6V to 12V Converter recommendation requested

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John Avery Howard
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6V to 12V Converter recommendation requested

#1 Post by John Avery Howard »

Hello,

Nearing the end of a restoration on a 356B T6 S90.

I decided to use one of the replacement radios and save my original radio for a later refurb. I am keeping the car 6V. This means I need a 6 to 12V converter for the radio and ideally my cigarette lighter/ Accessory socket. I have read the older posts on the forums and many users have used converters, but where to get the RIGHT one is a bit of a mystery. What I know:
• The radios from Retro Sound are 25 watts/speaker and Radios from Woody's are 75 watts/speaker. I am running just a front pair of speakers.
• I am looking for 5-10A at 12V to make sufficient oomphh!. Woody's has a 5A and he reports no issues (though if he's really powering up to 300W that doesn't make much sense to me.

1) Are there recommendations for a great converter for this task?
2) What is the best way to keep the memory on the stations and not have a large power drain when the engine is switched off?
3) Are there aftermarket suppliers I should look at beyond Retro Sound or Woody's? Any comments on which of the two you prefer?

Thanks so much for your ideas.
John
1962 356BT6 S90

Vincent Gillespie
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Re: 6V to 12V Converter recommendation requested

#2 Post by Vincent Gillespie »

Hello, I've just installed my original radio with new innards and had to do hop up to 12 V see post viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48677 'new innards in old radio'.

If you would like to keep to a contemporary look I do have a 1960's Philips 6-12V transformer which I'd be happy to send to you FOC. I had the radio up and running with it & was very tempted to use it, but there was a little area beside my radio that the modern little black box fitted neatly into so I went with that and unless you are upside down under the dash you can't see it.

V
V. Gillespie

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DonCichocki
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Re: 6V to 12V Converter recommendation requested

#3 Post by DonCichocki »

John,
I used this 6-12v converter to power my 12v cruise control. Not cheap but works. 8 amp continuous, 10 amp for short periods.
I removed the on-off switch from the housing and added a cable so I could mount the on-off switch at the dash.
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David Jones
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Re: 6V to 12V Converter recommendation requested

#4 Post by David Jones »

John, you need to read up on speaker wattage as it does not translate into amps requirement as you assume. You should be looking at the output of the amplifier and how much of it you will use. You could use 25 watt speakers and drive them at 100% and be too loud or 100 watt speakers at 25% output and be happy with the sound. I use one of these to drive my Woodys hidden MP3 player as there is never going to be satellite radio in my 356 so this supplies more than enough power and I have never needed full volume as there is too much car noise and too much distraction to listen comfortably at speed.
https://www.amazon.com/DIGITEN-Converte ... BF9GP3M49B
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