Charging batteries with the engine

Redram99 wrote:
Thanks Pnichols. This is what I wanted to know. I’m not very good with electrical. In an hour, you can get a solid charge back into your batteries by idling the v10. I usually idle it up to 1000 rpm.

Wow. Engine abuse!!! Haha. From idling.

I’m in northern British Columbia where it is consistently -30 for extended periods. Our vehicles idle a lot! Doesn’t really seem to bother them much. Just the new diesels are a pain in the ass. No catastrophic failures that I know of on gassers.

I imagine the lifespan reduction of my v10 spinning at 4000 rpm wide open for 3-4min straight climbing a long hill is a bit higher than idling for 1 hour charging batteries. If not, it’s something I’m ok to do to the engine.

Burning more fuel than running the Onan... worth it in my opinion not to have to listen to that thing hammer away down there. Plus I can use the heat or a/c.

I found out what I wanted to know.

Thanks for the input!!

Nicely stated summary of the results of your original inquiry into using one's main RV engine here and there for added camping convenience and practically.

IMHO, it appears that there's a lot of "Old Wives Tales" and "Urban Legends" scare tactics going around concerning idling of a modern gas vehicle engine.

Here's some more comments/observations:

- I have a large roll-around wheeled backup generator for power outages at our home. I has a smart mode where it drops down to an idle when the load on it is low enough ... in order to reduce noise and fuel consumption whenever possible. I guess the manufacturer didn't realize that too long in it's idle mode might ruin it. ;) (P.S. It's NOT an inverter generator.)

- How about today's Honda inverter generators? Are they ruining themselves by too much low speed running when the loading on them is low? ;)

- We idle our 2002 daily driver sedan's 290 HP V8 all the time to keep one of us warm or cool in parking lots while the other one is shopping. So far it's got over 180,000 miles on it's engine and it still runs like a Swiss Watch ... getting 25-27 MPG on the open road and burning no oil. :)

- I don't understand a wacky conclusion by someone above implying that just because V10 powered emergency vehicles can tolerate engine idling for hours doesn't mean V10 motorhome engines can. :h

There is only one VALID reason to not idle your RV engine for battery charging - it's not good for the air surrounding Mother Earth. I admit to being a bad boy, in this respect, whenever I use the V10 for battery charging instead of: The Onan, the Honda, some solar, a wind generator, or a fuel cell. :(