Installing a 12V stereo in a 6V car

luftgekuhlt · Last edited by luftgekuhlt on Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:38 pm; edited 1 time in total

I've searched for this issue in the forum and could not find an existing thread handling the problem, if there is one please move this thread.

This is actually not a VW split bus issue or even a specific VW issue (installing a 12V stereo in a 6V vehicle) but I am curious and would highly appreciate if those of you that have installed 12V stereo equipment in your 6V cars could share the experiences you made. Both before and after the installation. The reason is because what is special for VW is that the battery is quite small (77Ah) which poses a challenge. (Maybe I am misinformed but I would think that a V8 requires a more powerful battery).

I have a slight hunch that this issue has been analysed and solved by many people having vintage cars and the need of a good stereo. So please, keep your points of view and experiences coming.

I would prefer (since this is what I am determined to do, I am not going to convert to 12V) the solutions in which the car's 6V battery is used as power source, not so much solutions installing an extra 12V battery.

Edit: spell.
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Buy the best. Cry once.

1965* 21W Samba (MCode 430 114) - 51 BD Standard Microbus (Type 22A. M62) - 1967 Westfalia pop-top (SOLD)
* 1965 according to chassie number but regged as 1964

Stocknazi · Samba Member Joined: June 18, 2004 Posts: 5150

another die-hard 6 volt fan, nice. i plan on installing a voltage inverter in my 6 volt bus. i will be powering a 12 volt cd-player and some 6inch/seperate tweets i have. so no amps, just something that sounds ok.
i do not want to deal with a seperate battery system or something that's overly complicated.
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marksch · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 11:26 am Post subject:

I recently installed one of these in my 6 volt bus and couldnt be happier.

http://www.6to12volt.com/

I dont have a stereo hooked up to it but have read it can handle a reasonably powered one. I did have a logitech portable boombox powered by it without any problems along with a couple phones, tablets and stuff like that.

btw, the logitech wireless boombox is awesome in the bus. Fits in the parcel tray perfectly, uses bluetooth (or a headphone jack) to get the audio signal from a smartphone or ipod. it gets surprisingly loud and sounds awesome. I found it to be the perfect combo for the bus.

http://reviews.cnet.com/speakers-speaker-systems/l...20101.html
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http://66split.com - My 21 window Seebau / Cumulusweiß bus restoration project and the crazy drive across the country that followed.

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:32 pm Post subject:

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:36 pm Post subject:

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:41 pm Post subject:

Btw psychoholica:

The bus I will be using the converter to is a 1964 Sea Blue 21W I believe is the same as the one in your avatar. Cool.
_________________
Buy the best. Cry once.

1965* 21W Samba (MCode 430 114) - 51 BD Standard Microbus (Type 22A. M62) - 1967 Westfalia pop-top (SOLD)
* 1965 according to chassie number but regged as 1964

BarryL · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:01 pm Post subject:

I've used the Motorola and Blaupunkt up-to-3-amp ones profusely in the past but lately I got the Meyers 8 amp. This is one trick unit and I've never been able to peg it. I have separate amps and head unit with a mono bass bridged amp all running on it. While it's on stereo I can still run accessories and a 110 volt cigarette lighter inverter.

Harleyelf · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:52 pm Post subject:

If the wire from your battery to the frame is black and attached to the negative terminal of the battery, you have a negative ground system. Positive ground was a Lucas Electrics thing on British vehicles; they wanted the spark to jump toward the center electrode of the plug. No one else cared about the direction of the spark as long as it was hot enough to ignite the fuel.

I did have a positive ground '58 bug. It was unusual. Red cable to the frame.

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:54 am Post subject:

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:55 am Post subject:

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 2:03 am Post subject:

One nice feat on the converter proposed by psychoholica is the 8 amp output current which, after doing some googling, is quite a lot.

I've found other converters on eBay, one of which delivers only 1.5 amp and "requires heat sink" according to the description. So I wonder, psychoholica, does the converter gets hot, or in other words, is it manufactured with a good heat dissipation feat?
_________________
Buy the best. Cry once.

