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ssquires68
Samba Member
Joined: December 26, 2020
Posts: 10
Location: NY
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 Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:19 am Post subject: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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I’m trying to hook up a 12V radio in my 66 beetle, still 6V.
I purchased a 6v to 12v converter but need a little help with how/where ground wires connect that are on the converter.
Any help from someone who’s done this using this type of converter would be great. Pics if ya got ‘em.
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Dan2973
Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2019
Posts: 433
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:50 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| ssquires68 wrote: |
I’m trying to hook up a 12V radio in my 66 beetle, still 6V.
I purchased a 6v to 12v converter but need a little help with how/where ground wires connect that are on the converter.
Any help from someone who’s done this using this type of converter would be great. Pics if ya got ‘em.
Hopefully this helps you out. You need 2 of them. One for power and one for memory
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ssquires68
Samba Member
Joined: December 26, 2020
Posts: 10
Location: NY
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| Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 6:54 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| Dan2973 wrote: |
| ssquires68 wrote: |
I’m trying to hook up a 12V radio in my 66 beetle, still 6V.
I purchased a 6v to 12v converter but need a little help with how/where ground wires connect that are on the converter.
Any help from someone who’s done this using this type of converter would be great. Pics if ya got ‘em.
Hopefully this helps you out. You need 2 of them. One for power and one for memory
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So it looks like you tied all the ground wires together and are grounded to the mounting bracket, correct?
Did you have any troubles with the up converter? I think mines defective, not giving me any voltage on the output. |
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Dan2973
Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2019
Posts: 433
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 9:08 am Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| I’m going to get a closer look when I get home from work today and take more photos and see if I could give more detail |
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Dan22
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2019
Posts: 465
Location: Battle Ground, WA
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 9:37 am Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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Curious why you have two of those converters. Does your radio pull more than 10amps at 12V? And if so what will the 6V current draw be? P=I*E says 20 amps for one unit. I am assuming your converters are the 10 amp output versions.
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074 |
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Dan2973
Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2019
Posts: 433
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| Dan22 wrote: |
| Curious why you have two of those converters. Does your radio pull more than 10amps at 12V? And if so what will the 6V current draw be? P=I*E says 20 amps for one unit. I am assuming your converters are the 10 amp output versions. |
Yes they are 10 amps each, but I was told that I needed to use 2 of them because one is needed for power and the other one is needed for the memory. I was also told that you could only use 1 but your memory wouldn’t work , meaning you would always have to manually tune. I just went for the 2. But FYI you will get a parasitic voltage drop if you hook up to constant power on the fuse block
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Dan22
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2019
Posts: 465
Location: Battle Ground, WA
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:55 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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Oh, I see. Thanks.
I may have to do the same thing in my instance, but at least my new radio (retrosound) remembers stations if power is lost. The other settings may reset.
Hope it works and your battery stays alive!
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074 |
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Dan2973
Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2019
Posts: 433
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| Dan22 wrote: |
Oh, I see. Thanks.
I may have to do the same thing in my instance, but at least my new radio (retrosound) remembers stations if power is lost. The other settings may reset.
Hope it works and your battery stays alive! |
Yeah I think I may switch the wiring from constant hot to switched only and I believe that will take care of the voltage drop. I keep it on a tender for now |
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pwmcguire
Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2011
Posts: 1108
Location: Kennesaw GA
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| Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 10:09 am Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| Dan2973 wrote: |
| Dan22 wrote: |
Oh, I see. Thanks.
I may have to do the same thing in my instance, but at least my new radio (retrosound) remembers stations if power is lost. The other settings may reset.
Hope it works and your battery stays alive! |
Yeah I think I may switch the wiring from constant hot to switched only and I believe that will take care of the voltage drop. I keep it on a tender for now |
Then you would only need 1 |
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obnoxiousblue
Samba Member
Joined: February 21, 2007
Posts: 2939
Location: East Northport, NY
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| Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 9:13 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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Any follow up on this? I bought a RetroSound - and also had my Sapphire I converted to receive FM and also aux in and am now debating which radio to use in my 64 6V beetle.
