Alternators - what are your thoughts?
Using power generated by an alternator seems to be pretty common while in transit. How do you equip your truck - a single high output, dual alternators, or stock? Basic needs are pre-heating, or p...
Forum Discussion
cptqueeg wrote:
Using power generated by an alternator seems to be pretty common while in transit. How do you equip your truck - a single high output, dual alternators, or stock?
Basic needs are pre-heating, or pre-cooling the living space and the fridge while driving. Having a 2nd alternator presumably would allow one to do it all at a fairly low initial price and some sacrifice of mileage.
The first question is, how big is your house battery bank ? One 12V marine/RV battery, two 6V golf cart batteries or four 1V LiFePO4 batteries ?
Second, if you are boondocking, is the vehicle charging system a major power source to replenish the battery bank while driving to your next site or do you just want to prevent the bank from discharging more ?
If you just want to prevent discharging while driving and running an inverter, the standard alternator and charge wiring in the 7 pin trailer harness is adequate.
If you are really want to recharge a battery bank, buy a DC-DC charger and install it near the battery bank. It may only output 20A-40A but over 6-10 hours of driving that is a lot.
IMHO, dual alternators are a waste of money because you do not have the proper voltage regulator/charge controller and wiring to send that power to your battery bank.
