|
|
Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, June 22, 2008 at 18:15:36 :
I'm starting on the electrical system of my ambulance and am a little confused by the starter. The truck came with a very minimal 12 volt electrical system, pretty much just ignition and lights. The alternator and starter were civilianized but it had the military 24 volt ignition. It has a 6 volt bendix-type starter on it, which of course worked fine on 12 volt. The previous owner had mounted a starter relay over the hole where the starter pedal normally goes. I don't think I dare run a 6 volt starter on 24 volts. In one of the boxes in the back of the truck there was a 24 volt starter. It didn't work, but some minor thing was wrong with it (which I've forgotten since it was last summer) and I quickly got it working.
My dilemma is this. The 24 volt starter is a bendix type, so it needs a starter relay. I suspect a 12 volt relay would burn up quickly with 4x the power going to its coil, since they're only designed for intermittent use even on the right voltage. Also, the TM shows nothing about an electrically-actuated (bendix or solenoid type) starter on any M37 variant. So, would it be totally "incorrect" to put a bendix type starter on this truck. I don't plan to make the system totally authentic anyway since I'm using a small modern Motorola 24 volt alternator I have on hand, rather then looking for an authentic 24 volt DC generator and regulator, and I'm using Wal*Mart batteries instead of 2HNs. I do want the 24 volt system, though, so I can use military gages and I can run the 3 blowers and the fuel-fired heater, and a super-bright spotlight I have, all of which are 24 volt. If M37/M43 trucks never came with a bendix-type starter, what was my starter off of? Or did the last production trucks go to a bendix type starter? If the latter, there should be a 24 volt starter relay for it somewhere as well. Any input would be appreciated.
Follow Ups: