"Brandon K." <c322348@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Seriously though, I've seen more HMV's butchered by
> owners doing poorly done 12 volt conversions to 6 volt
> vehicles and 12 volt conversions to 24 volt vehicles.
[...]
> I suggest that if you restore the factory
> system to good operating condition you will be
> extremely reliable. Maybe not as reliable as a Y2K
> Honda, but don't forget you are driving a 50 year old
> truck.
Excellent posting, Brandon!
Another consideration is that a 24V system will only require half as
much current to deliver a given mount of cranking power compared to an
equivalent 12V system. Thus, there will be half as much voltage drop
in the wiring during starting, and I'd guess that could make a
difference in an area with a cold climate. Also, many MV's have their
batteries mounted a lot farther away from the engine than common civvy
vehicles. That's good for the batteries, but it also means that
there's more cable, and thus more voltage drop, between the batteries
and starter. A 24V system probably helps out there, too.
I've noticed that Brandon's WWII trucks with 6V systems sound like
they crank the engine much more slowly than I'm used to in 12V civvy
cars (though they still start just fine... they were designed to crank
that slowly), and most of my 24V trucks (including my HMMWV, my Gama
Goat, and one of my deuces) seem to start almost instantly. The only
drawbacks I see with a 24V system are the inability to (safely) trade
jump-starts with common civilian cars and light trucks, the inability
to run 12V accessories safely without a voltage converter or load
balancer (unless you have a vehicle like the CUCV, which charges each
battery independently and was designed to have significant loads
applied to the lower battery without causing damage), and the
unavailability of most parts at the local Pep Boys. Surplus parts are
generally easy to order, though, and small 24V bulbs are just as easy
to mail-order as their 12V counterparts. In fact, almost all of the
bulbs in my M-series trucks (except for the headlamps and the special
blackout drive bulb on my deuces) are inexpensive and easy to order
from places like Bulb Direct (www.bulbdirect.com). Not being able to
run 12V accessories is no big deal, either; you won't be able to hear
that CD player or cell phone over the engine and gear noise, anyway.
:-)
If you can live with those minor drawbacks, a 24V system is nice to
have. I suggest restoring the vehicle to its correct and original 24V
system.
> The old generator and regulator were still in the back of the truck
> when I bought it. He never did get it running... Anyone want to buy
> an alternator?
My alternatorless Gama Goat had a civvy car alternator and cheesy
bracket sitting in the passenger seat footwell when I got it. It's too
bad that the original alternator was missing, but it's a common 60A
alternator, and was easy to find (and luckily, the custom pulley
happened to be available as NOS). It's also too bad that the special
alternator bracket was missing, but I might finally have a lead on one
of those. Luckily, that Detroit Diesel starts very easily and doesn't
need any electrical power to run, so the previous owners never
bothered to finish the conversion! The electrical system appeared to
be intact other than the missing alternator, a couple of missing
tail-lights (also easy to find) and a missing horn button (the old
style that tended to pop off just like mine did... and the upgrade kit
is another fairly common item, as it turns out).
I guess Brandon and I both got off easy because the previous owners'
ignorance kept them from getting around to finishing their hack jobs!
:-)
P.S.: I'm an electrical engineer, so I tend to be a lot more picky
about my trucks' electrical systems than other items, like paint,
dents, dirt, oil leaks... ;-)
-- Mark J. Blair, KE6MYK <mblair1@home.net> PGP 2.6.2 public key available from http://www.keyserver.net/ Web page: http://www.qsl.net/ke6myk/ DO NOT SEND ANY UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL TO THIS SITE PLEASE SEND PLAIN ASCII TEXT ONLY -- NO HTML OR QUOTED-PRINTABLE
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