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I was looking for a way to easily get 12-volt, negative ground capability into my 115C to power cell phones and GPS devices, and I came up with this solution.

A small, sealed, and rechargeable 12-volt battery and a modern power outlet. This is independent of the Packard's 6-volt, positive ground system. It is an 8 amp hour rated battery and is small enough to keep in the glove compartment with room left over. Plus it can be easily removed. In addition, I purchased a 750 mil amp trickle charge battery tender to recharge the battery. At Howard's suggestion I also ordered from the brand maker of the charger an adaptor that fits into the power outlet to allow me to charge the battery without disconnecting the outlet. All simple and easy.

Another benefit is by being able to power a cell phone, I can now carry a Bluetooth type speaker and play tunes and radio programs in the car. No need for an expensive sound system or modification to the car. It was never fitted with a radio.

Battery - $39
Tender - $32
Outlet - $16
Adaptor - $7
TOTAL - $94

Not shown with the charger is a cord that connects to terminals of a full-sized battery to allow recharging by simply plugging in the cord from the charger. I installed this this on the Optima battery in the hot rod. I was concerned that the low power charger would not be enough for a full-sized battery, but it worked. However, the battery was in good charge and I don't know if the charger will have enough power if the Optima becomes discharged.

Anyway, here is a photo of the "kit" and it may be of interest to some of you.

(o{}o)

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I bought an external battery for my phone and tablet. It's 20,000 mAh and it can recharge my phone 8-10 times, and my tablet 4-5 times. I use my phone or tablet for gps and also as my speedometer. You can take it anywhere. Pretty much everything comes with a USB charger ports these days.

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For about $50 or $60, you can get a Stanley power pack, usb ports already in it.

I just got a 6 v pos grnd to 12 v neg grnd converter from EBay and hooked it up to an lighter socket. I can charge my cell and run a GPS

More good ideas for getting 12-volts into our 6-volt Packards.

(o{}o)

I bought this for my daughter for XMAS. It's small and puts out 5v by 2.4amps x 2 ports (4.8amps total). Basically, can charge a new iPhone from dead like 7 times, or run a GPS all day long. And it's small in size. You'll need that 2.0+ amps for charging newer phones and tablets. The older USB chargers only put out about 0.5 amps

My daughter uses it when she is going to concerts or other places where access to either a 12v or 120v charging source is not available.

Perfect for those long car shows or travel in the Packard as well since the rear seat does not have a 12v source.

Probably the cheapest/longest power option I know of and has lots of other uses outside of the car. We have taken similar ones camping/hiking also and they are a godsend.

http://www.amazon.com/Compact-20000mAh-Portable-Anker-PowerCore/dp/B00X5RV14Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454958046&sr=8-1&keywords=anker

I found another solution that could be less than $10 and doesn't involve any rechargeable batteries, and once installed involves no further maintenace.

This is a 6v-35v to 5v regulated USB converter. Designed to be used in Motorcycles/RV's/Cars etc. This is less than $5. Pair with a plastic project box (enclosure) to keep it insulated and add an inline fuse folder with a 5amp fuse and you have a complete solution for about $10-$15 depending on what you may already have in your parts bin.

On positive ground cars, you would run a wire from the VCC+ terminal to ground (thru an inline fuse holder), and another wire from the VCC- terminal to the ACC/ON terminal on the Ignition switch. You want this "On" only when the car is running to prevent battery drain.

So this will also work on 1955 models that are still positive ground, in addition to pre 1955 models that are 6v positive ground. Would also work with cars that are running those funky 8v batteries as because this is 6v-35v converter, it doesn't really care about the input voltage.

On negative ground cars, just reverse the connections.

If you put this in a small plastic project box (Radio Shack and numerous online retailers sell them) you could just stick this to the bottom of the dash with some double sided foam tape in an inconspicuous location. Or maybe in the glove box. For this cheap of a price, you could run another one into the backseat area for the passengers to charge their phones. This thing is small only like 1/2" x 1/2" x2 .5". So easy to hide.

http://m.gearbest.com/diy-dc-6-%5E%5E-35v-_gear/

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If a club or chapter could put this together a turn-key product (premounted in a project box with a fuse holder, instructions and a strip of double-sided tape). I think it would be a good selling Club Project that a lot of owners may find usefull.

Good Morning BigKev...You definitely should receive an A for this invention! Ernie

Just a "blue sky" idea:
I found among my 'junk' what i thot was just another old 6v generator. It sure looks like an old 6v gen complete with v belt pulley. BUT as it turns out itis a 115v generator. Probably real easy to retro fit to ANY automotive generator mounting bracket.

So, swap the old 6v gen for a 115v gen. Run TWO AC common garage type battery chargers and a 6v car battery and a 12 v car battery.

The 6v garage type charger keeps the 6v battery charged and the 12 v battery charger keeps the 12v battery charged.

Sure, need extra space for an extra battery (12v could go in trunk or under floor of car. And space to mount the twwo battery chargers.

^6v circuit for starter only. 12 v circuit for the rest of the car. While the two chargers are wired to the ONE 115v generator that replaced the 6v gen on the engine.