6 volt radio

[joe plumber]

I have a 6 vlt.radio and I want to see if it works.Don't have any 6 vlt. batteries ,but have a 6 vlt. charger .Ouestion.....Can I hook the positive cable to the hot wire of the radio and the other cable to the ground wire on the radio? Might be a stupid question but I was always told stupid questions are a lot easier to handle than stupid mistakes.The hot wire on the radio has a fuse in it .

[denverslim]

I'm gonna be watching this thread for someone smarter than me to help you. I think though, that your 6 volt charger will work just fine. I'll bet the radio came from something positive ground, but I don't think that would make any difference. If you had a positive ground vehicle and switched it to a negative ground the radio would not know the difference--would it? Or would it play bak-ass-wards?
Like I said I'll be watching...slim

[Pete]

Originally Posted by joe plumber

I have a 6 vlt.radio and I want to see if it works.Don't have any 6 vlt. batteries ,but have a 6 vlt. charger .Ouestion.....Can I hook the positive cable to the hot wire of the radio and the other cable to the ground wire on the radio? Might be a stupid question but I was always told stupid questions are a lot easier to handle than stupid mistakes.The hot wire on the radio has a fuse in it .

You need to determine the polarity the radio was designed for.
Hooking it up backward could be disatarous.
SOME battery chargers will run the radio but you will notice quite a bit of hum in the speaker.

[joe plumber]

It came from a positive ground car.I just wanted to see if it would work,not going to install it .Thought someone might need one and I wanted to make sure it was ok.Appreciate the replies.Thanks .

[Mike V. Florida]

Battery charger will work fine.

[cannon]

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if you hook up the battery charger backwards be prepared for the following:
the radio will listen
the lights will cast shadows
and the horn will suck

[joe plumber]

Originally Posted by cannon

if you hook up the battery charger backwards be prepared for the following:
the radio will listen
the lights will cast shadows
and the horn will suck

Now that's some good advise Cannon.Kind of like going to work early if you have to work late.

[skip]

If I remember correctly I use to be able to use my 6 v VW neg ground radio Blaupunk units on my 6 v positive ground British stuff.

skip.

[Al Corbin]

I wouldn't advise that. Most inexpensive battery chargers connected to a battery put out a voltage that averages around 12-15 volts, but with no battery connected they can put out much higher spikes and pulses whch could cause some damage.

Can't you just make a temporary (clip lead) connection to your battery?

[denverslim]

"I have a 6 vlt.radio and I want to see if it works.Don't have any 6 vlt. batteries ,but have a 6 vlt. charger "

[darrenct83]

This will depend on your battery charger. A lot of newer chargers will not apply current to the leads until it detects the presence of a battery connected with the proper polarity. Do you have access to a multimeter, or anything to measure voltage? If so turn your charger on and check the voltage at the charger leads. If it is 6-8 volts it should work to power your radio.

Secondly, you have to know which side of your radio is + and -. If it came out of a positive ground vehicle you need to hook the negative wire to the hot lead and positive wire to ground.

[joe plumber]

Thanks for all the replies .The radio is shot .I ohmed out alot of parts,etc.Spent about 2.5 hrs on it this morning .The charger did what it was supposed to do ,just alot of parts bad.I'll hang onto it in case someone needs some pieces from it.Thanks again.Have a good one.

[coolcoupe]

Very good info

[FRANK PKNY]

Frank: With those old tube radios, It's best to convert them to solid state. Someone may just need the case for a conversion. I had the one done in my 60 Oldsmobile. It looks stock but gets AM & FM and works very well. Frank pkny

[joe plumber]

Originally Posted by FRANK PKNY

Frank: With those old tube radios, It's best to convert them to solid state. Someone may just need the case for a conversion. I had the one done in my 60 Oldsmobile. It looks stock but gets AM & FM and works very well. Frank pkny

Frank,I thought about doing that ,sort of.I have got some smaller new radios and was thinking about trying to install one inside the old case.The old cases are big compared to the newer radios.Might give it a try this weekend.Got nothing to loose ,except my time.I think I can do it.

[keith oh]

Listen to Al Cheney, he knows these old radios.Go to the hardware and buy a cheap 6 folt lantern battery. If your radio is pre 56 Ford it is pos ground so ground the pos bat. terminal to the radio case(chassis) and neg to power lead.

[keith oh]

The name is Al Corbin not Al Cheney, Sorry Al, names get juggled up in this old mind sometimes.

[zeffer1940]

Boy oh boy, no radio guys here??? They need to have some capacitors replaced to work ..if it is clean, and u want to sell it dont screw with it. It is like a barn car with a crankcase fullof muck...do u start it ..or clean out the sump first...?? Radio wont play much with batt charger power..will buzz and distort if anything..and you may hurt it..A radio guy and a couple hours can get it up and running!! No cheap conversions...c'mon guys, like puttin a sbc in a Ford, makes me cringe. You can get device to plug into the antenna, lets you play any other device through stock radio..or listen to am as always..Many Philcos, or Zeniths in our cars...they were good sets with multiple output tubes and 6-8 inch speakers..6 volt positive ground if the vehicle it came out of was..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1To8tZseVM

[36 coupe]

I get much fun reading the posts of people who know zero about radios.Have the radio checked and id by some one who knows what they are doing.Good old original radios sell for over 500 bucks

[Mike51Merc]

Change the Vibrator and capacitors and any blown tubes. Vibrator is around 35 bucks and the capacitors are cheap, like 2-5 bucks each. Check out www.tubesandmore.com

You can also convert it to 12 volts by swapping the vibrator and the tubes for 12 volt equivalents.