1965* 21W Samba (MCode 430 114) - 51 BD Standard Microbus (Type 22A. M62) - 1967 Westfalia pop-top (SOLD)
* 1965 according to chassie number but regged as 1964

BarryL · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 10:21 am Post subject:

Here's a typical up-to-3-amps type. They buzz a little but it's not bad. These will run what you want I'm sure.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1356105

marksch · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:10 pm Post subject:

No noticeable heat but then again im not powering a large stereo amp or anything like that. I've installed it with velcro to the front of the bus. I wasnt sure if this was going to be its permanent home so I didnt cut the wires short yet so it needs a little trim but you can see its size at least. The thing on top of it is a fuse I added for it. Dangling in front is a female cigarette lighter lighter plug with a dual USB plugged into it. This is the always on plug. I have another plug on the parcel tray which is attached to the switched output of the converter. You can also see the logitech boombox there too. Im tellin ya, the boombox is awesome. totally portable, crazy loud for its size and great tone. The 6to12 handles it perfectly.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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http://66split.com - My 21 window Seebau / Cumulusweiß bus restoration project and the crazy drive across the country that followed.

marksch · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:12 pm Post subject:

I have this plug on the parcel tray btw.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YJ8TVQ/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00
_________________
http://66split.com - My 21 window Seebau / Cumulusweiß bus restoration project and the crazy drive across the country that followed.

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:09 am Post subject:

luftgekuhlt · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:43 am Post subject:

The up-to-3-amp converters seem to be quite common, I found a couple of them on ebay, didn't search a lot:

The nice feat by the converter indicated by psychoholica is to be up-tp-8-amp.

I am not overly technically savvy to answer this, but would like to know if there is an advantage/difference between connecting a 3-amp stereo to a 3-amp converter compared to connecting it to a up-to-8-amp converter. Is the second option better?
_________________
Buy the best. Cry once.

1965* 21W Samba (MCode 430 114) - 51 BD Standard Microbus (Type 22A. M62) - 1967 Westfalia pop-top (SOLD)
* 1965 according to chassie number but regged as 1964

bluemoontruck · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:04 am Post subject:

marksch · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:43 am Post subject:

If you look at the pic above you can see it in there. Theres a built in kickstand on the unit, you need to have that closed when you slide in into the tray on its side, then tilt it up, plug it in, and push the kickstand button and thats it! Theres rubber gripper feet which keeps your parcel tray scratch free and snuggly secures the speaker system.
What I really like is that its super portable. When plugged in it charges the battery so if you do something like camp out you just unplug it, take it out of the parcel tray and there ya go, portable boom box!
It also lets up to 5 devices to be paired with bluetooth so its easy to give control to the misses or whatever, you can also use a standard headphone jack to send tunes to the box if you dont have a bluetooth phone or ipod.
The included power supply as I mentioned is 12v so all i needed to do was buy a $.50 connector from Radio Shack that fit the power plug on the boombox. I made a cheapo cable out of some speaker wire and wired that directly into the 6 to 12 volt converter. The 12v feeds the box perfectly.

The absolute best part is the audio quality. Im still in disbelief when I turn it up as to how good it sounds. Cannot imagine a more perfect solution for our buses!
_________________
http://66split.com - My 21 window Seebau / Cumulusweiß bus restoration project and the crazy drive across the country that followed.

fluxcap · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:03 pm Post subject:

Hey Mark,
It pays to have an amazon warehouse about an hour away. I ordered mine yesterday after talking to you and had it today. Thanks for the tip! Bluemoon, here's a pic of mine that shows it a little better on the package tray. The silver blob in between the speakers is my 12v outlet. I'm going to move the outlet to under the headlight switch, cause right now the power wire for the outlet is a tight fit over the radio. The radio fits great. It's pretty thin, so you put it on it's side to slide it in the dash, and once you are in, you can stand it up. Like Mark said, it sounds great!

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Eric - 1966 camper bus

"It's like, how much more black could this be, and the answer is none.......none more black."

marksch · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:19 pm Post subject:

Ha! I was just going to take a photo of mine straight on. Nice! Glad youre happy with yours.
_________________
http://66split.com - My 21 window Seebau / Cumulusweiß bus restoration project and the crazy drive across the country that followed.


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