I think Hobbs meter winding coil's draw a good bit of current every 30
seconds or so in the wind cycle, maybe a 2 or 3 millisecond pulse.

Seems I remember then having a wide operational voltage range, like 4 to
40V or something like that... I'm talking about the old mechanical ones
here, not the newer Quartz or digital's.

Erik

Well, this is certainly the old mechanical type. Probably a dumb question but
here goes. If it just spikes from 4 to 4o volts every 3 minutes or so, why do I
have to do anything? Wouldn`t 12 volts work?

Also, the papers that came with it mention models without the instant stop
feature would run on for up to 3 minutes after being turned off.
Verifies your statement above.

Warren