24v Mechanic in WA or UT?

[Kalen Thorien]

Hey Everyone!

Having a hell of an electrical problem with my HJ. Gone through two sets of batteries and still getting a serious imbalance problem. Tried getting all the wiring down to almost stock, but she's still wrecking my batteries. 11.6v on the low side, 12.6 on the high.

I can't find anyone who can truly work on this system so wondering if anyone knew a good electrical mechanic who can work on 24v systems in either Seattle or Salt Lake area? I called Cruiser Outfitters in SLC and they didn't know. Any help would be great.

Worse comes to worse, getting it re-wired to 12v? What would something like that cost or involve?

 

[Greg_B]

Try Tor at TorFab

hth's
gb

 

[SteveJackson]

Feel free to bring it to us and we'll figure it out, plenty of 24V experience here. Of course it's a long way, but CONSIDERABLY cheaper than changing to a 12V system which is probably not practical.

 

[george_tlc]

First step is to figure out what is pulling on the 12V battery. You must have some 12V specific accessories that are connected only to the 12V low side battery.

A current clamp with low current and DC capability, such as MA220 - 400A AC/DC Clamp Meter

provides readings down to 10mA resolution. Makes it easy to measure current flow on each battery without disturbing any wiring.

cheers,
george.

 

[hj 60]

Most common problems are a bad big wire between the two batteries (cut of 2x old end piece, check if bend)
bad ground (everywhere= 4 at battery's and one at starter, one at - chassis, maybe more),
bad rear hatch light switch (always power to the 5 door switches),
horn hazard fuse is aways on (so besides the contact key switching on a lot of circuits these circuits can draw while key is out.

Good way to learn about the system, I use 2x12v chargers so if one battery is bad the other one does not go bad to.

A good way to see what is happening:

 

[DEADSALT]

The usual culprit is running a 12v stereo system off of only one of the batteries.

 

[Mr Tibbs]

Did you already talk to Dustin at State Street Auto? I know he did some previous work for you and he might be able to help out!

 

[apolo1100]

I have a 24v 60 wagon and NEVER had a problem ..except when one of the batt when dead, and there was no start so it was a simple fix... replace the one batt and done ,
I run a big sound system too , but of a huge inverter 24v to 12v underneath the rear seat , that supply plenty of power to stereo, amps, and cigarette lighter for the phone charger.
I also install a set of rad fans (two in series straight from the batt with relay ) roof rack with 8 fog lights..! also in series.
I have that system for over 5 years and works great.
apolo.

 

[Greg_B]

Finally have a little more time and what others have mentioned is good advice:

1) Lots of 24V systems out there that are working just fine. Just make sure no taps on the 12V side, even for something simply like mem presets on a stereo. Use a 24v-12v converter for your 12v needs and keep as much 24V as possible.

2) Make sure all your battery cables and grounds are good (might be an idea to baseline it all with new).

3) I know folks have run Optima and AGM style batteries in 24V rigs, but they really do not like any imbalance or charge anomalies and are not near as forgiving when a problem develops as tried and true lead/acid batteries; Once an imbalance starts...that's the end. Once your batteries are imbalanced...the charge system does not care where the charge goes...it will exacerbate the imbalance. What are you running? My vote goes for some really good dual purpose (thicker plates and well constructed) or marine batteries. You probably need a 27 and 27F and not sure the options for Dual Purpose in both those but to my mind a good lead/acid like Crown will serve better in a 24V system then AGM.

4) Is your truck JDM all 24V or Cdn spec with the 12V headlights. If 12V headlights, have they been mucked with at all?

5) 24V is spec'd for NATO in cold climates. Much more efficient. Try and find the cause of the imbalance, rather then rewiring to 12V.

6) Some folks have run a converter/load balancer with success. CE Series Charge Equaliser - REDARC
Solar Converters use to make a 20amp converter/balancer and I have one in my BJ42 and BJ74 with success. Not sure if they still do.

7) And once again...best option is to find the cause of the imbalance and fix that.

hth's
gb

 

[Mr Tibbs]

Did this get resolved??

 

[markthemenace]

Or remove the Centre tap and make it a much simpler 23v system complete with 24v headlights.


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