6 Volt Portable battery jump stater

[Guest PetePontiac]

Looking to buy a BATTERY BUTLER 6 Volt Portable Battery Jump Starter.

Lectric Limited Inc. does not sell/make these anymore.

Call me at 616-682-1337 EST. Michigan

Thank you Pete.

[CarNucopia]

I'd buy one too if they were available. The only one I've found is from a company called Ceteor (Starting boosters for classic cars - Professional jump starters for all sectors - Ceteor) and I don't think they sell them in the US.

[countrytravler]

I have a Snap On Dealer ship in my building. I'll find out when we get back from the tool seminar Wednesday.

[countrytravler]

I've been using a 12 volt jump box on 6 volt cars for 20 years with no ill effects.

[5219]

What is the secret to doing this safely?

[countrytravler]

Don't drive the car with 12 connected for a long period.

[startergenrebuilder]

I have looked in to becoming a US dealer for these 6 and 6/12 volt booster/jump boxes from the European company listed above. I'm hesitant to make the leap because the price is higher than I expected. The price on the 6 volt only would be in the $800 range and that doesn't include the shipping per piece that I would have to pay to get them here. I'm not sure what to expect the shipping to run on a skid load, but that cost would be on top of the $800. The combination 6/12 volt unit would run around $1200!

I'm looking to get some input from the car owners and potential customers for this product on the pricing of these items. Please let me know your thoughts. My initial thoughts were that it was close to double what people might pay, but I could be wrong. Maybe a guy with multiple cars would really benefit from having one around. Please give me some feedback.

Thanks,

Jason

[CarNucopia]

I'd really like to buy one, but $800 is quite a bit more then I could justify. I'd probably spend $300 on one that had enough power for my car. Given that a 12V box is under $100, I think getting people to spend 3X that amount would be a challenge.

I have looked in to becoming a US dealer for these 6 and 6/12 volt booster/jump boxes from the European company listed above. I'm hesitant to make the leap because the price is higher than I expected. The price on the 6 volt only would be in the $800 range and that doesn't include the shipping per piece that I would have to pay to get them here. I'm not sure what to expect the shipping to run on a skid load, but that cost would be on top of the $800. The combination 6/12 volt unit would run around $1200!

I'm looking to get some input from the car owners and potential customers for this product on the pricing of these items. Please let me know your thoughts. My initial thoughts were that it was close to double what people might pay, but I could be wrong. Maybe a guy with multiple cars would really benefit from having one around. Please give me some feedback.

Thanks,

Jason

[motoringicons]

A 12 volt jumper will work just fine on any 6 volt car. Just make sure your lights are turned off. The 12 volt won't do any damage. I done this hundreds of times.....

[startergenrebuilder]

I've never jumped 6 with 12, and would never recommend doing so. I'm not calling you a liar either, if you're comfortable doing it, go ahead. I've heard stories of batteries blowing up, so I'll avoid it. Even if you've done it 200 times, 201 could be memorable!

Thanks for the feedback, keep em coming.

[countrytravler]

Batt blow up 12 to12-6 to 12-12 to6. Batt blow up when you have a spark with gasses around the batt. or a totally dead batt that's been dead for a long period of time.

[Marty Roth]

IF YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST !!!

If that is your only option, then do not jump at the battery! Jump at the starter.

First, turn off ALL accessories, such as lights and your electric fuel pump.

Connect the jumper's ground lead to you car's ground, and the Jumper's Hot to your Starter's main lug.

Then before touching the "HOT" to the Jumper, use the car's battery and ignition to engage the starter .

After the car is cranking on its own, touch the lead from the starter to the jumper's "HOT" terminal to spin the starter faster and the car should catch right away - remove the connection right away!

Edited August 6, 2013 by Marty Roth
detail (see edit history)

[CarNucopia]

I've ruined an electric fuel pump using a 12V charger/starter on my car. Getting a 6V seems like cheap insurance...well...only if it's actually cheap.

A 12 volt jumper will work just fine on any 6 volt car. Just make sure your lights are turned off. The 12 volt won't do any damage. I done this hundreds of times.....

[Marty Roth]

All accessories should be turned off.....See my Post #12, above, and jump at the Starter, not at the battery

[countrytravler]

Snap on has 12/ 12-24 boxes only. The lab tech said to go to radio shack and buy the parts to knock the 12 down to 6. Good thought??

