6v to 12v Kid Trax Power Wheels conversion advice...


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Old 08-24-18, 09:09 PM
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6v to 12v Kid Trax Power Wheels conversion advice...

Not sure where in this forum would be appropriate for children's power wheels topic. Hope this thread is okay. Has anybody done a 6v to 12v conversion? Can anybody here walk me through what I need to do to make this conversion?

I don't know the lingo, so I've labeled a picture, so you can tell what I'm referring to. From my understanding in my research, people are saying you can use a 12v battery such as this.

Also, people say you would need a 30a fuse? There would also be some snipping, making new terminals, etc. But taking a look at the picture of my 6v battery, can you guys answer some questions I have?

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1. Is that little black box the fuse?
2. The top of this battery can be opened, so the red and black wires can be disconnected cleanly. Does this mean I don't have to snip? Nor do I need to install new terminals?
3. Couldn't I just take this entire harness to the new 12v? Would that fuse still work for the new 12v, or do I need a new fuse?
4. If my assumption is correct in that I can take the entire harness to the new battery with fuse and all, then lastly, how can I charge the new battery? The old battery was charged by disconnecting the orange thingy and plugging in a specially provided 6v charger such as this.

But somehow I get the feeling this isn't quite as simple as I'm thinking... Please let me know if I'm on the right track, or if not, please show me how to do this if anybody has the spare time. Thank you in advance.
 
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Old 08-25-18, 12:23 AM
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Unfortunately.... there is no 6v to 12v conversion method for that cart.
It has a 6v motor in it and requires 6v to operate. 12v will probably smoke the motor.
 
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Old 08-25-18, 01:34 AM
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PJ, yeah I understand the risk. The thing is, we lost the 6v charger and haven't charged the car for several years, but the car keeps going. My kids just don't play it much. I figure before I buy a charger, to see if this conversion is possible. If you search 6v to 12v on youtube, you'll see some videos. Unfortunately, most are not good tutorials, or I just don't understand what they're saying.
 
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Old 08-25-18, 04:34 AM
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What is your goal? Are you just trying to get the car running again or are you trying to speed it up?

1. Yes, the little black box is probably the fuse.

2. Whether or not you need to snip depends on what you are going to do about the battery. Same goes for the terminals. It depends if you are switching to a different battery and what terminals it has.

3. You can use the existing wiring with a 12v battery. Whether or not you need a new fuse depends if you are keeping the existing motor or swapping it for a more powerful one.

4. You can charge the new battery several ways but it depends on the battery and charger. To charge you have to somehow connect the charger to the battery. It might be with alligator clips or if you get the correct charger for the car you just plug it in like you said.

As far as simple. It doesn't get any more simple than what you've got there.
 
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Old 08-25-18, 04:58 AM
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There is tons of hacks out there showing how to go from 6v to 12v on your power wheel toy. You could use a 12v battery but then you will have to use a car charger (or some other 12v charger) to charge the battery. You could also get another 6v battery and with it in series. here is a video I found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI_xd2xEJCU

You will be over driving the motors with 12 volts, but based on how many people do it, I suspect it will be OK.

Here is another good video using one 12 v battery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVJQ-xwuzcs
 
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Old 08-25-18, 01:06 PM
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I'm a little lost. You appear to have a working battery but have lost the charger. So buy an inexpensive charger. They run from $5-10 dollars.

Sealed-Lead-Battery-Charger-D1724/dp/B001G8AIMU
 
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Old 08-25-18, 02:10 PM
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PJ, I apologize for my run-on thoughts, the equivalent of run-on sentences. LOL! Yeah, I lost the 6v charger, but I would like to upgrade the battery anyway, so I'm holding off until I know whether or not this is doable. If it's not, then I'll buy the 6v charger and carry on with our 6v battery. If upgrading to 12v is possible, then I would need to get the proper charger.
 
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Old 08-25-18, 02:18 PM
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Here's the picture of my harness/wires completely disconnected from the 6v battery.

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I guess what's throwing me off with most tutorials is all the snipping, crimping and installing of 30a fuses.

Maybe my situation is easier? I didn't need to snip the wires, and there is already a FUSE intact. So is it as simple as I'm thinking? Taking the whole thing to the new 12v battery? I will be keeping the same motor, so this fuse should work?

Here is the new battery I'm thinking of trying out. It has F2 type terminals. All I do is connect the red+ to the red terminal, and the black negative to the black terminal on the new battery and I should be good to go?

I also know I'll need to modify the battery compartment to fit the bigger battery.
 
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Old 08-26-18, 03:09 AM
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The motor being designed for 6 volts will absolutely burn out if operated on twice that voltage.
As suggested just replace the charger with the correct type.
 
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Old 08-26-18, 05:07 AM
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All I do is connect the red+ to the red terminal, and the black negative to the black terminal on the new battery and I should be good to go?
Yes, that seams to be an easier mod to do to your toy as it already has the connectors you need installed.

I will remind you that you are doing this at your own risk. You will be over driving the motor(s) and/or speed control(s) with double the voltage. This will shorten the life of these components.

Although if you do a search, many people have done this (upping the voltage to get the power wheels to go faster) and it will work. How long, I can not tell you.
 
