32 volt system

Yeah, but you'd have to have a totally seperate bank of batteries and battery charger for the 24 volt bank. The 12 volt is usually achieved by having a generator designed to use 12 volts for starting, and you can run your electronics off of that, and it too needs it's own battery charger. I agree with Kiwi, if you're going to repower ditch the 32 volt system, and switch your engine and house batteries over to 24 volts as well as all of your systems. You shouldnt have too many systems to convert. You can also use like a Newmar transformer for different voltage on small items but they don't work as well as batteries at that voltage.

32 V systems

Here in the PNW 32 v is still available for parts, starters, (you can use 24 v starters on 32v ok).
alternators etc, etc...my 70 ft Stephens is mostly 32 v and so far all is well.

If you do change down, re wire all the new voltage circuits.

32 volts

I know this is an old post and I generally agree with the idea of 24 volts. Before you start chucking your old wire (and there will be lots of it). Check the sizes already installed. My old Chris w/a 32 volt system (DD diesel's) used the same wiring as the 12 volt gas engime models being built in the same plant. Result was much heavier gauge wire than I need for 32v, but perfect for 12v.
e.g. My 32 volt cabin lights run through #10 wire.

32v HouseSystem

I have 12v, 32v, 110v & 220v on my 72' S&S that all keep me very busy.... There are 16-2v batt's that make up the 32v system with a combination of 32-12v inverters to run everything as well as a Heart Interface control panel and Link-10 ga. to work the main Inverter Charger and monitor the 32v battery bank. Last week the 32v bank would charge but than drop to 10v or less as soon as charge was turned off, I isolated each battery and load tested, I found that 6 of the 16 tested bad.... I'm thinking that the other batt's where making up for the bad ones ?? I am trying to decide if I should switch to 4-8v batt's and do away with the 16-2v ones I have now. My main question is will these 8v batts have the same longevity and rechargeability as the others ?? I know the AH is much higher on the 2v batt's I have now but they are not easy to find. If anyone has input on this, I would like to hear from you...One day I will upgrade to 24v system but it is to costly at the moment with having to replace all the inverters, batts and motors that use the 32v. Let me also add that i'm in the Caribbean at the moment and will most likely have to order anything I need unless I can locate somewhere in Puerto Rico..... Thanks in advance for any help on this subject!!

The 2v batt's are atleast 10 to 15yrs old maybe more, I havn't been able to find out exactly... The single Yanmar is already seperated out and runs on 12v with a extra 32v alternator to charge sytem with engine while underway, so that's not an issue, I just didn't want to have a prob with the rechargeability since there is so much less lead in the 8v setup than the 2v and AH diff... the 2v batt's we have now don't have a name on them but are 10 x 6.5 x 15.5 and 120lbs each. If you think the 8v will do the same job than that will save me lots of wieght, headaches and time replacing the 2v.....

each 2v has 12oo AH @ 20hrs and the biggest 8v is 390 ah @ 20hs so I deff gonna lose alot.. I usually charge 32v when link10 ga. gets to -350ah so if that is the case I should brake even on the 8v setup ... does that sound right ????

the batts are located in center of galley, midship so that should be no prob with listing..... I will still have 16 batts on board but with less weight. I guess I'll have to make up my mind on getting the six new 2v batt's or all new 8v, guess it will depend on which ones i can find and how much $??? Thank you very much for your help and it has cleared up alot of my questions !!

32 v batteries

You sound like you want to replace with what you're used to, because you're used to the capacity and it works, The Rolls battery site has all kinds of offerings including batteries that can more-or-less be disassembled into individual cells. They have a nice configurator program. http://www.rollsbattery.com/
Also read up on what's going on in the solar area. These non-boaters have a very active and sophisticated handle on what works and what doesn't. Of course, weight is not their concern so much.
I have a mix of systems and it works fine. I use T105's for conveniences like lights and electronics and my faithful 32 v system runs on the Exides mentioned above. Some might consider them a little underpowered, but you can always buy more and just about any auto supply dealer can get them for you quickly.
I also have a Newmar 32 to 12 vdc converter... more for back-up than any necessity. I run it through a 200 amp a-b switch.

Slightly off topic, but thanks Pascal for your idea of running the old school charger on a clock-timer. My 40 year old charger still works and shuts down when supposed to, but I know I won't boil them dry using the timer.

I wouldn't even recommend changing one battery in a bank that is a year or two old. I did that once and had one changed under warranty in a bank, it had the same battery charger for both starting banks. The drainage from the new one to the old one caused the charger to go into charge mode, when the engine was started the next day the batteries blew apart into a bunch of pieces. Not good......From now on, I have always changed the entire bank.

Thanks for input, I will deff replace all bettery's in the bank... with wich setup I'm not sure yet. Got alot of pro's & con's to look at

You might want to play with that relationship for a bit.

I remember from waaaayyyy back, that E=IR and Watts = IV, which would suggest if voltage goes up, then either the Watts go up or the current goes down.

VxA=W Watts is what your gear uses to do work, so so as long as the job requirements are the same it will stay the same. So, when you reduce voltage, you need to increase amperage to do the same job. When you increase amperage you need to increase your wire gauges.

I have a 1980 Bert SF that came with 32 volt DC systems. I also installed a 12V stud in my DC panel and I have been slowly changing all my DC systems to 12V by changing the lead to the breaker from the 32V post to the 12V post and then changing the fixture (pumps etc.) It is just so much less brain damage to get the 12V stuff. I will leave the engine start system and some custom lighting 32 volt for the time being. One thing that really needs to become 12V are the engine gagues because there are no 32V gagues. I guess will just put the gagues on a separate switch from the start/run switches.