TheSamba.com :: View topic - Actron tach/dwell/volt analog meter with 6 volt

Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:15 am

Bought a actron analog dwell/tach meter at sears. When I got home I noticed inside it said 12 volt. Well ill be wanting to use this meter on my 61 6 volt. Will it still work as it should? How can I adjust my carb with this meter also? Thanks

Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:18 am

Did a quick search for you and found this post on an old Ford forum

"I sent a Email to ACTRON and they replied back. The unit I bought should NOT be used for a 6volt system and they do not make one that does. I took it back and got a refund. I wasted a lot of time searching the internet for auto testing equipt repair shops and called a list of them. None of them will repair the Sears units because there are no Replacement parts readily available. I will just get one from Ebay. They have one for 6volts.
I had a really good quality set of points in there that lasted for many years. Finally the engine idle began to drop and I discovered that the points had developed a tit. So I filed them down quite a bit but cannot get the pitts out. So I installed a cheapo set of points and just set the gap with a feeler guage. Engine runs good as new."

Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:40 am

I have an old sears unit circa 1990, and I use it onthe 6V system for tach dwell.

THe timing light I run off a 12V AC to DC power converter and use pickup on wire.

Its says 12V but my memory is the voltage needs span a wide range

Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:53 am

Dang so it won't work?

Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:54 am

I threw it on to chk my dwell and seemed close granted I need new points.

Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:38 am

Do you use the pick up on the spark plug wire on the 6v for the timing light? I was gonna run my timing light off my 12v battery and use jumper cable wires as a kind of extension?

Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:45 am

I noticed that the analog tach/dwell meter I got also has a volt meter that has a range from 1-16 volts. I kinda don't understand why this wouldn't work on a 6v for dwell and tach?

Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:34 am

These are the tune up tools I use on my 6 volt and they have always worked for me.Even though the timing light says on the box for 12 volt I connect it to my 6volt coil and it works perfect.

Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:44 am

I have units similar to the above and they usually work on my 6-volt cars.
I hook them directly to the generator though so they are really getting 7.4v or so. They don't always work if I hook them straight to the coil.

I recently gave up on using the meter to measure dwell though as it began reading inaccurate. Brand new points set with a feeler gauge to start off and it said the dwell was way off. My meter is super old though (age unknown) so maybe it has an issue. I went back to my feeler gauges.

Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:45 am

Yea, those look just like mine.

Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:33 am

You can always just grab a 12v battery to power it with...

Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:06 pm

EverettB wrote: I recently gave up on using the meter to measure dwell though as it began reading inaccurate. Brand new points set with a feeler gauge to start off and it said the dwell was way off. My meter is super old though (age unknown) so maybe it has an issue. I went back to my feeler gauges.

Funny you should say that. I have never gotten a "correct" dwell reading using those same tools pictured above (mine are about 37 years old) on either of the two 12 volt Beetles I've owned, despite having the correct points gap. I gave up and now set the dwell on my 6V 1200 with the feeler gauges, set the idle to where the gen light doesn't come on, and static time the engine per the Bentley VW manual's instructions. Can't get simpler than that.

Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:55 pm

thekera wrote: I noticed that the analog tach/dwell meter I got also has a volt meter that has a range from 1-16 volts. I kinda don't understand why this wouldn't work on a 6v for dwell and tach?

That voltmeter range is just that-- a simple voltmeter. A 12 volt car may have voltages anywhere in that range that the home mechanic may want to test, such as instrument bulb voltages (which are less than 12V when dimmed by the light switch) or raw generator output voltage.

Although the same mechanical meter is used for dwell and rpm display, the signal fed to the meter is calibrated with various resistors and other electronics to represent dwell or rpm on the same dial face. But those electrical component values are chosen to work with a 12V starting signal from the battery leads of the meter. So if you only fed it 6 volts, the resultant voltages or currents will not correspond to the correct scale values on the dial face.

Make sense now?

Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:36 pm

79SuperVert wrote: EverettB wrote: I recently gave up on using the meter to measure dwell though as it began reading inaccurate. Brand new points set with a feeler gauge to start off and it said the dwell was way off. My meter is super old though (age unknown) so maybe it has an issue. I went back to my feeler gauges.

Funny you should say that. I have never gotten a "correct" dwell reading using those same tools pictured above (mine are about 37 years old) on either of the two 12 volt Beetles I've owned, despite having the correct points gap. I gave up and now set the dwell on my 6V 1200 with the feeler gauges, set the idle to where the gen light doesn't come on, and static time the engine per the Bentley VW manual's instructions. Can't get simpler than that.

I realized I left something out... I was revving the engine to get the dwell reading so I think the extra voltage was making the meter work. It never worked at idle. Bu no more...

Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:58 am

Yea, that makes sense. What do you use say if you have a 6v and a 12v bug? a a all in one meter that works well with these old cars? I guess I can use this on my 66 type 1 12v convert. As for the 6v 61 it'll just be feeler gauges and static light.

Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:37 am

On my 6V Bug I used a feeler gauge to get close, then used a mark I made on the pulley to check it precisely. Using a protractor, and verifying with a dwell meter that worked on 6V to exactly the right dwell, I marked where the light goes on or off with a paint mark. Then I set dwell statically just like I set timing statically. It takes a few iterations, since changing the dwell moves the timing, but after 2-3 cycles I have both dead on.

For idle speed, I learned by sound where to place it, so the oil light is out and it is still smooth. Occasionally I checked it and I was at about 750 rpm or a little less.

No meter, just a light bulb and alligator clips, and my ears.

Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:00 am

KTPhil wrote: For idle speed, I learned by sound where to place it, so the oil light is out and it is still smooth.

I think you mean the gen light, right?

Thu Jan 31, 2013 12:06 pm

79SuperVert wrote: KTPhil wrote: For idle speed, I learned by sound where to place it, so the oil light is out and it is still smooth.

I think you mean the gen light, right?

Both actually. Gen when cold and oil when hot!

Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:37 pm

I use this

Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:54 am

So I finished my refurb last night on my zv/pau 4 r5. Took a dwell reading just for the hell of it. This is my 6v were talking about. Used the 12v actron analog tach/dwell. I'm pretty sure it works with 6v cause I got a reading of 48. I don't know maybe I'm wrong but I know for sure my points are on point.