[startergenrebuilder]

I don't think Radio Shack would have anything to handle the kind of current needed for a starter. They would have fairly light duty resisters.

[countrytravler]

Looks like you know this stuff, Find a place that handles this kind of parts to handle it, build a couple of models to do long term testing, then market the product. I think that would be cheaper than the other route. He also said step it down to 9 volts.

[Dwight Romberger]

The Ceteor 6 volt unit has 850 cranking amps.................$800 +

The Ceteor 6/12 unit has 1700 6 volt cranking amps

(two 6 volt batteries in parallel inside) and

850 12 volt cranking amps (two 6 volt batteries

in series inside)..............................................................$1000+

One 6 volt Optima battery has 800 cranking amps

(BYO jumper cables).....................................................$115.48

Two 6 volt Optima batteries hooked up in parallel

have 1600 cranking amps (BYO jumper cables)............$230.96

Where can you find 6 volt optima batteries for 115.96?

http://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteries-8010-044-Starting-Battery/dp/B00099HVN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375893157&sr=8-1&keywords=optima+6+volt+battery

Edited August 7, 2013 by Dwight Romberger (see edit history)

[philipj]

Does anyone know if the Lectric Limited 6 volt battery butler is available? The Ceteor unit is available from Belgium but at a crazy price of 700 Euros plus freight... I really don't understand the price difference from a 12 volt unit, which probably averages $120.00 to a 6 volt unit at €700.00??? How different it is really internally and what special components does it have inside to justify that price? It doesn't make much sense... That being said, I wonder how tough would be to modify a 12 volt unit to 6 volts...

[sunnybaba]

You might look into golf cart battery jumper... all most all 6 volt deep cycle batteries....

[Matt Harwood]

We had a friend with a 1930 Franklin when I was a kid and he carried a 12V battery and jumper cables everywhere to start the car when it was hot. Yes, I know, not a good idea but he had serious hot start problems (this was back in the 80s) and he must have done it a few hundred times without apparent ill effect.

 

I'm not in love with the practice, but you can start a 6V car in an emergency using 12V. As long as lights/radio/accessories are off and you're connecting the 12V leads directly to the starter solenoid terminal and ground, you won't hurt anything if it's connected just long enough to crank the engine over. After all, a jump box is for emergency use only, so it's not like you'll be doing this regularly (will you?) so the risk is pretty low.

 

Like I said, I don't like doing it this way, but you should not hurt anything as long as you have one guy standing by ready to pull the leads off once the engine fires to minimize the time 12V is connected.

 

This is a much easier solution than trying to find/buy/import/make a 6V jump box.

[Fossil]

I've done it on tractors without a problem but not a car. In an emergency a 12v jump would be an option. Anyone who has experienced a battery explosion will tell you it's not a pleasant experience. Trying to neutralize the effects of the acid on yourself and everything near by is a real panic situation. The odds are a source of water being near by is going to be pretty slim. 

[CarNucopia]

I carry a second Optima 6V with me. I have two of them because I have two 6V cars, so it's essentially free. And, they are light enough to move between cars easily and fit in the battery box with the primary battery.

[kings32]

I have used 12 v  to start a number of 6 v cars over the years . Don't put it on the battery just touch . Won't hurt a thing. kings32

[nickelroadster]

I had a twelve volt jump box that the battery went bad.  All you need to do is to get a six volt gell cell and a six volt maintainer and you can very easily rebuild it to be a six volt.  You can usually find a six volt battery the same size that will fit right in the space for the twelve volt battery.

[Matt Harwood]

39 minutes ago, nickelroadster said:

I had a twelve volt jump box that the battery went bad.  All you need to do is to get a six volt gell cell and a six volt maintainer and you can very easily rebuild it to be a six volt.  You can usually find a six volt battery the same size that will fit right in the space for the twelve volt battery.

 

Holy cow, that's brilliant!

[edinmass]

You can jump a six volt with a twelve......if there is hydrogen gas in the battery box any spark will ignite it.......it happened to me as a kid of 15. Fortunately the top of the battery imbedded in the ceiling of the garage and didn’t hit me in the face. I staggered out of the back garage and jumped in the pool to get the acid off of me. Lesson learned. 
 

