Is this possible?

[700rpm]

My battery does not seem to be getting a sufficient charge (or any charge at all) even though my ammeter is showing a good 10 amp charge. After a few nights of running with the lights on, the battery, though only 3 months old, seems to lose its oomph. Can it be that even though the ammeter is showing it that the battery is not getting the juice? 10 amps does the job on my other cars, but not my coupe.

Electricity mystifies me!

[redmodelt]

Ray could be your connections or using a lot of juice with light on for short trips, not having enough time to charge up your battery. 10 amps charging rate sounds a bit high. Could be you might be over charging the battery shorting it life. What kind of cutout do you have? If you have a diode you might want to cut it back to 4 or 5 amps. There was a discussion here or on the Model T site about diode regulators about a month ago and 4 amps was what was recommended, even with lights on, same amps.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Your lights might have higher draw filaments and take a bit more than 10 amps. You could turn the lights off 5 minutes before turning the engine off, to help recharge the battery. Otherwise put it on a 6 amp charger for a couple hours at the end of the drive.nOr do more daytime driving and less night time driving.

[Mitch//pa]

agree with all but also ck the rate with an external meter, i have seen plenty of inaccurate gauges

[dumb person]

Swap the battery with a known good one and see if it makes a difference?

[Purdy Swoft]

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Good six volt batteries are getting harder to find and more expensive, this has been my experience in the past few years. There isn't a lot of demand for anything six volt . I'm fixing to have to replace the batteries in a couple of my model A's. I've had great results with 12 volt positive ground on our roadster.. I think that the last few six volt batteries that I bought must have been on the shelf for a long time. Good luck.

[P.S.]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

agree with all but also ck the rate with an external meter, i have seen plenty of inaccurate gauges

Yes! Some of the ammeters sold by the Model A parts vendors are WAY off. I have to calibrate them before installing. Have seen them off by more than 50%.

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

Good six volt batteries are getting harder to find and more expensive, this has been my experience in the past few years.

Not my experience at all. In fact, 6 volt car batteries can be purchased online from such common places as Amazon.com if you desire, and the price is much lower also. New 6V batteries are being developed all the time, even as we speak because they are used in some of the "old folk scooters". Golf carts still use 6 volt batteries in series because they will handle the peak loads and discharge rates better.

I fear the use of lithium batteries in cars, not just hybrids. They are extremely dangerous and volatile. If the case gets a pinhole or crack and oxygen leaks in, instant fire! Lithium batteries in a wrecked car turn the humans into Schrodinger's cat.

[Purdy Swoft]

Battery prices sold on line may be cheaper in some cases but shipping will more than make up the difference. I recently purchased a special battery on line for my stand by home generator, it was expensive and I had to wait...It cost a little more at first to set up for twelve volt if you want voltage regulation and don't want to use a resister on the coil. I use a three OHM coil and a 12 volt positive ground can style regulator from Fun Projects on our roadster. Other than a few inexpensive bulbs, that was the only changes needed. I use an old repro horn. No wires needed to be reversed and all original type wiring harnesses were used. Other than that , it was just install the new 12 volt battery and go. It'll even work with an original cutout and the original coil can be used with a resister. I'm Not trying to convince anybody to do the unthinkable. If a twelve volt system with an original unmodified generator is unthinkable, disregard this info. After running this setup on our roadster for seven years, it seems very practical for me.I can find fresh batteries at Walmart seven days a week , day or night. I can pick the battery of choice and don't have to deal with an inexperienced parts guy that depends on the computer ..

[700rpm]

Can I use my multimeter to check amperage? If so, how do I do it?

[P.S.]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

Battery prices sold on line may be cheaper in some cases but shipping will more than make up the difference.

Nope. Amazon ships the Optima 6V batteries for free. Total out the door (so to speak) is $115.48 for the Optima. INCLUDING shipping. http://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteri...ptima+8010-044

Originally Posted by 700rpm

Can I use my multimeter to check amperage? If so, how do I do it?

If your meter will read DC amps, them maybe. Assuming you don;t put more load on the system during your test than the meter can handle, you simply put the meter in series with your power connection and select "AMPS" scale.

Otherwise, it's best to borrow or buy a clamp-on type DC ammeter. Fluke makes the best ones I've used.

[700rpm]

Originally Posted by P.S.

Nope. Amazon ships the Optima 6V batteries for free. Total out the door (so to speak) is $115 for the Optima. INCLUDING shipping.




If your meter will read DC amps, them maybe. Assuming you don;t put more load on the system during your test than the meter can handle, you simply put the meter in series with your power connection and select "AMPS" scale.

Otherwise, it's best to borrow or buy a clamp-on type DC ammeter. Fluke makes the best ones I've used.

P.S., you would need a ten-yard marker to measure the depth of my ignorance about electrical. Can you please explain where I would put my two probes to put the meter in series to take the amps measurement?

[Bruce Adams]

Harbor Freight carries LOAD TESTERS that will work on 6 volts and will tell you if your battery has any life left in it.

They also sell 6 volt battery chargers which maybe you should hook up and see how things look after receiving an external charge from a known source.

Hydrometer tests can also indicate the amount of charge in each cell of a traditional wet cell battery.

Oh yes, and HOW IS YOUR ELECTROLYTE LEVEL?
If its not up to the "Split Ring" then all your charging is just spinning its wheels.

