Beginners Help

[BreckBJ44]

I have a 24V truck and am going to take it on a 6 week trip through the Pacific NW. I will be buying an Engel fridge as the last week long trip I took killed me with Ice and Sog in my cooler. Ick!

So, my questions are simple.... I think. I know the Engel can handle 24V and for the time being I don't have an issue with using this as (If I know what I am talking about - not likely) the amp draw should be less on a 24V power source. Eventually I am going to install a separate 12v alt and battery to run accesories. I want to install a cig lighter socket for the back of the rig and run a fused line and ground to the 24v. Will all of the sweet 12v sockets I've seen here on this board work or do I need a separate type? I assume that they will work as long as the source is 24v and has a proper fuse, and the equipment plugged in is 24v compatible...

Any info is greatly appreciated as I hate fires... especially inside things!

-Kraig

[RobinP]

Yes, any decent 12V accessory plug will work fine, wired up with 24V power supply. I suggest keeping the 24V power supply for the fridge though, it will be more efficient than the 12V system.

I have done a similar system, separating my 24 volt system to run accessories. It can get expensive - here's how I did it:

2-12V batteries in series for the starting system.

2 more 12V batteries in series for the aux system.

1 24V alternator with a charge relay to keep the systems electrically isolated when not charging and to connect them during charging.

You then take a 12 volt tap from the low side aux battery WITH a 24-12 V charge equalizer to keep the batteries in balance, OR you can take a 24 volt tap from high side aux battery WITH a 24-12 V step down transformer. The losses through the equalizer/transformer in both cases are about the same, however the equalizer will do double duty keeping the batteries in balance regardless of other loads.

With this system you get a completely isolated auxilary power system (in my opinion necessary if you have a fridge that will run for long periods while parked), and only one charging system.

But of course you have 4 batteries under the hood which takes space, are heavy, and if you get decent batteries, expensive.

My components are:
- 2 red top optima starting batteries
- 1 24 volt toyota landcruiser alternator
- 2 deka 55 amphour @ 20 hour AGM aux batteries
- 1 Solar Converters 24-12Volt 10/20Amp charge equalizer
- 1 Blue Sea Systems SI Series Automatic charge relay (works @ 24 Volts)

Hope this helps.

[BreckBJ44]

I was actually trying to aviod using a converter on this system. I already have a 12v alternator and was going to use it for a second circuit. One idea I had was to use both the 12v and 24v for the engel as needed (depending on time of use between driving and recharge).

One thing is that with a 12v and 24v system running I was going to directly ground to battery from the second fuse panel and return ground all of the accessories.

Any ideas?

Thanks for the help!

[Wagontrain]

I bought an ARB fridge a couple of months ago, I believe this is a re-badged Engel. When I tried to use the supplied 12V cigarette adapter in my 24V lighter socket the fridge didn't start. If I plugged the supplied 12V cigarette adapter into a 12 socket it worked fine. I believe there is some circuitry in the adapter that didn't like 24V. I ended up hardwiring the fridge straight to the battery (24V) with a simple two prong plug. I kept the 12V plug intact for use in another vehicle.
WT