I roughly wired up the RetroSound today to check function and I encountered the same issue. The memory wire needs power and I’d like to not run 2 converters and remembering to turn the radio off may actually cause me a dead battery. Curious if you found a work around here?
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Mike
1964 Beetle
2001 Eurovan Camper |
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Frederik
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2007
Posts: 578
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 5:15 am Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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I would be very surpriced if the memory draw any large current. You could buy a dirt cheap and super small dc-dc step up module (Ebay, amazon etc) and run to the memory supply. An extra 10A converter for just the memory is both overkill and bulky. I've used the smaller 2A modules for running 12V tachs and the slightly bigger 4A even works as main supply with less wattage radios.
Memory will always draw a small current and drain the battery. More so on 6V converted to 12V, but if the car is parked for a longer period have it hooked up to a charger or have a main switch on the battery (radio memory will get lost).
https://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Converter-Adjustable...amp;sr=8-4
https://www.amazon.com/Ampper-Battery-Disconnect-S...amp;sr=8-4
Last edited by Frederik on Mon May 17, 2021 6:11 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Frederik
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Joined: August 18, 2007
Posts: 578
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 5:29 am Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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You could also use a relay and one converter/ the 10A you have.
The converter will always be on as it's hooked up to battery/30 but with ignition off it will only supply memory. With ignition on (15 or acc.) the relay will switch and also supply main +12V in to the radio. As the converter is always on and supply memory it will always drain the battery some (memory, losses in conversion 6-12V and stand by current) but no more than using 2 converters, with one always on.
A small step-up module might however be cheaper than a 6v relay and might have less stand by current than the bigger 10A converter?
The advantage with the relay or two converters/step-up modules is only if you forget to turn the radio off, otherwise you could run both memory/+ directly to the converter hooked up to 30/battery. With the radio off it should not draw more than for the memory function etc/ be the same.
Last edited by Frederik on Mon May 17, 2021 7:07 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Frederik
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2007
Posts: 578
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 6:21 am Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| A 3rd option (if you want to keep memory) is to hook up a separate battery supply for the memory. A small lithium battery pack, having it charging from the converter (only powered with ignition on) and it would probably last for weeks with the car parked, powering the radio memory without draining the car battery. Ready solutions (but a bit costly) would be the small "help starters" you could buy. |
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Texasdoc
Samba Member
Joined: June 22, 2017
Posts: 77
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 11:41 am Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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| Frederik wrote: |
| You could also use a relay and one converter/ the 10A you have. |
So, a 6V relay (trigger pins 85/86) can pass 12V (thru pins 30/87) without burning up the 6V relay? |
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Frederik
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2007
Posts: 578
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 1:18 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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It should be no problems, it's the relay coil (85-86) that is voltage sensitive.
But as said it might be a better option with a small dc-dc step up module for the memory. https://www.amazon.se/ARCELI-justerbar-DC-DC-DC-br...&psc=1 |
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obnoxiousblue
Samba Member
Joined: February 21, 2007
Posts: 2939
Location: East Northport, NY
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 12:31 pm Post subject: Re: 12 volt radio in 6 volt 66 beetle |
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So, I did some research after my post above - and just now saw this thread come back to the top of my current list.
I decided not to use a converter on my 64 6V Beetle. I had my original radio rebuild by Richard Langenwalter here on TS. He added FM and AUX IN to my Sapphire I. Then when installed it in the car I just ran a 3.5mm AUX cable to a small $30 BT converter which charges by USB. It lasts a good long while and I can still listen to music from my phone.
The takeaway? Stock looks better, doesn't require any 12V converters, receives FM and BT now with no compromises.
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Mike
1964 Beetle
2001 Eurovan Camper |
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