I don't understand all this talk about being hard on vehicle alternators. Aren't they protected from burn-out regardless of how they're used?
It sure seems to me that's the way that they coulda/shoulda been designed in the first place. I assume that my RV's Ford 130 amp alternator can supply - if I spin it at high enough engine RPM - somehwere around 130 amps as long as I want it to, or until it's temperature protection and/or amperage protection kicks in .... whichever comes first. What am I missing here? :h
Per my Ford alternator's RPM versus amperage output curve, it can deliver around 60-70 amps at true engine idle. I assume it can do this forever, as the footnotes at the bottom of the curve say nothing about "intermittent use only".
Maybe alternators in the good old days could be burnt out - but modern ones have adequate protection? I can't anyway anyhow wrap my brain around being able to out smart the built in over-temperatue and/or over-current protection electronics in modern vehicle alternators.
Regarding long term idling of late model V8 and V10 engines .... I believe that Ford based (and probably Chevy based) ambulances and other emergency vehicles sit idling for hours at incident sites. And also, how about police cruisers .... they sit idling for hours along roads even in extreme heat with their air conditioners running, don't they?
