Using a 24 volt genset in a 12 volt system

[flopster]

Hello, I think I made a big mistake and bought a used 24volt Fischer Panda 4000 watt genset. This alone is not such a big deal if I had a 24 volt system as the genset is practically new and I did get it for a great price. Unfortunately I have a complete 12 volt system including 12 volt wind charger and solar panels. Everything else is 12 volt as well including a Xantrex SW3000 inverter/charger. I have 4x6volt house batteries and 2 12 volt starting batteries.
Now question, can I, or how do I incorporate this into my system. Reselling is really not an option as I will lose significant bucks and paid over 1000$ shipping.
So I hope there is a reasonable fix to incorporate this into my system. I have been looking at some high current 700watt DC DC converters. Can I use a couple of those to take care of conversion into 12 volts, or is there bigger converters available??
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

flopster

[Florida Mike]

It has a voltage regulator built into it someplace. I have no knowledge of Fischer Panda 4000 watt genset, but suspect that it has the same physical regulator whether it is 12 V or 24 V. You most probably will lose amperage output but it can be done one way or another. Have you contacted Fischer Panda, about this? The very worst case scenario you could slow the engine down and monitor voltage by hand, a real pain in the. Hopefully someone with more experience with Fischer Panda, will chip in. That’s my two cents, Mike.

[glenn.225]

flopster


It should be possible to wire your house bank in series/parallel. It has to be configured so you charge the banks at 24V and draw power at 12V. Many military vehicles were done this way, using four 12 V batteries supplying 12 and 24 Volt. You have to keep an eye on your batteries as one bad one can hurt the others. I am not sure how your other charge controllers will react but they should just sense battery voltage and operate as normal. Also there are starting bank chargers that will charge off the house bank. How do you intend to use the generator, manually or Auto-start? You can get adjustable auto-starts so you can have it start at, say 80% state of charge and let wind/solar do the rest.

And if that doesn't work for you I'll be driving down late July and could take it off your hands for a small fee.