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12volt dilemma
Post by shooter68 on Sept 10, 2006, 3:30pm
I have a '68 715 converted to 12volt. What kind of problems if any do I have to look out for? I want to be able to drive it on a regular basis and keep the restored stock look. Are there any advantages to 24volt other than restored stock authenticity? Any input on this subject will help me hunt down any gremlins before they bite me.
Re: 12volt dilemma
Post by fasteddie on Sept 10, 2006, 4:16pm
I have a 67 M725 that was converted to 12V by a PO . After going over the truck and cleaning up some of the wiring I've had no problems with electrical on it , it's been used as a daily driver for the past year . The only differance I made to the system was to run 2 seperate power feeds direct from the battery , one switched , one constant hot to 2 fuse blocks in cab to run accessories that I was installing . I did not want to hack into the OEM harness for add ons .
Re: 12volt dilemma
Post by brute4c on Sept 11, 2006, 9:48am
If the conversion was well thought out and executed, it should be real nice...many are not that well done though and there is no telling what goes where and how they did the change....without trying to make a wiring diagram of your own off the truck and seeing what goes where...using what size wire and what type terminals, splices, etc.
24 volts versus 12 volts:
When one uses 10 amps in 24 volts, to run in 12 volts, the same item would need 20 amps...24 times 10=12 times 20...so by using 24 volt, less weght in windings in the starter and alternator are needed to get the halved amperage going...wire sizes throughout the system can be smaller due to carring half the amperage, and even switches and fuses can be smaller and lighter...thus the system has 1 extra battery but less in all the other electrical areas....
Another side effect is that a 12 volt starter will draw from 1000 cold cranking amp battery at twice the rate that a 24 volt starter will draw from 2-12 volt batteries....thus the 24 volt system has more reservre capacity when cranking by about twice as much....or one could leave their headlights on twice as long....or....
Re: 12volt dilemma
Post by shooter68 on Sept 11, 2006, 9:27pm
Thanks, I haven't found anything scary yet and I hope that I don't.