Dual Alternators for A/C Removal, newbie
Good morning everyone! I'm joe, new to the forum. To give a super quick backstory, I bought a 87 Minnie Winnie for $500 about a year ago, it was stripped and a leaky mess. 1 year later, me and my girl...
Forum Discussion
Welcome to the forums!
I'm with Sam - get a used generator installed, let that run your rooftop unit. Benefits are many, but most importantly, you don't have to idle the main engine to run your A/C while you're overnighting at a rest area or camped out at a rustic campsite.
Running the rooftop unit via inverter and high output alternator is going to cost more than buying a used generator. You need an expensive beefy inverter to start the compressor, something with at least 3000 watts surge capacity. That means running heavy wires from under the hood to a battery (or several batteries), like 4/0 gauge from the alternator to a battery and from the battery to the inverter.
I've run my rooftop off my inverter before, it draws about 150 amps - an alternator rated for 150 amps continuous output will be expensive, most are rated to operate well below their advertised peak output number.
I'm with Sam - get a used generator installed, let that run your rooftop unit. Benefits are many, but most importantly, you don't have to idle the main engine to run your A/C while you're overnighting at a rest area or camped out at a rustic campsite.
Running the rooftop unit via inverter and high output alternator is going to cost more than buying a used generator. You need an expensive beefy inverter to start the compressor, something with at least 3000 watts surge capacity. That means running heavy wires from under the hood to a battery (or several batteries), like 4/0 gauge from the alternator to a battery and from the battery to the inverter.
I've run my rooftop off my inverter before, it draws about 150 amps - an alternator rated for 150 amps continuous output will be expensive, most are rated to operate well below their advertised peak output number.
