaugewire but what gauge is good for the lights , breaks , blinkers .
ohms law says that whenever you lower the voltage you raise the amps. Usually the wire gauge and fuse is set to be close to double the actual load use. A 10 amp circuit would have a normal 5 amp load as a simple rule of thumb. Generally these cars had 10 and 12 gauge wires run throughout. Heavier gauge wire for the higher amp load as you would suspect. Fuses in the feed to each circuit. Make sure you use the same gauge grounds.
cool thanks that helps a lot and i leaned somthing it not that there are 6 volt or 12 volt fuses it the amps . I have a lot of 14 15 16 gauge glad i didn't start . So 12 gauge on the lights ? 10 on the heaver stuff would this be fine ?
head lights, horns, heater and other heavy loads 10 gauge medium loads, runing lights, ignition, radio, genny circuit, signals,12 gauge dash lights, interior lights, other light loads 14. Battery to solenoid, solenoid to starter 0 gauge cables, same with ground or us a braided ground strap. Also ad a ground strap from body to frame or engine. 6V systems are very dependent on good clean tight grounds.
OK Main power circut 10 G ,this is from Gen terminal on the gen to volt reg, to amp meter,to battery [at starter switch normaly. Also from discharge treminal on amp meter to headlight switch 10 G and to ign. sw. 12 G Horn relay gets a 12G from starter sw. usually and a 12G to the horn ,16 G goes to the horn ****on. 12 G from headlight sw. to dimmer sw. 12G from dimmer sw. to headlights. 14G for tail and stoplights,and flashers also to coil. 14 or 16 for fuel gauge. 12 or 14 for heater blower. Those cars did not usually have much in the way of fuses and certinally no fuseable links. Fuses do not care 6 or 12 just load[amps] If the headlightswitch does not have a fuse or circut breaker use a automatic reset 30 amp breaker . Total loss of headlights on a dark road from a blown fuse is NO fun thats why the auto reset breaker ,lights will flicker on and off. if you want you can fuse the other lights and ign. and heater. Other lights 20amp heater 20 amp ign 15 amp.Be sure you use 00 battery cables and run the main ground to the engine and bonding grounds from body and front clip to frame 8-10 gauge will do it here.
Well Robert I wired my first rod by crawling under the dash of my 54 Chevy and seeing what size wire they used and where it went.1961 it was,a lot younger and more flexiable then.LOL
That good for me . Ive done a bunch but all 12 volt convertion so i dont no much on fixing the 6 volt. I was going to rip it out and go 12 but its a driver till i find the right setup to build it . Most the wiring has been cut out . Theres a signel flare in it , do you no how to wire them off the top of you head to ? one wire went to the break switch, two went to the flasher then the third on the flasher to power , two to front blinkers, two went to the rear blinkers but was wired with lamp cords i marked them so i no where they went sound wright . I dont no if it was wright it didnt work Thanks for all the info
Get an original wiring schematic for the vehicle you are working on. You should have it anyway, it will show you wire sizes. CHAZ
which wires go to where???????? tr12 03 -29-2008 01:25 AM This is a thread on the signal flare . The link wont work
Since you are taking it all out, its not any harder to go to 12 volts. Why fool around and do it twice.
Its to late i made a 6 volt harness today from ****ch , it rained today so it was a good day to do it ! Its easyer to put in the 6 volt harness not much to it .And the single flare makes it even easyer takes care of the blinkers and break lights , All that is left is the key and head lights high and low beam , tail light ,plat light its easy .I dont care about the gauges . or dash lights im not going any where in this car .
doesn't matter going 6 to 12, you new wires gauged for 6 V will work easily for 12 V. Not Visca Versa though. So if when you want to go 12 V you just need to change the apliances and bulbs.
2x all wire sizes. Half the volts= twice the amps. 3 wire sizes (14 awg x 2=11 awg) so you would use 10 awg as 11 awg is not available.
The Jalopy Journal
