Stealth 12 Volt System Works Great - I Think

I have never understood the thinking behind converting to 12 volts and then LOOSE THE ADVANTAGE of faster starting with a 12 volt speeded-up 6 volt starter by BACK-converting the 6 volt starter to 12 volts. 12 volts on a 6 volt starter AIN'T GONNNA RUIN IT. Yer dollar, what ever pleases you..... ....Dell, a 12 volt advocate for the right reasons.

That said, I haven't found the right reason to convert my eazy starting 6 volt 52 8N, and I know how to do it right the first time. In fact I know 7-ways to do it, some more technically eligant than others, but they all work the first time.

That's right. It sure does. And my reply to that would likewise sound suspiciously similar to the one I give the GL-1 and 134 Nazis when they berate me for running GL-5. See below.

(Just a question of when Dell. The extra wear may well be irrelevant but this does not mean "non-existant".)

This statement is also true but incomplete and leading. When an idea is stated as a fact, it is typically presented with solid evidence to support it. I've never seen a mineral oil or 134 oil advocate provide a damning scientific study done with a test group of N tractors running GL-1 or 134 oil versus a test group of N's running the same dreaded GL-5 that's in the belly of my machine as proof of his claims that it will supposedly cause rapid and sudden death to the hydraulic pump. My tractor has been living on GL-5 for better than 20 years while it's been in my family. In that time, the only service it has had was a new relief valve last summer. My pump is strong, silent and has no problem developing 1765 PSI at the test port before it opens the relief.

Similarly, my nearly daily driven '51 Ford F-1 pickup's original 6 volt starter has been operating on 12 volts for only slightly less time than that with nothing more than a set of bushings and brushes when it was put on at the time the truck was rebuilt. While it has been trouble-free under the "extra wear" conditions of twice it's nominal designed operating voltage, the 12 volt Delco alternator has been replaced twice.

Bushing and brush wear on a starter will be roughly equivalent for the same number of starts even at twice the designed voltage. A DC starter or generator's biggest enemy is heat. You'd have to continously crank a 6 volt starter on 12 volts for much longer than the average battery will ever allow to generate enough "excess" heat to ever burn up the windings. The same result can be achieved on 6 volts with the same highly unlikely abuse, albeit in a theoretically longer period of time. Abuse isn't actually a good word. This sort of treatment would be intentional destruction. As starter motors are uncooled due to their short intended duty cycle, heat will build up in the windings under these conditions on ANY voltage under these extraordinary circumstances and lead to failure. I doubt that the difference in lifespan from one voltage to the other would even be reliably measurable.

If you still disbelieve, I invite you to purchase a dozen new starters (half six volt and half 12) and run them all at 12 volts in your tractor until failure and report your findings. Unfortunately, I'm afraid you'll have to report them to someone else as I have no doubt that I'll be long dead and no longer care before you finish off the six volt test group and start on the 12's - and I'm a relatively young man. If you're still around by then, you might even get to witness my hydraulic pump fail for whoever owns the machine then. Feel free to blame it on the GL-5. At this rate, it'll be that long before all that sulphur chews the brass up. If once every 20+ years is an unacceptable lifespan for a tractor's hydraulic pump or starter, then I must be way too tolerant.

(They make 12V starters for these tractors for a reason I hope.)

Right again. Because there are misinformed individuals willing to pay for them. I don't believe I've yet seen one offered alone or included in a conversion kit. Just like I've never seen a 12 volt solenoid that will fit the 8N starter offered. Apparently the demand isn't very high. I guess the buyers must be actively seeking them out.

"If a 12V conversion doesn't have a 12V coil and a 12V starter it's not truly "converted" is it?"

I suppose not. But one of the major benefits of a "conversion" is faster starts due to the faster cranking speeds. My opinion is that a complete conversion such as you refer to would be essentially pointless if it's going to crank at the same speed when I'm done.

(No disrespect intended sir.)

Likewise.

Joe - Who isn't afraid of the dark and doesn't need 10,000,000 candlepower of lighting, a 1,000 watt stereo, a faster starter motor, or anything else on his tractor to necessitate a change to 12 volts, but wouldn't pay twice the money for a 12 volt starter if he did.

I have a stealth 8N frt dist generator with a smaller pulley for better RPM performance I'd sell to the right guy for the right reasons

-----LOOKS----- ---

Jim Cox
Starter Rebuilder Guy

And NO they don't make 12 volt starter motors for N-Tractors. But they can be converted by using later model 12 volt starter coil windings.

As I said, principle reason most people convert to 12 volts is because theys gotts a tired engine that needs a faster crank than 6 volts on a 6 volt starter gives 'em. Seems counter-intutitive to slow yer starter down with a 12 volt starter conversion..... ..respectfully, Dell

Who has a friend with COE FreightLiner and 12/24 volt diesel starting system. I know its a 6-cylinder diesel, Caterpillar I think, altho it could be Detroit Diesel.