95" KW/CAT 3406E...'No crank'

Daniel2578. Did you have any problems just prior to the jump starting incident? Like when turning the key to start and nothing happened?

 

C'mon 12 is good, 24 should whip er' over really good.....lol

Kinda like putting 12volt bulbs in a 24V headlight system, they are bright as ####, for a minute or so.

 

You're learning lessons, maybe the expensive way, but you're learning.
As long as you have a good attitude the guys on here will be glad to help.
You can jump from a 24v system to a 12, but you need to know how to isolate one of the batteries on the 24.
It would be best not to try it again unless you have someone walk you through it.

 

Yup, just the difference of where you hook the cables on the 24 side.

 

Yea, you really should get a book and study truck electric systems because your going to need that knowledge.

Look at your batteries first. Do they have 3 cells or 6 cells? You can tell by the number of vent caps on flooded cell batteries. One for each cell. No maintenance batteries will usually have the vents in groups of 3, I.E. a 12 volt battery will have two large caps, but they will usually not be removable. Anyway, this tells you the voltage, 3 cells is 6 volts, 6 cells is twelve volts.

Now, how are the batteries connected? If all batteries are 12 volts, and they are all connected in PARALLEL, you have a twelve volt system. If any are connected in SERIES, you have either 24 volt, or a hybrid system. Also, if all four batteries are 6 volt, as a lot of older truck were, two pairs of series connected batteries connected in parallel will be a 12 volt system. If all four six volt batteries are connected in series, you have a 24 volt system.

To make matters even more complicated, some older trucks had a series/parallel switch. All of the trucks systems ran on 12 volt, but when you pushed the start button, the switch kicked in and rearranged the battery wiring so the starter could use 24 volts! When you let off the switch, the series/parallel switch released allowing all batteries to recharge using a 12 volt alternator. I actually have a vintage KW truck with this system stored at another location.

If you hit a 12 volt system with anything over 16-17 volts, you will usually fry something, and it won't taste good even with plenty of salt.

 

Check fuses and breakers. Dare say you popped a few drawing the current you would have with 24V into an12V truck