[P.S.]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

P.S., you would need a ten-yard marker to measure the depth of my ignorance about electrical. Can you please explain where I would put my two probes to put the meter in series to take the amps measurement?

Sure! Simply remove one of the wires from your dash-mounted ammeter. Connect one meter probe to the wire and the other meter probe to the now empty stud on the back of the dash-mounted ammeter. If your hand-held meter reads backwards, reverse the leads.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Here's a link to a picture of a Sperry meter identical to what I like to use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sperry-sp-15...item19d94657e0

It can measure up to 20 amps DC. Just plug the red lead into the 20 amp socket on the meter and turn the meter switch to 20 amps. If you don't want to pull the instrument panel, you can unhook the headlamp/horn wire at the cutout terminal and connect the red meter lead to it. Then connect the black (-) lead to the cutout terminal where the wire was just removed, and turn on the lights while you read the amps. Do this with the engine off. Now, compare this reading to the dash reading.

If you plan to remove and adjust the dash ammeter, then just remove the instrument panel and connect the meter as P.S. mentioned.

[700rpm]

Originally Posted by P.S.

Sure! Simply remove one of the wires from your dash-mounted ammeter. Connect one meter probe to the wire and the other meter probe to the now empty stud on the back of the dash-mounted ammeter. If your hand-held meter reads backwards, reverse the leads.

Thank you! I'll give it a try.

[clocey]

Be VERY CAREFUL putting a normal multimeter in series with your battery. It MUST be rated for 10+ amps DC and I doubt it is. I have multiple Fluke meters and none are capable of 10 amps.
I do not recommend this exercise. You can use your meter to check the charging voltage of your battery while the car is running. My A is tore apart so I can not start it now, but I do recall when I had my Willys pick-up which was also 6V, at idle, the generator did not charge much, but with a little added RPM, it worked well.
Like stated by redmodelt, bad connections can keep your battery from charging. a bad connection at the battery increases the resistance of the charging circuit and if both terminals are loose or bad......well you get it. These bad connections consume some energy because of the higher resistance (have you ever touched a warm/hot wire or terminal?) and reduce the charge rate of the battery. If you want more details on exactly how this works, let me know.
It would be a lot easier to bring your battery to a parts place and have them load test it. They can likely tell you if it is bad.

[P.S.]

Originally Posted by clocey

Be VERY CAREFUL putting a normal multimeter in series with your battery. It MUST be rated for 10+ amps DC and I doubt it is. I have multiple Fluke meters and none are capable of 10 amps.
I do not recommend this exercise. You can use your meter to check the charging voltage of your battery while the car is running. My A is tore apart so I can not start it now, but I do recall when I had my Willys pick-up which was also 6V, at idle, the generator did not charge much, but with a little added RPM, it worked well.
Like stated by redmodelt, bad connections can keep your battery from charging. a bad connection at the battery increases the resistance of the charging circuit and if both terminals are loose or bad......well you get it. These bad connections consume some energy because of the higher resistance (have you ever touched a warm/hot wire or terminal?) and reduce the charge rate of the battery. If you want more details on exactly how this works, let me know.
It would be a lot easier to bring your battery to a parts place and have them load test it. They can likely tell you if it is bad.

Good point. However, your concern might be satisfied by reading his first post.

And, ALL of my Fluke amp meters will read 10 amps or more. In fact, one will read up to 200 amps DC. Which Fluke models have you seen that will not even tolerate 10 amps?

[Fred K-OR]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

Good six volt batteries are getting harder to find and more expensive, this has been my experience in the past few years. There isn't a lot of demand for anything six volt . I'm fixing to have to replace the batteries in a couple of my model A's. I've had great results with 12 volt positive ground on our roadster.. I think that the last few six volt batteries that I bought must have been on the shelf for a long time. Good luck.

Over the last few years I have purchased Interstate Batteries from my local farm repair shop. All 6 volt. I have one in my D2 Cat, one in my Ford 8N and two in each of my A's. So far (firgers crossed) they have worked out well. They stay charged when the vehicle is sitting all winter and they seem to turn over each engine well. Just my experience.

[Purdy Swoft]

It may just be location.There is no demand in my surrounding area for 6 volt batteries. all of the old 8 and 9N tractors that I know of was converted to alternators and 12 volt. I had to go to the next town back in the eighties to get one. In 95 we got an Auto Zone here and they sold good 6 volt batteries for $28.95 and I used them for years.The Auto Zone six volt batteries have more than trippled in price. It got hard at the end to even buy them at auto Zone. The people working there now are computor people. You tell them that you want a six volt battery. They ask what year and make vehicle does it fit, when you tell them, they look at you like you must be crazy. When it doesn't come up on the computor, its sorry, we don't have it. I kept on and finally was able to buy one, It cost too much and didn't last very long. We got three from another parts house, before we got a good one for my daughters coupe. The parts house was real good to replace them without question. I had to remove and install them . Replaceing the battery under the floor boards is a lot less fun than it was when I was a teenager. All of ours are six volt except the roadster, its 12 volt .

We recently got a Farm and Tractor supply store here.I will have to check them out this week end. They may have six volt batteries.

[700rpm]

My multimeter has a plug for DC10A and DC 200 mA. It sounds like I'm on the edge for reading my ammeter.