Alternator: How many batteries can it take?
I have a diesel, so two batteries for truck, there are two 6-volt for the Truck Camper, and I want to put a deep cycle battery in the cargo trailer. The Camper does have 200 watt solar to charge it...
Forum Discussion
I don't think the OPs alternator will have any problems at all. As said, the two starting batteries should only need minor amperage and the trailer battery won't need hardly anything. I base this on my hunting experience last fall.
We killed the engine in a Nodwell tracked rig a little smaller than the one in my signature below. We pulled it to the highway, backed up the lowboy trailer to the dead Nodwell and then had to winch it up onto the lowboy.
The batteries were almost dead on the smaller Nodwell because we had to winch it partway out of a mudhole without engine running. The winch is a Warn 15,000# unit so it draws a lot of amperage. I seem to remember maximum draw is 465 amps, but my memory could be wrong on that. Since it couldn't winch itself with the dead batteries, I pulled the larger Nodwell up beside it, and ran a set of very heavy duty jumper cables from the larger Nodwell which has a 150A Leece Neville on it.
I gave the dead Nodwell about a 15 minute charge while we ran out the winch line on the dead Nodwell and rigged it through two snatch blocks to the neck of the lowboy. Leaving the larger Nodwell connected via the jumper cables, we winched the dead one up on the lowboy as I kept pace beside it.
My amp gauge said I was putting 115 to 120 amps and it probably took over 30 minutes of winch time. The winch speed was very slow considering the cable was going through two snatch blocks and the power was traveling through 20+ feet of jumper cables.
The alternator took it just fine and was no hotter than it normally was in the engine compartment.
I think the alternator on my DP is a 163A Leece Neville and it charges my four Trojan 125s house batteries plus the two starting batteries just fine.
Bill
We killed the engine in a Nodwell tracked rig a little smaller than the one in my signature below. We pulled it to the highway, backed up the lowboy trailer to the dead Nodwell and then had to winch it up onto the lowboy.
The batteries were almost dead on the smaller Nodwell because we had to winch it partway out of a mudhole without engine running. The winch is a Warn 15,000# unit so it draws a lot of amperage. I seem to remember maximum draw is 465 amps, but my memory could be wrong on that. Since it couldn't winch itself with the dead batteries, I pulled the larger Nodwell up beside it, and ran a set of very heavy duty jumper cables from the larger Nodwell which has a 150A Leece Neville on it.
I gave the dead Nodwell about a 15 minute charge while we ran out the winch line on the dead Nodwell and rigged it through two snatch blocks to the neck of the lowboy. Leaving the larger Nodwell connected via the jumper cables, we winched the dead one up on the lowboy as I kept pace beside it.
My amp gauge said I was putting 115 to 120 amps and it probably took over 30 minutes of winch time. The winch speed was very slow considering the cable was going through two snatch blocks and the power was traveling through 20+ feet of jumper cables.
The alternator took it just fine and was no hotter than it normally was in the engine compartment.
I think the alternator on my DP is a 163A Leece Neville and it charges my four Trojan 125s house batteries plus the two starting batteries just fine.
Bill
