Hello to all.
I am new to the forum and am also new to the crawler world. I just recently acquired a Oliver HG42 and drained the battery trying to get it started.
With this I am asking for some guidance in charging an 8 volt battery. I have a good quality 6/12 volt charger and have read in several inquiries where individuals have charged and 8 volt on the 6 volt setting.
Any suggestions? Just want to make sure I don't destroy anything.
Thanks
Hi Mark , Welcome to the forum . I had not heard of 8 volt batteries,so i googled it and found they are used in golf carts etc .
I would not think the tractor had 8 volt originally .Maybe someone has put one in thinking it may boost the 6 volt starting .
I am sure one of the regulars will be able to confirm the correct battery for your machine .
I see no reason to deal with an 8 volt battery. Hard to find, and I bet expensive. Plus everything you deal with is going to be a pain. Light bulbs, charging, accessories, etc. I would just switch it right over to 12 volts and be done. Batteries are cheap and you can put one of those little foreign alternators on like the one described on this site. Then you're done!
Did you try to charge it with a 6 volt charger? Chargers often put out more than the rated volts. Another thought is to use a resistor to cut the voltage from a 12 volt charger. Just get a voltage drop resistor and a DC volt meter to test it. You might have to play around with it a bit, but it will work. You can use a light bulb, wire wound resistor, etc., just anything that uses up the excess voltage. I'm not an electrical genius, but I know a certain number of ohms would be required to get what you want.
I'll agree with Blake, convert it to 12 volts. A 6 volt battery charger is only going to charge to about 7 volts tops. Batteries are designed to be fully charged all the time or they will degrade pretty quickly. You could make a voltage divider circuit with two higher watt resistors to get about 9 1/2 volts needed to charge an 8 volt battery and use your 12 volt setting. Have you measured the output of your generator to see that it's for an 8 volt battery? It might be for a 6 volt. Check the link in my signature line for the 12 volt conversion.