| Author | Message | ||
| pwagg
Rating: |
need to know how to convert 24 volt system to 12 volts for my tow vehicle | ||
| John that newguy Rating: N/A |
You're going to get a bunch of great suggestions. I can 'feel' it. I'm going to toss my simple idea to you. There's probably better ways, but I'm a simple guy that's always searching for the simplest way to do things. WalMart (or any auto supply) - buy 4 12v Bulbs and sockets for: 1- Parking 1- Brakes 1- Right turn signal 1- Left turn signal Radio shack for a construction box to fit 4 bulb sockets mounted in one row and rubber grommets to secure your cable in and out. Preferably at the bus end of your tow harness (cable), wire each 12v bulb in series with each of the bulb (circuits) you're going to be illuminating. When you step on the brake, the lead carrying 24v from the bus brake lights will pass through the 12v bulb in your box, and present 12v to the 12v brake lamps. Turns and parking do the same. Mount the box where you can see it from the driver's seat (mirror), and you have a positive indicator of the towed vehicles' light operation. | ||
| bruce king
Rating: N/A |
That's a good suggestion, but 12v lights are pretty darned bright. What about an LED and resistor as discussed in the other threads? Brightness is a problem if it's mounted anywhere the driver can see it. I wouldn't want a non-dimmable light to be around where it could screw up my night vision when driving. | ||
| Jim Stewart (H3jim)
Rating: N/A |
One of the surest ways is to use 24v relay's and a separately fused 12 v input. Hook the actuating circuit of each relay to the 24 volt lights, and the 12v to the output. When the lights come on, say the brake light, it turns on the relay, and the 12v flows through the relay and powers whatever you have hooked up to it, in this case your towed lights. Several advantages. If you get shorts in the towed, it does not take out your bus lights. The 12v is fused, so it merely pops the fuse, and does no other damage. The relays do not overload your lighting circuits the way adding additional bulbs might. Simple, isolated, reliable. You will need separate relays for each circuit, left turn, right turn, running and stop. Make a box that you mount in the rear to house the relays, connect to the bus lights, and put a connector for the towed and you are in business. | ||
| frank-id Rating: N/A |
When pulling my 12 volt pickup truck with a 24 volt bus the hookup was easy and simple. The bus and truck both used seperate turn and brake lites. Some older trucks used the brake lite for rear turn signals. I got 4 bosche small cube relays from a stereo store that are 12 volt and rated 30 amps. The truck had the relays mounted on a piece of formica and located near truck battery. The power for the relays was from a fused battery connection. When each relay was operated, the each lite would illuminate. The fused bus lites were connected to each relay coil as required. I dragged that truck around for 3 years with zero proplems. The connection between bus and truck was a 6 wire plastic molded polorized cheap plug also know as a Ford plug, easily available at most auto parts stores. After changing to a 12 volt bus, wiring remained unchanged. Yep, same relays. Frank | ||
| Craig Smith (Craigs)
Rating: N/A |
I added sockets inside the tail lights and used 24V 1157 equivalent bulbs, 1662 I believe. Craig S | ||
| James Maxwell (Jmaxwell)
Rating: N/A |
Use a light-bar on the towed w/24 volt bulbs. May want to tow something else sometime; with this u have the lights. I know several that use the relay method and the led/resistor setup sounds good. The separate turns on a bus is generally in conflict w/towed cars/pu's so separate turns on the towed are often called for and I have yet to find one of these 5-4 wire diode adapters that hold up or don't "leak", including the 1 I fab'ed myself | ||
| Rick 74 MC8 Rating: N/A |
4 24 volt cube relay wired like this relay 1 (running lights) bus tail lights to coil n/o to running lights on trailer common to 12 volt sorce n/c not used relay 2 (brake lights) bus brake lights to coil n/c to n/o relay 3 and 4 n/o to n/c relay 3 and 4 common to 12 volt sorce relay 3 (left turn & Brake) bus left turn to coil common to (combined) left turn and brake light on trailer relay 4 (right turn & brake) bus right turn to coil common to (combined) right turn and brake on trailer the leftover coil on all relays to ground you now have a common treiler lighting config for any thing you want to pull for about $20.00 Bucks Rick 74 MC8 | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
Rating: N/A |
Here's a schematic for the relay solution: http://odyssey.smugmug.com/gallery/131040 Select "original size" for the best view or printout. -Sean |
