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24 to 12 volt

BEANBELLY

New member
22
0
0
Location
eastern wa.
is it better to use a 24 to 12 volt reducer or converter. want to add two radios, intercome several lights and fan for sure to my deuce. thanks for any help beanbelly:)
 

3dAngus

Well-known member
4,719
101
63
Location
Perry, Ga.
Battery equalizer
$100 on your favorite auction site.
Rated at 50 amps. It will do the job. Price is for used unit removed from bus.
 

JH1

Member
305
5
18
Location
Seattle, WA
See Marlin P. Jones and Associates. MPJA - Power Supply, Power Supplies, Security Cameras, LCD, Fans, Etc. for several down-converters that take in 24 and put out 12.

A "reducer" might be a resistor. If you have a constant load, that might work, but as the load varies, so does your voltage. A CB is a variable load and I guarantee it will blow it up. In receive mode, it doesn't draw much. When transmitting, it draws considerably more. Also, as you modulate the mic, the voltage will vary and the voice quality will be terrible.
Jim
 

Rkrug

Member
384
5
18
Location
Hays,KS
Could you just run a line for the 12v stuff from just one of the 12v batteries, instead of drawing off of two 12v to make 24v
 

JH1

Member
305
5
18
Location
Seattle, WA
Oops. I meant to say "periodically charge the lower battery", since you will be depleting the lower one more. With the lower ones showing less voltage, that means that the 24 or 28V that you charge the stack of batteries with will put more than half the voltage on the upper batteries.

Yes you can, but be warned, if you draw a lot of current from the lower batteries, you will create a charge imbalance that will hurt the upper batteries. A CB is fine. I would periodically check the voltage of the upper set and the lower set and if out of balance, use a 12v charger on the upper ones only to bring them up to speed again.
Jim
 
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Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
34,012
1,808
113
Location
GA Mountains
I center tapped a battery for a small inverter on a trip once. By the time I got from TN to FL, the battery imbalance was such that they truck coulnd't charge them. I had to bring the batteries up one at a time to get them to work again. Your mileage may vary.
 

eagle4g63

Well-known member
1,544
34
48
Location
North/west Indiana
Personally, with the amount of stuff you want I wouldn't waste the money on an inverter or any other gadget to maintain your batteries.......

Get a hold of tmAmerica(he's a member on here) he makes a bracket that will allow you to add another alternator to your truck......bolt on very simple and you can use any cheap GM alternator, mine cost me a whole $32 from Autozone(new).....then go to Menards and spend another $37 dollars for a nice lawnmower battery(new)......very nice size so fits dang near anywhere.....oh yeah you also need the new belt from Autozone($5)

You now can pull ALL the freakin power you want and never damage your batteries to run the truck on.

Absolutely the easiest thing to do on the truck....you will find that after you have it you will start adding all kinds of stuff.....how about a plug to charge your cell phone(get where I am going)......you won't regret it and it is all able to be had for less than a GOOD converter that would handle all you want to run.
 

eagle4g63

Well-known member
1,544
34
48
Location
North/west Indiana
Here are few pics so you can oogle......the top alternator is the 12 volt one, ground it to the lower ones ground, run the positive wire to the battery, and then ground the battery to the truck.....easy as pie.

The lower alternator is my 24 volt one.....tmAmerica also makes the brackets to use a 27si civi alternator(about $120-150 for the alternator depending on where you get it)

Enjoy:!::!:
 

Attachments

748
5
18
Location
Woodstock, GA
Personally, with the amount of stuff you want I wouldn't waste the money on an inverter or any other gadget to maintain your batteries.......

Get a hold of tmAmerica(he's a member on here) he makes a bracket that will allow you to add another alternator to your truck......bolt on very simple and you can use any cheap GM alternator, mine cost me a whole $32 from Autozone(new).....then go to Menards and spend another $37 dollars for a nice lawnmower battery(new)......very nice size so fits dang near anywhere.....oh yeah you also need the new belt from Autozone($5)

You now can pull ALL the freakin power you want and never damage your batteries to run the truck on.

Absolutely the easiest thing to do on the truck....you will find that after you have it you will start adding all kinds of stuff.....how about a plug to charge your cell phone(get where I am going)......you won't regret it and it is all able to be had for less than a GOOD converter that would handle all you want to run.
I have two 720 watt Pyle converters now and they work great but I may eventually add an electric winch and that will necessitate a 12 volt alternator. Does anyone make an alternator mounting bracket to fit the Cat 3116 in my A3? I have seen posts where members have fabricated one up but am not aware of anyone who sells them.
 

eagle4g63

Well-known member
1,544
34
48
Location
North/west Indiana
I'm not sure if anyone sells them.....I know George can make one gut he needs some-one close by with an A3 so he could take measurements.....I know he is wanting to, but no one has taken him up on his offer. Don't quote me but I think he said if some-one would come with a truck and let him use it to make up his brackets they would get theirs for free.
 

Beerslayer

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,054
55
48
Location
Tualatin, Oregon
The big advantage of the equalizer is that it keeps the two batteries balanced. This would really help in the case of the m939 series trucks since the heater fan low speed is just 12vdc pulled off of one of the batteries. For this reason I never use the low heater fan speed.
 

82k5guy

New member
1
0
0
Location
PA
Hey guys, i read above about adding the other alternator. could you just make a mount for a 12v battery and hook that (3rd?) up to the one that would charge 12v? ( in my case it would the the driver side alternator on the m1009, then you could run all your 12v off that battery?
 
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748
5
18
Location
Woodstock, GA
Hey guys, i read above about adding the other alternator. could you just make a mount for a 12v battery and hook that (3rd?) up to the one that would charge 12v? ( in my case it would the the driver side alternator on the m1009, then you could run all your 12v off that battery?
Not sure I understand your question/English.

"could you just make a mount for a 12v battery" Sure you can build a mount. Depending on where you want to put it you may even be able to buy a marine battery box for relatively little money and use it instead of having to build a mount.

"and hook that (3rd?) up to the one that would charge 12v? You lost me here

"( in my case it would the the driver side alternator on the m1009, then you could run all your 12v off that battery?" Again, you lost me here.

I am pretty sure that the answer is no, but I am not positive what the whole question is?
 

eagle4g63

Well-known member
1,544
34
48
Location
North/west Indiana
Hey guys, i read above about adding the other alternator. could you just make a mount for a 12v battery and hook that (3rd?) up to the one that would charge 12v? ( in my case it would the the driver side alternator on the m1009, then you could run all your 12v off that battery?

I believe you have a cucv not a Deuce or 5 ton.......the short answer to ALL cucv trucks is to just plug into an accessory plug in the fuse box on the fire wall......some one correct me if I am wrong but the cucv's already have 12 volt in there. I thought that I read on here a few times that they were wired that way....it's the reason behind the confusing 2 batteries and 2 alternators on those trucks.
 
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