24v 3 way fridge - does it exist?

guyd

Guest
Very happy with our last setup - in a 12v van - with the std 3 way setup - 12 when driving (12v supply via relay energised by alternator output) gas when stationary, 240 when at a camp site when the wife decides to have a shower and not smell like a dozen amazonian warriors.... ;)

New beasty is 24v - and without using piles of 24-12 droppers - which are inefficient (arnt they? Dont they draw current continuously?) I have looked for a 24v fridge - but to no avail.

Or am I missing something?

I have to have a 24-12 dropper - as I am putting in 12v leccy seats and a 12v amp / stereo (amp needed as a 5.9 litre diesel isnt quiet.....)

Guy
 
Is there no room to put in another Alternator. It has been done before to get extra 12 volt charge into batteries. Might be worth looking at.
 
maingate said:
Is there no room to put in another Alternator. It has been done before to get extra 12 volt charge into batteries. Might be worth looking at.
Click to expand...

oh yes - theres plenty of room - even a 12v battery space with chunky wires running up to the (soon to be sold on fleabay) 6kva generator.

But I was trying to avoid two battery banks.
 
my research has not shown much in the way of 24v 3 way fridges...

Any reason why I cant just use another dropper for the fridge? Absobtion fridges dont have much of a start up kick (like compressor). Is this the 'normal' solution for 24v vehicles?
 
With the cost of a 24V to 12V stepdown transformer being neglible nowadays, just fit one of a suitable wattage for the fridge - I think less than 150W in most cases - but look at the fridge specs for details. Most lorry accessory outfits will sell a transformer.

Also have a look at your vehicle's wiring diagram - its not unheard of for the cig lighter socket to be 12V in a lot of commercial vehicles which will mean the wiring has already been done and you can just tap into the cig lighter to power the fridge.
 
guyd said:
Very happy with our last setup - in a 12v van - with the std 3 way setup - 12 when driving (12v supply via relay energised by alternator output) gas when stationary, 240 when at a camp site when the wife decides to have a shower and not smell like a dozen amazonian warriors.... ;)

New beasty is 24v - and without using piles of 24-12 droppers - which are inefficient (arnt they? Dont they draw current continuously?) I have looked for a 24v fridge - but to no avail.

Or am I missing something?

I have to have a 24-12 dropper - as I am putting in 12v leccy seats and a 12v amp / stereo (amp needed as a 5.9 litre diesel isnt quiet.....)

Guy
Click to expand...

Hi,
Have you thought about using a seperate live feed from just one of your two 12v batteries and using a 24v relay to energise the 12v circuit when required for the three way fridge (ie 24v for the low tension side via D+ terminal from the alternator and the seperate 12v feed for the high tension side of the relay to the fridge)
Regards,
Wanderer
 
Our van is 24v (Merc 709D) & we use droppers for 12v circuit with a separate dropper for our Dometic fridge/freezer. The dropper is positioned close to the fridge wired in the 'usual' way & having just returned from a 4 week trip to france can say that the system works really well.
The main dropper is a 30amp whilst the fridge dropper is a sealed 15amp, both from ebay, total cost £32.
 
The Grand Wanderer said:
Hi,
Have you thought about using a seperate live feed from just one of your two 12v batteries and using a 24v relay to energise the 12v circuit when required for the three way fridge (ie 24v for the low tension side via D+ terminal from the alternator and the seperate 12v feed for the high tension side of the relay to the fridge)
Regards,
Wanderer
Click to expand...

nope - cos thats how to trash your battery bank. If you load one battery more than the other, then they become unbalanced, and die relativly swiftly. A subject I know about from the renewable energy world.

I did have a look under the engine last night, and theres a nice bracket for another alternator and a spare groove on the crank pulley - so the 12v bank might be worth considering.
 
guyd said:
I did have a look under the engine last night, and theres a nice bracket for another alternator and a spare groove on the crank pulley - so the 12v bank might be worth considering.
Click to expand...

Thats a lot of trouble to fix a small problem. Plus unless you have a spare alternator, belt and brackets it will cost 10 times more than a step down.
 
12v from 24 smoke and mirrors

You are spot on about it being bad practice to tap 12 v from one battery in a 24v set up.
I have however had to use these doohikkys a couple of times in the past ,

http://www.durite.co.uk/pdf/5/05.17 equipment and accessories - split charger.pdf


and they did work very well as long as you remember 20 amps is the max output given.
If as you say you do have several 12 volt requirements then really a separate 12v alternator/bat set up is the only sensible way to go.
24v to 12 droppers are available with very high outputs the limit really is only the price you wish to pay and of course this is reflected in the price , I build buses for american markets where all exterior lighting must be 12 volt by law and this is achieved by the use of one large voltage dropper!!!.

Good luck
John
 
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