Alternators - what are your thoughts?

valhalla360 wrote:

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.

I don't think it's pretty common.

Almost never hear of people running heat or air/con off the trucks 12v system. While operating, the air/con is going to be pulling somewhere around 120amps @ 12v. The wiring and inverter to generate and then get that power back to the trailer and converted to 120v AC is possible but highly impractical.

The furnace is propane powered with just a small amount of 12v power to run the controls and the fan but the fan doesn't consume a lot. Problem is at 60mph, you will have a horrible wind chill effect meaning you will likely burn a ton of propane.

You can run the fridge but usually not a big issue. Most travel in propane mode. If you even have a 12v option (most RV fridges don't), a decent battery with trickle charging from the hitch plug will generally handle the needs for a few hours of driving.

If you have a true 12v fridge, it's only pulling 2-3 amps, so no need to upgrade anything.

Thank you, I'm obviously over complicating this in an effort to be prepared for situations that probably would never occur, irl.

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.

I don't think it's pretty common.

Almost never hear of people running heat or air/con off the trucks 12v system. While operating, the air/con is going to be pulling somewhere around 120amps @ 12v. The wiring and inverter to generate and then get that power back to the trailer and converted to 120v AC is possible but highly impractical.

The furnace is propane powered with just a small amount of 12v power to run the controls and the fan but the fan doesn't consume a lot. Problem is at 60mph, you will have a horrible wind chill effect meaning you will likely burn a ton of propane.

You can run the fridge but usually not a big issue. Most travel in propane mode. If you even have a 12v option (most RV fridges don't), a decent battery with trickle charging from the hitch plug will generally handle the needs for a few hours of driving.

If you have a true 12v fridge, it's only pulling 2-3 amps, so no need to upgrade anything.

Need a new truck anyway $380 for a dual alternator - 220A and 170A.

You can have 1000 amp alternator and be lucky to get 20 amps through the oem wire fused at 40 amps.
My oem alternator does just fine. Some solar on the roof helps too.

cptqueeg stock alternators only have a 1/3 duty cycle.

But let's examine a high output--say 150 amps? Well 150 x 14 volts only equals 2100 watts. But there's more! Once the starter battery is recharged the ECM will lower the voltage which lowers the output.

Dual you might have a chance--but that isn't going to be cheap.

My stock alternator is 130 amps. I'll be using a dc to DC charger with it soon--to get adequate charging for my house bank. But I'm only doing a 20 amp unit--because I don't wish to burn out the alternator.

My 2006 Tiger CX on a nearly stock Chevy 2500HD 4x4 chassis uses its one heavy-duty alternator (from the snow plow package) to run the engine and other chassis stuff and to charge the coach batteries and to charge whatever else I plug in while the engine is running. It has done a fantastic job at this since the day I bought it new. A couple of years ago, at about 90K miles, I replaced this alternator and the serpentine belt as preventive maintenance. There was nothing wrong with either, but 90K miles... I kept the old belt and alternator as spare parts just in case of disaster somewhere in the backwoods country I love to explore.

My Tiger has neither generator nor solar. Don't compare it to whatever Tiger you see next, because almost no two Tigers are alike.