No Electrical Flow!

[AndyInFL]

Three nights ago, I started her up and she pured like a lion. I shut her down and made sure all electrical devices were off. Today I flipped the stock power lever and no power what so ever.

I have two 24 to 12 volt units that are wired directly to the battery. Each has its own individual wire for ground and for positive that terminate at the battery. Each of the four wires, two pos and two neg, are a single continuous wire with no breaks or connections except the terminal connection at the battery.

There is no power to either of the twelve volt units and nothing to the truck's 24 volt through the stock electrical system. I also have two auxilary lights hooked straight to the battery for emergency side lights. These side lights also have their own homerun wire to the battery. These lights will not even flicker. Nothing does.

Sounds like dead batteries...Right? Both batteries are about a month old and the appropriate heavy duty truck batteries that the system calls for. The power in the batteries seems very good and sparks like a full battery should when I put a charger to each one. Two batteries, two chargers and several hours later, I got nothing!

Fuses are good in the 24 to 12 volt units. My electrical meter at the batteries does not seem to show me an accurate reading on the battery voltage. The meter seems to be reacting abnormally and not registering the proper voltage.

Not sure where to go from here... Help!

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Can't wait for that ah ha moment were I get to laugh at something I am overlooking and is so obvious....

 

[3dAngus]

Disconnect one lead and all aux connections to your 24vdc battery supply and then test the voltage again. If something pulses on your battery pack with all hookupe a digital and sometimesanalog voltmeter will fluctuate.

Check your fuse on the firewall.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Three nights ago, I started her up and she pured like a lion. I shut her down and made sure all electrical devices were off. Today I flipped the stock power lever and no power what so ever.

I have two 24 to 12 volt units that are wired directly to the battery. Each has its own individual wire for ground and for positive that terminate at the battery. Each of the four wires, two pos and two neg, are a single continuous wire with no breaks or connections except the terminal connection at the battery.

There is no power to either of the twelve volt units and nothing to the truck's 24 volt through the stock electrical system. I also have two auxilary lights hooked straight to the battery for emergency side lights. These side lights also have their own homerun wire to the battery. These lights will not even flicker. Nothing does.

Sounds like dead batteries...Right? Both batteries are about a month old and the appropriate heavy duty truck batteries that the system calls for. The power in the batteries seems very good and sparks like a full battery should when I put a charger to each one. Two batteries, two chargers and several hours later, I got nothing!

Fuses are good in the 24 to 12 volt units. My electrical meter at the batteries does not seem to show me an accurate reading on the battery voltage. The meter seems to be reacting abnormally and not registering the proper voltage.

Not sure where to go from here... Help!

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Can't wait for that ah ha moment were I get to laugh at something I am overlooking and is so obvious....

What do these units you speak of do? Are these in addition to the 28V system or some type of a 12V conversion? Are you running a center tap for the extra lights or are they 28V? Perhaps some detailed pics of the battery box area. As a rule of thumb, I'd suspect it's a grounding issue. The starter ground needs to be checked as well. If this had been posted 12 hours ago I could have stopped by. At 0400 I start my 3 15 hr days so I'm of no use until Wednesday.

 

[RAYZER]

Start with charging your batteries separately to full charge,then make sure your alternator is working properly,then make sure that some of those accessories aren't drawing amperage when everything is turned off.

 

[AndyInFL]

Thanks for the fast responses!

The two 24 to 12 volts run a radio, interior lights and cigarette lighter plugs for attachments.

The units are mounted on a steel plate hinged to the firewall and swing up to meet the botton of the dash making a smooth flat dash underneath. Two scews and the electronics swing down for easy access.

 

[AndyInFL]

Start with charging your batteries separately to full charge,then make sure your alternator is working properly,then make sure that some of those accessories aren't drawing amperage when everything is turned off.

Sounds like a plan. However, right now I can even get the slightest click of the starter/solenoid to even think about turning it over.

I will try the seperate charge. Right now two batteries and two chargers have the charger meters pegged at full charge.

 

[Tow4]

I think you might find that your voltage reducers (24V to 12V units) have an idling current draw. In other words, they use power even with no load. They probably need to be on a switched circuit.

Charge the batteries up and disconnect the voltage reducers from the battery. Then connect one lead on your milli-amp meter to the B+ line of one of the voltage reducers and the other lead to the B+ of the battery. If there is a current reading, that is your problem. It doesn't take much of a drain to kill a battery over a period of time.

 

[AndyInFL]

I think you might find that your voltage reducers (24V to 12V units) have an idling current draw. In other words, they use power even with no load. They probably need to be on a switched circuit.

Charge the batteries up and disconnect the voltage reducers from the battery. Then connect one lead on your milli-amp meter to the B+ line of one of the voltage reducers and the other lead to the B+ of the battery. If there is a current reading, that is your problem. It doesn't take much of a drain to kill a battery over a period of time.

You are correct about the continous draw. I have had this exact setup for more than six months and has worked flawlessly. I calculated the continuous draw and there is no way it should draw down in just three days. In the past I have gone more than a week without starting it and there has been no apparent lose of engine turnover ability from the batteries. This time I ran it only three days ago.

 

[m16ty]

Sounds like a ground problem to me.

 

[cranetruck]

Yup, check the ground strap from battery NEG to frame.

 

[AGE|kshaufl]

Ditto the ground strap.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Also need to check the starter ground. I don't believe that they ground through the body, but through the large cable on the front that goes right to the frame. Also worthy of a thorough inspection is the dogbone cable between the batteries.