6 to 12 volt help-50 Mercury

1934buick · October 11, 2008, 02:25:44 PM

1950 Mercury
I need help wiring a 50 Mercury. I'm going 12 volt, but I need information on how to run my 6 volt gauges. I have purchased VT6187 voltage reducer from NAPA. Can I put one reducer in and go to each gauge from it or do I need more than one reducer for each gauge? I need to reduce the fuel gauge, the temperature gauge, the oil gauge and the radio. I also need to know what I need to do for the amp gauge. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
1934buick

enjenjo · October 11, 2008, 10:27:35 PM

I dont believe that voltage reducer will work for gauges. If i am not mistaken, that is a resistance type reducer. Since the load, resistance, of gauges varies with the reading, the voltage will keep changing, making the readings inaccurate. What I use is a solid state reducer sold by Radio Shack, sold as a 6 volt power adapter for power plugs. It puts out a constant 6 volts no matter what the load is. you can also get a instrument voltage regulator for a later model Ford at NAPA, this also puts out a constant 6 bolts no matter the load. I can get you the part number for the NAPA part if you need it.

On the radio, if it's set up 6 volt positive ground, there has to be some internal changes made to run it negative ground without damaging it. Might just as well convert to 12 volts while you are at it.

The Ammeter will work on 12 volts, no changes, it is not voltage sensitive.

paul2748 · October 11, 2008, 11:22:29 PM

Ford used 6 volt gauges from 1957 to the 80's??? in cars and trucks. They used one voltage regulator for all gauges which were wired in series. These are available at NAPA and other parts stores.. Not for the amp gauge- this is wired directly.

enjenjo · October 12, 2008, 09:41:36 AM

Quote from: "paul2748"Ford used 6 volt gauges from 1957 to the 80's??? in cars and trucks. They used one voltage regulator for all gauges which were wired in series. These are available at NAPA and other parts stores.. Not for the amp gauge- this is wired directly.

Let me clarify this, the gauges are wired in series with the Insrument voltage regulator, but parallel to each other.

1934buick · October 12, 2008, 09:13:37 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"I dont believe that voltage reducer will work for gauges. If i am not mistaken, that is a resistance type reducer. Since the load, resistance, of gauges varies with the reading, the voltage will keep changing, making the readings inaccurate. What I use is a solid state reducer sold by Radio Shack, sold as a 6 volt power adapter for power plugs. It puts out a constant 6 volts no matter what the load is. you can also get a instrument voltage regulator for a later model Ford at NAPA, this also puts out a constant 6 bolts no matter the load. I can get you the part number for the NAPA part if you need it.

On the radio, if it's set up 6 volt positive ground, there has to be some internal changes made to run it negative ground without damaging it. Might just as well convert to 12 volts while you are at it.

The Ammeter will work on 12 volts, no changes, it is not voltage sensitive.

1934buick · October 12, 2008, 09:14:47 PM

Quote from: "paul2748"Ford used 6 volt gauges from 1957 to the 80's??? in cars and trucks. They used one voltage regulator for all gauges which were wired in series. These are available at NAPA and other parts stores.. Not for the amp gauge- this is wired directly.

Wild Bill · October 14, 2008, 06:39:44 PM

Okay, here's one way.

Instead of one 12V battery, get two 6V batteries.

Hook them up in series. i.e. connect the negative post of battery 1 to the positive post of battery 2. Now, from the positive post of battery 1 to the negative post of battery 2 is 12V. The negative post of battery 2 is ground and the positive post of battery 1 is your 12V positive connection for your alternator etc. The trick is that the positive post of battery 2 is now the 6V positive to run your gauges!

Just be careful not to let your 6V positive come into contact with your 12V positive because it will cause a dead short across battery 1.

Another way to do the same thing is to get a 12V battery with the bars on top. The six bars are actually jumpers connecting what is in essence six 2V batteries in series to make 12V. Drill & tap the center(middle) bar and you've created two 6V batteries like above. The tapped connection in the middle bar is the 6V positive connection for your gauges.

Pretty slick, huh?

38HAULR · October 16, 2008, 07:35:07 PM

Most conventional gauges 60 s,70,s 80,s Run on 5volts. They use a regulator which is a bi metallic device pulsing to give a 5v average. Should be easy to run your 6v gauges on 12v by using a voltage regulator,skip the mechanical device,go to your electronics parts supply store, and pick up some 3 pin 5v regulators or closer to 6v if you wish ,In OZ they are around the $1 mark.. simple connections input- output-ground . I used this set up in my 66 Mustang when the gauges went all over the place due to the factory item crapping out. The device I selected was rated at 1Amp. I used 2 in parallel for a good margin. Bolt them to a heatsink and use thermal compound,they are the size of a thumbnail........Frank.