Installing the 24 volt to 12 volt Converter
The new off grid system which we now have in position creates 24 volts DC, which in turn visits the inverter and it is transformed into 240 volts AC, therefore it can power most of the 240 volt material inside your home.
But, you can find elements of the old 12 volt system nevertheless in use, including all of the lights, a little pump and a few other equipment.
as opposed to get and change every thing, i desired to help keep it running as it absolutely was, also one bank of batteries continues to be working and I also like to ensure that it stays running so long as I’m able to.
The solution to my prayers ended up being a little DC to DC converter (ie 24 volt to 12 volt converter), which may allow me to run the old material regarding the system that is new. We still wished to manage to run the old material on the old lead acid battery bank if We necessary to. Getting the lights operating on the old system proved become specially handy whenever I had been bedding the brand new system straight down. From time to time I would personally get things incorrect, over extend the brand new system so that the inverter turn off and now we destroyed energy. If this occurred during the night, we might have forfeit the lights aswell but since they remained operating regarding the old system, i possibly could at the very least see to work through exactly what I’d done wrong with all the brand new system.
If i desired to help keep running both systems (12 volt DC for lights and 24 volt DC – 240 volts AC for the rest) I required a way to modify involving the two, and also the easiest method would be to use a battery pack isolator switch. They are utilized in 4WDs and RVs that have a battery pack to operate devices in addition to a battery pack to start out the car. The battery pack isolator switch lets you draw current from either or both batteries in order that if need be, you are able to separate the battery that is staring the device and give a wide berth to flattening it, thus stranding yourself call at the bush someplace.
The image within my brain of the battery pack isolator switch had been a rotary switch that would use the negative and positive cables through the 24 volt system (through the converter to 12 volt), the negative and positive through the initial 12 volt system in addition to positive and negative through the household circuit and I also could just alter among them. Whenever I got your hands on the switch it just had space for 3 cables – battery pack 1, battery pack 2 additionally the typical cable. It turns out I had to do something else with the negative wires of each circuit that it only switches the positive wires and.
It dawned on me personally that the way to run it had been to assemble all 3 negative cables and run them up to a basic website link so that they had been linked.
You learn one thing brand new each and every day so when we went along to my regional electrician supply spot i came across they made basic links with varying opening size and I also managed to get one because of the size which will simply take the (quite dense) 12 volt cables effortlessly.
Therefore to create all this work up, we went wires through the negative and positive terminals of my 24 volt battery pack bank to your input side associated with the 24v to 12v converter. When I went a poor cable through the production associated with the converter to your link that is neutral. We took the wire that is negative ran through the 12 volt batteries towards the negative supply point for your house circuits, cut it by 50 percent and went both ends to the basic link, hence doing the negative part of this circuit.
To perform things I became popular the rear of battery pack isolator switch, revealing 3 threaded terminals fitted with a nut and lock washer which accepted spade or band terminals. We went a cable through the positive terminal associated with converter to your “1” terminal regarding the switch after which broke the wire that is positive the 12 volt batteries into the positive supply point for your house circuits, soldered on a few ring terminals and then connected the battery part to your “2” terminal therefore the household supply part of this cable to your “C” (or “common”) terminal.
This means whenever switch had been looked to “1” the illumination ended up being running on the 12 volt system so when it absolutely was looked to “2” it had been run on the latest 24 volt system through the 24 volt to 12 volt 
converter. (clearly if the switch had been looked to “1 + 2” it might draw energy from both systems).
Now the acid test! Would everything work when switched into the system that is new?
Fortunately it did, working well whenever switched to either the old 12v or the brand new 24v to 12v part. Additionally, up to now, operating the lights straight from the system generally seems to work nicely and so they don’t eat that much energy in addition to everything we had been currently using. The machine is currently quite versatile, permitting me personally to operate the lights on either the old or brand new system, as needed.
If you would like a broad breakdown of our off-grid adventure, it might be discovered right here