Battery

[Randy S]

I have heard of a battery available for 6 volt cars with a higher cranking capacity. My understanding is that it will crank at 6+ volts then "drop down" for normal operation. Is this true, and if so where are they available. I have a 1934 Packard and when hot its hard to turn over. This battery might help if it's real.

Randy

[Dr Morbius]

Randy, I'm not sure what you mean by drop down but I have 2 Packards with the 359 straight eight engine that's even harder to start than yours because of the higher compression. I use in both Packards the 6 volt " Optima " batteries and they never let me down. Since they are dry cells they also never leak battery acid which to me adds up to a win-win situation. Not to mention they are also much more powerful than lead acid batteries. Hope this helps! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> .....................Steve

[Ron Green]

Here is a battery that you can start your vehicle with 12 volts while everything else remains at 6 volt. Have never used it.

http://www.antiqueautobattery.com/prod011.htm

[ex98thdrill]

The last 6 volt battery that we bought was four weeks ago at Hershey. What we did was found this guy who takes brand new Optima Batteries, and puts them in the original syle battery case. They're expensive as all get out, but on the flip side, when was the last time that you saw a 6 volt battery with 1,000 cranking amps??

If you're not going to point judge the vehicle, I'd look at putting just a plain Optima Battery in the battery box. They're a dry cell battery, they have a six year warranty, and more cranking amps than what I've seen elswhere. If you were going to point judge the car, then you might want to spent the extra money to buy one that was inside of the stock battery case.

In the event that the new battery dies out, all I have to do is buy a new optima battery and swap it out with the one that is in the old factory battery case.

Optima batteries are made by Interstate Batteries. I talked with one of the local mechanics who sells them, and he claims that in the five years that he has been selling them, only one of them has gone bad. He said that the only reason that the one battery went bad was because his customer replaced two batteries in his dump truck with one Optima, and cooked it. He also claimed that the Interstate Rep showed them a videotape where they hooked an inverter onto an Optima battery, plugged in a Dremel tool, and began cutting the battery. Apparently the Dremel continued to work until it cut into the last remaining cell in the battery.

This isn't a sales pitch for Optima batteries. They are expensive, but depending on your needs, you may want to research their capabilities to see if they suit your needs the best. At this point I am seriously considering replacing the batteries in our cars with Optima batteries based on their shelf life and cranking amps. For a vehicle that I only intend to drive for 5 years, then I'll probably keep buying my batteries at Wal-Mart.

[63DIRTYBIRD]

optimas in my opinion are THE best i have one in all my cars and have never replcaed one (i live in las vegas a wet cell battery lasts 2-3 years if your lucky) i even had an electrical fire in my race truck and the battery caught fire and it still works everytime!

[mrpushbutton]

stay with the 6V system, avoid all of those 12-to-6V gizmos and follow the great advice re: Optima battereis. Thay pack more cranking amps than an old lead acid battery every dreamed of.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

Someone with more electrical experience than i can verify or reject this ideaa but i believe if u use TWO 6v batteries connected in parallel will most likely solve the problem. Probably cheaper than the optima but maybe not in the long run.

The problem with modern day 6V batteries is that they are generaly poor quality and primarily for ag. applications which usualy do not require hi demands.

[Guest Albert]

I have a 6V regular lead acid in my 54 Packard now 3 years, and it never failed to start, and have yet to pull it out for the winter, never know when you get the urge to take the car out at christmas time.. one of the biggest things is making sure everything else is up to par, throwing more batterys at the problem just masks the original problem.. These cars would start with 6V when they where new, and thet still should if the carburator, ignition and engine are in good shape.