Re: A little Packard History from 1945

Posted by Tim Cole On 2019/11/25 16:23:16

I don't understand how they can make those conclusions about a car ignition that starts on 12 volts and runs on six via the ballast resistor.

The biggest advantage is the smaller gauge wires in the 12 volt system that saves huge amounts of money. It's a higher pressure system. High voltage isn't always better. Old tube amplifiers, radios, and TV's ran on 275 volts. Nobody would want that in a pocket telephone.

As well the instrument clusters were kept at five volts.

Before the present electric car craze the talk was about going to a 48 volt system with all sorts of gadgets that would help drive up the number of distracted driving injuries and deaths.

Railroads were running on 32 volt systems during the steam era and we had 24 volt systems on military vehicles. Were the lights brighter? No, but the power jacks were 24 volt.