How do I get 24 V for my heater?

[polkaking27]

Unfortunately I purchased the 24 volt version of the heatercraft heater and I'm trying to figure out how to get the correct voltage to the heater. I currently run 2 batteries and know that I can wire them in series to get 24 v, but I don't want to wire the entire system to 24 v. Is there a way to pull power off of each battery and diode isolate so I can get 24 volts to my heater yet leave the rest of my system unaffected?

Any ideas or diagrams would be helpful. I'm sure it can be done, I'm just not too familiar with increasing voltages.

THanks

[DanielC]

Contact Heatercraft. See if they will change your 24 volt motor for a 12 volt one.

[polkaking27]

Contact Heatercraft. See if they will change your 24 volt motor for a 12 volt one.

That was the first thing I thought of. Although I bought the heater brand new, still wrapped in its packaging, I got it off of ebay. I have a feeling heatercraft won't exchange something from there. I still plan on asking, but assuming they won't do it I want to be prepared.

[axeman]

Does the same eBay seller sell the 12 volt one by chance? If so, that's worth a shot to try to get it exchanged...

[shawndoggy]

it'll still work, just won't blow as hard.

http://www.heatercraft.com/300h-400h-blower/

[Mark56]

You will need a step up transformer to convert 12v to 24v pretty cheap on eBay

[AirTool]

I currently run 2 batteries and know that I can wire them in series to get 24 v, but I don't want to wire the entire system to 24 v. Is there a way to pull power off of each battery and diode isolate so I can get 24 volts to my heater yet leave the rest of my system unaffected?

Trying to stick with your question, I'm thinking no but going to sleep on this.

[shawndoggy]

great call Mark56!

looks like a step up of questionable origin is still $75 tho, versus the "right" part and potential for resale of the 24v blower for $140.

20a capable step up aint cheap.

(i bought one of the same heaters on ebay... too cheap to ignore)

[scottb7]

Which one are you buying on ebay that is so cheap you can't ignore? Now, you got me curious?

This one seems like a good deal with 3 outlets, if it would work...http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Rhino...37d7bf&vxp=mtr

Jeez, people are paying a lot more for just seadek arent they?

The whole thing is like under $500 on nautique parts.

http://www.nautiqueparts.com/heaters...mpletekit.aspx

[polkaking27]

Thanks for the responses guys. Before i started this thread I looked into the step up transformers and I couldn't find one that could handle the blowers amperage, at a decent price. I know that I can wire the 2 batteries in series to get 24 volts, i just didn't know if it would short something out if I didn't diode isolate it some how.

Anyway, I talked to Josh over at Heatercraft and he gave me a couple ideas. He said the 24 volt blower has a much longer continuous duty cycle and will last 20% longer than the 12 volt version. He told me how I could try to wire it to see if it would work. He also offered to exchange the 24V blower for a 12V blower for me. What a great company, they are willing to do whatever it takes to make it work for a customer!

I'm going to try and wire the batteries to get my 24 volts and see what happens.

Shawndoggy- what are you doing to get your heater to work?

[shawndoggy]

I'm just wiring mine up to 12v. I did a test on my batteries (pulled from boat for the winter) in the garage, and it seemed to blow pretty hard. I looked at the manual for the 3 position heater switch and it looked like on the 12v version that medium was a little over half voltage, so I'm figuring that running at 14.4 on the 24v heater on the red wire will be about the same in our boat. Guess I'll find out when I actually get everything hooked up in the next couple weeks.

In my experience, it's not how hard the fan blows per se as it is how hot the water is running through the core.

In that respect this year I'm going to run a 12v circulation pump on the hot water line to keep the hot water flowing. I'm also daisy chaining this new core to an existing 2 vent heater that I had from the factory. so I'll have five vents, two cores, and a circ pump. Wish me luck on getting all that working

I'm certainly NOT going to try to simultaneously wire my batteries as 12 and 24v just to get the fan to blow a little harder. Seems like a good way to fry ecm, perfect pass, etc, just to get a little more airflow from the heater.

[polkaking27]

thats a valid point shawndoggy, maybe I'll just opt for the 12v version so I don't accidentally fry something I don't want to replace. Good luck with everything

[Mikeski]

You will need a step up transformer to convert 12v to 24v pretty cheap on eBay

Nope, step-up transformers only work for alternating current (A/C) they do not work on the direct current (D/C) electrical systems in our boats. You can do it with power electronic converters incorrectly labeled as step up transformers but I would not go that route.

As for wiring the batteries for 24V, you can only do that if you completely dedicate one of the 2 batteries to the 24V system, and you will have charging issues if you did that anyway. There are ways to do it with diode bridges and switching circuits but it will be cheaper to just buy the 12v blower motor or run the 24v motor at a reduced voltage.

[shawndoggy]

as a follow up, the three vent core with the 24v blower works fine.