Limping home when alternator belt fails.

Well well well…. posing the question the way I did certainly resulted in solutions that I had not thought of. The most usable for my situation with a broken belt senario is my set-up with the A/C compressor belt alternator belt being the same. The compressor seized up on my unit and my concern, after I disconnected the electrical connection so that it would not be activated by mistakenly turning on the defroster, is the seizing up of the clutch assembly pulley bearings. If that occurred the belts would burn up and hence no alternator. Using the generators 110 circuit to drive a small charger connected to the engine battery as suggested, is the better option for me. That will at least get me home for a more complete repair to be done by my preferred repairer. Thanks all.

My coach and house batteries are in the same bay, so jumping from one set to another is simple. The downside though, is that my converter doesn't have a high enough charge rate to keep up if too many accessories are running. My fix for that is the 110-volt outlet in the bay that with the generator running lets me plug in the 30-amp battery charger I carry with us.

I awoke to a flat start battery in my Tiger (Silverado chassis) one AM in an Oklahoma rest area on I-40. Since I had just re-done the house battery to change it from 1 underhood to 2 in a DIY'd rack under the rear, I knew what wire did what. I carry a jumper wire with small alligator clips on both ends to help me do one-man trouble-shooting.

I had just enough juice in the start battery to get the Onan running, so I jumped from the old front underhood positive house battery wiring over the engine to the positive post on the start battery. I went back in and fixed and ate breakfast, and voila, the start battery was up enough to crank the 8.1.

I had planned to remove the underhood house battery's wiring, but that event convinced me to leave it. I also now carry a heavier-gauge wire with bigger clips. Yes, I'd rig this up again if I had a alternator failure, and keep the Onan running.

Jim, "Mo' coffee!"

@chaingang...yes

I had an alternator failure in Az in 2012, while making a shake down trip up to grand canyon, after having the engine rebuilt in flagstaff

started the generator, but a jumper cable from house batteries to engine batteries

the 100amp wfco converter kept the batteries charged, all the back to flagstaff
where the shop replaced the alternator

no sweat we weren't even limping, could have driven days that way, IF i wanted or needed to, the only concern was the generator fuel
diesel engine, propane generator

It works to backfeed off the converter. I did it when the alternator failed. The belt was fine.

Not sure what your rig is but if it has an aux start button for emergencies then just prop it in the on position. Or if the engine and chassis batteries are in the same box either jumper the positives or move the positive lead wires over to the engine battery posts. However you can get them to combine.

Usually, running engine is 20 amps, heater 20 amps, headlights and running lights on passenger car is 20amps. Why not buy the proper belt in the next town?

Maybe..

You have to determine what isolates the house 12 volt system from the vehicle 12 volt system. Some have diode, others have relay, and some may have a switch or no isolation at all. The diode would be problematic for backfeeding.

My class C uses a relay which clicks in when ignition is on, connecting the two systems. Getting engine started, then start generator and power converter should work. Probably best to operate least amount of vehicle accessories possible. I'm counting on it as a backup to alternator electrical failure.

Yes, it will work. I once read about a fellow who idled his Harley in the back of his truck with jumper cables attached to do the same thing.

On my 2004 Southwimd the convertor charges both the house and the chassis batteries. Since the generator supplies 110 power to the convertor, if you start the generator you also power the convertor and that should recharge your chassis battery taking the place of your alternator allowing you to drive. But in my case I only have one belt so if I lose that belt I cannot drive with no waterpump and no power steering, but if the alternator happened to quit then it would work in my opinion.