questions about 5 tons. 24 to 12 volt

[junkyardog]

can i swap a 5 ton over to 12 volt with out a major headach, alt starter, bulbs certain gauges, it all ready has external fuel pump.what would and would not work. is there a place that sells a alt yhat would bolt right on. i can have the starter done at a rebuilt shop.am i forgeting something. is there a place you can recomend to buy 6 radial military super singles on rims. (THANKS) Howard

 

[M1075]

Why would you want to convert????

 

[junkyardog]

im going to use it for plowing snow. and some assories lights and radio , cb stuff like that and heater it does not have yet. what would be my advantage to use 24 volts, where would you get a wire for your assories

 

[M1075]

There a few different ways to power 12V stuff on a 5 ton. Why not just get 24V accessories? Depending on your amp requirements, you could try an inverter or you could add an additional or dual voltage alternator. Search the site here and you will find lots and lots of people who power 12V stuff on their 24v military trucks.

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

Alex @ IdahoMotorPool has the bracket for the 250 that holds a alternator so that you can run your 12v accessories

 

[BEASTMASTER]

i put a converter in my rig and it runs a radio, 4 strobe lights and a 12 volt heater, and 2 sets of wig- wags.and a defroster fan .no problem.

 

[randyscycle]

I'd just add a 12V battery, and a 12V alternator as a stand-alone system for all your 12V needs. That'd be easiest and would have the capacity for pretty much anything....

 

[madsam]

I have 2 12v batteries to make 24V. So to run a 12V, I just hooked off one of the 12V batteries. It worked fine for me.

 

[M543A2]

I would not change from the 24 volt system. They are very dependable. There are a lot of 24 volt civilian trucks and equipment such as Cat that use 24 volt systems so it is not hard to get 24 volt accessories or converters to convert 24 volts to 12 volts for accessories. I have bought 24 volt lights from Cat to use as plow lights. I know NAPA carries a lot of 24 volt supplies. Military surplus dealers sell add-on heaters that are 24 volt also. It is my opinion that buying 24 volt accessories or putting on a 24/12 converter is the simpler and best way to go.
I pulled off one battery for my 12 volt power on an M135 plow truck, but it seemed that one battery would not stay equal in charge to the other. That was with the generator system on the older series of trucks. The newer higher amp alternator systems might be the reason another respondent said he had good luck with it.
Regards Marti

 

[WillWagner]

Transit busses use 2, 8D batteries in series and pull 12VDC off of one and only have one 24VDC alternator. The one battery used for the 12VDC items...radios, start circuit...not the starter, but the system that engages the 24VDC start system, (technoblimps), faire boxes etc, are constantly dead. I have to use jumpers on only one battery to get them to start. Save yourself some headaches, overlay a 12VDC system on the truck.

 

[supermechanic]

snow plow pump works just fine on 24 volts.
duty cycle on a plow pump is at most 10%, usually closer to 2%.
shouldn't be a problem.
just don't buy a lift for a nine foot meyers and expect it to lift a 12 foot gledhill.
my plow is going into it's 12th season this year, I havn't burned out a motor yet.

 

[Wolf.Dose]

I once converted my M715 to 12 volt. Now I'mback to 24V and happy with it. The problem is simple: In Europe all trucks over 15000 lbs for shure run on 24V. So parts are availeable everywere, at least accessories. And converrters to 12V ars relatively cheep, even with high amps. So you better stay at 24V!
Wolf

 

[rmgill]

Drawing anything but tiny loads from one battery in a 2 battery string will kill the non loaded battery. What happens is that the other battery is drawn down more and is at a lower state of charge. When they 2 battery string is charged, the other battery gets up to charge and the lower battery continues to charge pushing the charging amperage through the now charged battery which over charges and boils dry.

That's why Will Wagner is fixing those transit buses.

I installed a 20 amp 24-12 volt system on my firewall and I get good service out of that for the electronics I run. You can also get 24-12 volt converters that'll work as battery chargers for a 12 volt battery to give you some surge amperage that a converter won't handle.

 

[bottleworks]

Transit busses use 2, 8D batteries in series and pull 12VDC off of one and only have one 24VDC alternator. The one battery used for the 12VDC items...radios, start circuit...not the starter, but the system that engages the 24VDC start system, (technoblimps), faire boxes etc, are constantly dead. I have to use jumpers on only one battery to get them to start. Save yourself some headaches, overlay a 12VDC system on the truck.

All modern transit buses have battery equalizers. This is why 12 volts can be pulled off a set of batteries. It sounds like you might be working on the older RTS buses that use an over elaborate system that was "so-so". I can't recall what GM called it.

The best way to get a safe, clean 12 volt feed off of a 24 volt system is to get a battery equalizer.