MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
What some folks (not you guys) seem to conveniently forget is that many motor homes are built on Ford Chassis, and those chassis may have hairpin ND alternators. Start the engine and whoa baby, 270 amperes INSTANTLY. C20 charge rate? You must be joking. Three stage charging You bet. Start engine, Run Engine, Shut off engine. Voltage regulator remains in the high thirteens and young fourteens for sometimes days on end cross-country.
Not my 2005 Ford RV chassis.
It's alternator puts out depending upon two things - how cold it is and how far discharged the battery(ies) is/are. At first the meter reads around 14.2 volts up to around 14.5 volts on the battery(ies), then later the meter reads over a 12.9 volt to 13.8 volt range on the battery(ies), depending upon how hot things get.
I've seen voltages from our Ford alternator @ 12.9 volts in 100+ degree weather, and as high as 14.5 volts on a cold morning when first starting up. Actually it acts like an infinite stage battery charger - at least per my dash voltmeter and ammeter readings of what's winding up on the RV's batteries.
I don't believe in magic, but the Ford alternator is making a believer out of me.
