going from 32 to 12v is one big drop... you're going to be pulling TREE TIMES the amps thru your wiring, i hope for you neighbors sake that Bertram oversized the wires back then... in all the years i've owned my 32v Hatterasi havent' had too many issues getting 32v items.
32 to 12? 32vdc to 12vdc may be a pretty large jump. The ole Bertram wires are big and heavy (most tined) but they may still be a bit thin to handle the extra current to keep 12vdc up. Keep in mind, more current flowing thru old crimps also. Our Bert came with mechanical engine gages. I thought I would be converting to 12vdc gages and even picked up some dc to dc converters. I discovered again, to leave a good thing alone. Simple, cheap, reliable; who can kick a good thing. I'm sure a lot of folks out there have a whole bunch of different ideas on this. Threads like this are a great way for these minds to come together. I look forward to more thoughts. ,Ralph
Hello, With my recent purchase of a 1982, 46.6 Motor Yacht Bertram with 8V-92 series 570 HP Detroit Diesel Engines. I have dove in deep, to realise that changing to 24v would be the best. I ran a new wire loom up to the pilot house bridge and flybridge for 12v this week (removing old wires and install new proper gauge wires). All new Hella Marine LED Nav Lights etc. I now want to install Tecma Silence Plus Heads. They do not come in 32v !!! Would anyone have links to suppliers for the 8V-92TI engines ? Alan
Hi, Were your engines customised by anyone such as Johnston Towers? I was looking for some pistons and liners a few years ago for a friend and managed to get them for a boat in NJ from Transmissions and Diesels in AKL New Zealand. 92 Parts are not as readily available as they once were, stay well away from Reliabuilt injectors if you can, they are generally not as good as the original ones by a long shot.
Reliabilt injectors.....or as good as the old and used ones you took out. They went through a phase around 2006-2010 were they were really bad. I had a rebuild done on a 12v71 TI, and at 150hrs and 4 months later, 5 of the 12 injectors were bad. One had split a tip and washed a liner out as well. Their cylinder heads are not great either. I hear the reliabilt injectors have gotten much better as of the last 2 years.......
Hello, To the best of my knowledge, all maintenance on my Bertram has been done here in Hong Kong since it was shipped here from the factory in early 1982. Locally I have found 24v alternators that I am told will work, but they are some China made off-brand. I am not comfortable with that. I have not been able to find any solenoids or even complete starters that are 24v, only original 32v that have been removed from a Hatteras. Alan
It's possible to have your 32 volt starters and alternators rebuilt to 24 volts by changing the windings and voltage regulators on them, I believe.
Hello, That is an interesting concept. I know of a place locally that may be able to do that ! Great information ! Thanks AGAIN !!! Alan
Hi, Alan, You should be able to get any number of 24V Delco starters off land based equipment as 99% of it will have been 24V. Same goes for the alternator no special requirements of you don't have gas engines in the same space.
The 32vdc alternators already have the heavy stator, you just need the 24vdc regulator. I think it's the same for the starter motors, new (or modified) fields and solenoids. Earlier, you mentioned new 12vdc wire installed. New nav lights and asking about a new head. Are these options available in 24vdc? Electric heads and treatment system could use the lil extra help from 24vdc over 12. Forward overhead cabin lights, fans, blowers, pumps may need to go to 24vdc or rewiring new leads to them is going to be a real challenge. The less the voltage, the larger the wire size you are going to need for increased current requirements. As mentioned earlier; 32 to 12vdc is a very big jump.
Hello, The generator battery bank is two 12v 200Ah in parallel. This bank also runs the new Simrad NSS12, NSS8, autopilot, etc that I have just purchased for the flybridge and pilot house bridge. Those are the wires I have installed this last week. The Hella Marine LED NAV lights are 12 or 24 volt. Wires are installed to carry the current if I should use 12v or 24v. Everything that can be run on 24v will be 24v !!! Water pumps, heads, bilge pumps, etc. The interior lighting will be 24v as I will have an added 24v house bank that has the 4kw inverter and 1,200w of solar panels. Would like the solar to also keep the engine banks topped up as well. Alan
Happy New Year !!! I will be keeping my 32v banks for a while, So I want to have a factory here make me two chargers.. I would highly respect the advise from those experienced with 32v to let me know if my calculations are correct, so the factory can have the right algorithms for the charging stages. I don't want to boil the new batteries !!! Bulk = ?? Absorb Voltage = 37.8 Float Voltage = 35.7 What would the Bulk voltage be ??? I am not able to find any specifications to the voltage of the Bulk stage or the time allowed for that stage. Thanks, Alan
I'm curous, where'd you get that from? Both NewMar, and Sentry (which I have) show 37.5-37.8. The NewMar being a three stage "smart" charger.
NewMar 38.8 http://www.newmarpower.com/pdf/Manual-PT-24-45F,24-95F,32-30.pdf PowerStream 38.4 32 volt lead acid battery chargers heavy duty industrial (41 VDC, 7.5 amps and 16.5 amps) Analytic 38.4 Analytic 7.5A, 32 Volt, 110 Vac, 60 Hz, 3 Bank, AC Battery Charger BCA310-110-32 MajorPower 38.4 MajorBCA 32 Volt Marine Battery Chargers AND, been there, done that, fried a few batteries, alternators & T shirts. I'm a fan of 32 (&48) Vdc systems and have to fix what can not be replaced. What I start my 32Vdc battery banks at is a different story.
Convert directly to 12 V and save all the headache the only current issues are for your starters and the distance from the battery to your engine is not far and it’s not that expensive. As far as losses in the wire is not enough to worry about. You’ll be a lot happier in the long run.
This is bad advice. Most of the time the wiring is large enough to convert from 32 volts to 24 volts. BUT, almost always not large enough to convert from 32 volts to 12 volts.
Johnjj Welcome to YF. Look forward to your (correct) comments in the future. However, Lots of folks here have been in the marine service business here for a long time. As a electronics graduate from cave man school, I studied about resistance, voltage, current, inductance, lines of flux and lots of other atomic theory rules that apply to wire size per voltage that have and will always apply to electrical systems. Been there & done that have already been re-learned thru the school of hard knocks many a time for many of us growing up even though we already knew of these rules. We still press the envelopes and have to remind ourselves you can only get so much mud thru a straw, without the straw failing. My wife and I have been aboard our 41 year old, 32Vdc Bertram MY for 16 years now. We will probably have our Viking funeral aboard also and then, will still be a 32Vdc boat. Any time you would like to learn about 32 or 48Vdc systems, just ask Yacht Forums. Oh, Another topic most of have learned thru the years; Never kick a sleeping dawg!!
Since the starters are the largest draw..... would switching to air starters make sense? Then down the rest to 24V (Not 12 Jhnjj, BAD idea) and have smaller battery banks. Save some weight in the process. Most boats already have a compressor on board. Not sure how large the bottle would need to be. I know they make air starters for the DD's.