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Old 08-26-18, 10:38 PM
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Tolyn, you mentioned another option of adding a second 6v in series. As you can see with my current harness, a fuse is already installed. If going this route, would we need another fuse, so that each 6v has a fuse? In the youtube video of the guy doing the in-series method, it doesn't seem like there is a fuse anywhere in his set-up.
 
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Old 08-26-18, 10:53 PM
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in series you would use your existing harness with fuse and 1 cable between the neg and pos of each battery no reason to add a fuse if you have one already protecting the circuit.
 
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Old 08-27-18, 12:05 PM
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In the youtube video, the guy chose the black negative wire as the one wire he DID NOT clip. So basically he split the red wire and connected them to the black and red of the other battery.

Does it matter? Since I got a fuse on my red already, can I split the black wire? Then connect to the other 6v, black to red and black to black?
 
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Old 08-27-18, 04:38 PM
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If you got another 6 volt battery and wanted 12 volts, you would take the wires you have now and connect the black to the black terminal of one battery and the red to the red terminal of the other battery. Then you would install a jumper wire between the two left over terminals (one black and one red) of each battery.
 
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Old 08-27-18, 11:28 PM
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Okay, so being a novice at these things, I just want to make sure I get what you're describing. So I drew a picture envisioning how I should connect my original harness which is complete with fuse. Please let me know if this is correct.

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If this is correct, could a 6v charger charge both batteries at the same time? Currently, what I would need to do is disconnect that orange connector from the motor, then I would plug a 6v charger into that orange connector. In this configuration, will the 6v charger charge both bats at the same time? Or do I need to connect the harness back to the pos and neg of just one battery and charge one at a time?

Lastly, I like how the guy spliced his wires to make quick connects, so that he can quickly go back to 6v or charging. Here is a picture of what I found at home depot.
  1. Please let me know if these are the type of connectors he was using in the video?
  2. Also, is it okay to divide a wire to add a bullet splice when the wire has a fuse on it such as mine?
  3. Lastly, if that's okay, then does it matter where the bullet goes? Should I put it between battery and fuse, or between fuse and orange connector?
 
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Old 08-28-18, 06:28 AM
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By your sketch you are converting to 12v. The batteries are in series (when you hook + to -) so their voltages add up.

No, you cannot charge both batteries simultaneously by just plugging in a 6v charger as you now have a 12v system. You disconnect the batteries and hook each 6v battery independently to your 6v charger.

Those bullet splices can be used. They are universal and not marked any special way to help you keep track of your connections. Be mindful that you will have to connect everything correctly every time.

When using connectors like those I always make sure that you don't have exposed hot conductors. So, I would use the female socket part of the connector on the battery so when it's unplugged you don't have bare metal conductors sticking out just asking to be shorted out.
 
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Old 08-28-18, 08:20 PM
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Thanks guys!

So if I were to put a bullet splice on the red wire which already has a fuse, it doesn't matter where the splice goes? Between battery and fuse, versus between fuse and orange connector?

Also, in reading the wire info, I see "AWM 1015 VW-1 105 degrees Cel 600V 14 AWG." If I were to buy additional wires, any of this info pertinent? I assume we need to match the 14 awg? How do I know if I have stranded or solid wires? And does it matter if you mix solid with stranded?

Lastly, my current 6v is 7ah. When doing IN-SERIES, do you have to match the 7ah?

I know these are lots of newbie questions.. Thanks in advance for educating me.
 

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Old 08-29-18, 05:29 PM
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Yes, staying with at least 14 ga for the size is important. I can almost guarantee you have stranded wire. Solid wire is... well like a solid piece of wire. It's harder to bend and it stays in position where you bent it. Stranded wire is flexible and generally the more strands the more flexible.
 
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Old 08-29-18, 06:34 PM
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I would not bother with the bullet connectors and just make a jumper with some stranded wire and a couple of spade connectors.
 
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Old 08-30-18, 12:30 PM
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BTW, what is the proper lingo for that orange male & female connectors? Been educating myself on all the terminals and connectors, crimpers, etc. But can you DIY a connection like this orange one, do they sell them? Been unsuccesful searching for them because I think they're not called "orange connector thingamajigs." LOL!

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Old 09-03-18, 09:54 PM
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Update... For now, I scratched the "IN-SERIES" method because I wanted to use the entire original harness from Kid Trax, and it had F2 female spades, so I needed F2 terminals on any battery I buy. I found out that all 3rd party 6v batteries have F1 terminals. Interestingly, the 6v original Kid Trax are F2 terminals. I know there are F1 to F2 adapters out there, or just crimp new connectors, but I decided to skip the hassle, and just get a 12v 12ah battery. All 12v on the market seem to have F2 connectors.

So it was as easy as that. Taking out the 6v, and putting in the new 12v using original harness. I also found out that Schumacher has a charger selection for RIDE-ON toys.

The model for me was CR6, it comes with a connector that will mate with the orange connector on the kid trax harness. I had asked in my previous post if there was a lingo for this type of connector, with no answers. So It might be proprietary?

Anyway, we are getting new life out of the mini cooper! I tried modifiedpowerwheels.com forum because it seems like they are the definitive place for this type of stuff. But I got zero help. When I saw many of their threads go unanswered for months, I quickly deleted my thread and came here. Doityourself.com is simply the best for any diy advice. I hope this thread will help someone with a similar curiosity.
 
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