 

Today I have a 1960’s Excide battery jump box, which I bought at Hershey for 25 bucks NOS. It’s got a 12 v optima in it, along with a built in 110 charger. The fantastic thing about it is it uses a Ford solenoid....so you hook it up and there is no power until you press the solenoid button like the old bump over kits of the 70’s and 80’s for a Ford. No danger, and I will begin to start the car and even if the battery is dead, I just engage the foot starter and click for the boost. It has twenty foot leads on it. I also use it as a back up power supply for my winch in the trailer........It does have one drawback........it is very heavy.

Edited August 26, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[JimKB1MCV]

  During the winter of 1962 in central/northern Maine, record low temps with blizzard conditions for weeks at a time I worked at a local Gulf station and as the low man (boy?) I got to drive  Joe's   IH Scout service truck on no start calls. 

   Many days we had constant calls from early morning to dark.

Most of the cars were 6v. units as the 12v systems were ~ seven years old or less and usually started. All the jump starts were made with the Scouts 12v. battery with no problems. The only thing to watch is to observe battery polarity and to be sure the lights were off.

 

  I really don't know where the "It will blow up the battery" thinking comes from.

 

 Just my two cents worth...

[Jim Bollman]

22 hours ago, nickelroadster said:

I had a twelve volt jump box that the battery went bad.  All you need to do is to get a six volt gell cell and a six volt maintainer and you can very easily rebuild it to be a six volt.  You can usually find a six volt battery the same size that will fit right in the space for the twelve volt battery.

I actually thought of this but the batteries I have found that would fit are the same current as the 12v battery so you have half the cranking reserve. Might still be plenty I never tried it. The batteries are cheap ($20 or so) so I probably should since I mostly have Crosleys and they don't crank hard. I thought about building from scratch and just use two batteries, but then I would not have the nice case.

[Fossil]

10 hours ago, JimKB1MCV said:

I really don't know where the "It will blow up the battery" thinking comes from.

Sparks when hooking and unhooking the cables. I don't think I've ever heard of a 12v battery causing a 6v battery to explode. 

[Marty Roth]

23 hours ago, Fossil said:

Sparks when hooking and unhooking the cables. I don't think I've ever heard of a 12v battery causing a 6v battery to explode. 

 

I can assure you that it most certainly did happen - I personally observed the battery exploding.

As a high school student in the late 1950s and living in my parents' Linden, NJ home, our neighbor's wife's 1951 Pontiac had a weak battery (6-Volt). He decided to jump-start it by hooking the jumper cables to his new 1958 Oldsmobile (12-Volt). Whatever he did, the long, narrow 6-Volt battery in the '51 did explode, spewing hard rubber and sulfuric acid over the engine compartment, hood underside, fender, his overcoat, his hands and face.

[Mark Shaw]

On 8/6/2013 at 1:29 PM, Car-Nicopia said:

I've ruined an electric fuel pump using a 12V charger/starter on my car.

IMO, Aftermarket electric fuel pumps should always have an independent on/off switch.  

[vermontboy]

Back in the 60's there was a 39 Merc Phaeton or Convertible Sedan in the Rochester area running 2 - 6 V batteries hooked up to provide a normal 6V circuit and a 12V circuit for the starter. An elegant solution.

Of course when my 50 Chevy truck had hot start problems I carried around a 12V battery and a cheap pair of jumper cables until I saved up for a good set of 00 cables from a local welding shop - problem solved.

Edited August 29, 2020 by vermontboy
change 2 - 12V to 2- 6V (see edit history)

[Marty Roth]

3 hours ago, vermontboy said:

Back in the 60's there was a 39 Merc Phaeton or Convertible Sedan in the Rochester area running 2 - 6 V batteries hooked up to provide a normal 6V circuit and a 12V circuit for the starter. An elegant solution.

Of course when my 50 Chevy truck had hot start problems I carried around a 12V battery and a cheap pair of jumper cables until I saved up for a good set of 00 cables from a local welding shop - problem solved.

 

Some years ago I wanted to have both 6-Volt and 12-Volt in my car without the extreme expense of a "special" battery.

I used a pair of 6-Volt batteries in Series, using the center (intermediate) connection to power all of the car's normal functions, including the starter. The car always performed just fine on the original 6-Volt system! I replaced the 6-Volt generator with a 12-Volt alternator, using the "final" terminal to go to the alternator, and to the 12-Volt ports in order to power only the modern radio and all modern accessories such as cellphone charger, GPS, radar detector, etc., and had planned to also use the 12-Volt portion to power a planned A/C unit, but sold the car to a friend before executing the project. It would have been very simple to return all changes back to original design if that had ever been the desire for me or any future caretaker.