To 24 or not to 24

[toughnut]

OK I've done a search, maybe not too well but I couldn't find what I was after. So, I'm looking at stepping upto a 24V motor on my high mount winch and I wan't to know the best way of running the electrics. Do I:

1/ Run a seperate 24V system just for the winch with it's own batteries and alternator, or;

2/ Run 24V for the winch and reduce it to 12V for the rest of the vehicle, or;

3/ Some other way of doing this?

[mickyd555]

id say option one would be easiest, im preety sure a second alternator will fit on the opposite side of the engine. (preety sure thats where a on board air goes) and ive heard of 24V batteries, rather than running two extras, i supose that would depend on the cost of one, and then having to carry a spare.....you cant just rip it out of the tow vehicle..... have you already got a dual battery system?

good luck

[chimpboy]

This is pretty complicated, but if you really want to do it and you are confident you can fit a second (24V) alternator onto your motor, then that would be the way to go - and run three batteries in total.

I would just stick with a 12V winch motor, personally, but I don't know what your needs are; I assume this is for competitive purposes?

Jason

[Doggy]

I have heard of it being done before, I think Kim Bolton did it a while ago (not entirely sure). Probably would be a PITA trying to squeeze another alternator in the but what the hell...give it a try

[spazbot]

try giving the boys at total care 4x4 in syd a call they been working on some trick stuff so u can run dual batterys and pull 24v across them for the winch and still get 12v for the car

[Bush65]

OK I've done a search, maybe not too well but I couldn't find what I was after. So, I'm looking at stepping upto a 24V motor on my high mount winch and I wan't to know the best way of running the electrics. Do I:

1/ Run a seperate 24V system just for the winch with it's own batteries and alternator, or;

2/ Run 24V for the winch and reduce it to 12V for the rest of the vehicle, or;

3/ Some other way of doing this?

1/ will be ok if you can fit 2 alternators and 3 batteries (2 for 24V winch, 1 for starter and other electrics.

2/ change alternator to 24V and use 2 (or 4) batteries and a switchmode dc to dc convertor for 12v accessories. You would need a bloody big dc to dc convertor to run a 12V starter motor - very expensive if you can find one. IMHO this would only be practical if you also change the starter motor to 24V and also wire the head and spot lights (the other big current loads) as pairs in series (two 12V loads in series = 24V). The head/spot light mod is easy - keep control side of relays for lights at 12V and connect power circuit to 24V.

3/ change alternator to 24V and use 2 (or 4) batteries and supply the 12V circuits from a single battery. The problem is that the battery that is used with the 12V loads be drawn down lower than the other, will be overcharged.

I believe that redarc (from memory) make a charging controller (may not be correct description - look on their website) that overcomes this problem. AFAIK normal dual battery controllers like ARB and Pirana are not suitable for doing this.

[rockcrawler31]

hey dude

changing your entire car to 24 volt is a PITA. One advantage is that you get less current loss over a given distance and wire guage with higher voltages or summat like that. (which is why HT transmission lines run voltages in the tens of thousands)

I remembered that our FFR landrovers used a second 24v alternator and banks of 4 batteries in the rear to get 24 volts running the inverters and sig gear. So perhaps if you are struggling to get the alternator and batts in the engine bay perhaps you could chuck the batts in the rear.

my two cents