recharging while driving

[pianotuna]

I'm winding my way south and boondocking.

Last power was in Regina, SK

I used a heating pad and lots of computer time last night, powering them from a 400 watt MSW inverter.

Batteries were at 12.3 in the morning.

I drove for about 8 hours in total.

The first two hours, very little in the way of charging happened as I was using the head lights, running the heater fan on high and running the laptop with Microsoft Streets and trips. In fact, at first I was concerned that the alternator was not sending any energy to the house bank.

I stopped about 5 p.m. in Fargo, ND and voltage was back up to 12.9 (under load from the fridge and attempting to recharge a tablet, using a 12 volt adapter.)

I will be using the heating pad and perhaps the tablet tonight. The Tablet is supposed to be able to tether--but it won't. Nor will it do a hotspot. I'm too exhausted to deal with this tonight.

I may or may not have power tomorrow night.

[Trackrig]

Mex is right about the poor OEM wiring to the batteries. I know Don isn't in a truck but even in one of the Ford 6.0 forums I read they'll tell you to run an additional heavy cable from the alternator to the batteries as the OEM cable is ****. If you run a lot of electrical accessories, the OEM cable won't keep the batteries fully charged so there's a chance damaging the module controlling the the fuel injection. It happens to a lot of snowplowers.

Bill

[ksg5000]

You forgot more than I know about batteries ... but if I was concerned about charging batteries when driving I would turn off the biggest electrical source - if your fridge is drawing power from your inverter then just shut it down and keep the door closed - or maybe just turn off the inverter while driving.

[mchero]

Just like the guy that was speculating my isolator relay was getting 16 volts!
LOL

[MrWizard]

Awful lot of speculating going on here
This is NOT. His first trip south with this RV
He never mentioned a charging problem before
Could be there is something going on that never happen before
And he currently full times with this RV

[Gjac]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
His alternator has a lot of lead in it's pencil and nobody to write to. Am I getting this across...Vehicle wiring harnesses to the chassis battery restrict amperage horribly. The 4 gauge new wire must be dedicated RIGHT FROM THE OUTPUT STUD OF THE ALTERNATOR DIRECT TO BATTERY POSITIVE VIA A CHARGE DIVIDER AND CIRCUIT BREAKER. I don't read this stuff out of a book or put on a propeller beanie and play the part of Gyro Gearloose...I did it and do it for a living. As an engineer not a shoe salesman. Maybe I'm wasting my breath here.

Typically what size wiring does a stock Ford or Chevy alternator come with? In gross terms if your batteries are at 50 percent SOC with stock wiring how many amps can you pump into 2 GC batteries? With 4 gage wiring how many amps will you see?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

His alternator has a lot of lead in it's pencil and nobody to write to. Am I getting this across...Vehicle wiring harnesses to the chassis battery restrict amperage horribly. The 4 gauge new wire must be dedicated RIGHT FROM THE OUTPUT STUD OF THE ALTERNATOR DIRECT TO BATTERY POSITIVE VIA A CHARGE DIVIDER AND CIRCUIT BREAKER. I don't read this stuff out of a book or put on a propeller beanie and play the part of Gyro Gearloose...I did it and do it for a living. As an engineer not a shoe salesman. Maybe I'm wasting my breath here.

[theoldwizard1]

MrWizard wrote:

TheOldWizard1 wrote:
I am quite surprised you got that much charging done from your TV !

TV charging systems are optimized to charge ONE non-deep discharge battery. There are many assumptions made by the charging system about the this type of battery and its location.

NOT a truck and trailer

he has a Class C RV, also NOT the cheapest one,
his complete battery and charging system except maybe the alternator
has seen serious upgrades in wiring and capacity

Oops !!

Well, I still stand by my recommendation. Get a DC-to-DC battery charger. A lot cheaper than those overpriced alternators !

[westend]

What ever you end up with, Don, I'd beat a hasty route South to avoid the weather that's coming this weekend. Eastern SD and Western MN have blizzard warnings up at the NWS.

[MrWizard]

I am quite surprised you got that much charging done from your TV !

TV charging systems are optimized to charge ONE non-deep discharge battery. There are many assumptions made by the charging system about the this type of battery and its location.

NOT a truck and trailer

he has a Class C RV, also NOT the cheapest one,
his complete battery and charging system except maybe the alternator
has seen serious upgrades in wiring and capacity

but he runs an almost total electric house hold
and i think he needs to run his generator when he stops, before turning for the night
let his magnum inverter charger pump his batteries up

time for me to turn in..the warm pre-heated bed "electric blanket" is calling me

i'm down 87 amphrs, SOC 87.2% 588ampHrs 12.72v

[Strabo]

I run an aftermarket high performance 160 amp alternator, but with small gauge wire on the truck even my charging system is weak at best. I don't believe yours can fully charge your batts after an 8 hour drive. Now if I used jumper cables from my truck to my hauler batts, now I can charge up much faster, even at idle.

[theoldwizard1]

pianotuna wrote:

The first two hours, very little in the way of charging happened as I was using the head lights, running the heater fan on high and running the laptop with Microsoft Streets and trips. In fact, at first I was concerned that the alternator was not sending any energy to the house bank.

I stopped about 5 p.m. in Fargo, ND and voltage was back up to 12.9 (under load from the fridge and attempting to recharge a tablet, using a 12 volt adapter.)

I am quite surprised you got that much charging done from your TV !

TV charging systems are optimized to charge ONE non-deep discharge battery. There are many assumptions made by the charging system about the this type of battery and its location.

Voltage drop through the wire from the alternator to your house batteries is significant. If you really want to charge your house batteries I suggest you get a dc input battery charger. They typically accept input voltages as low as 10V and do proper charging of your house battery.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

David Smead's Ample Power brand alternator and regulator is a step up from the Blow-More units. Regardless be it Powerline, Balmar or Ample Power these alternators are superior to OEM. But all of them went freakin' nuts when they learned my units were using high nodular iron rotors and Temcor Tempel Steel stator laminations with asymetrical stacking. Can you imagine an old style Delco alternator revolving at 1,600 RPM (the Delco spec) churning 107 amperes at 150c ?

It was at that point in my life I ended up in The City of Hope with AML.

But it was fun - I miss it. The new Hairpin alternators though just beat the snot out of my 27-year old design.

And yeah I have BEEG PROBLEMS with the idea of heat sinking 270 amperes worth of rectifiers in that 270 amp hairpin. It. Can. Not. Be. Done.

[mchero]

Can you say Balmar?

[Harvey51]

I thought the problem was the alternator not having the voltage to push a large current into the battery bank? It seems to me vehicles have a rather poor system for charging even the engine battery. The computer doesn't appear to have a decent measurement of the state of charge so it can't charge aggressively and my short-drives-only van is chronically undercharged. The huge amperage capability is a complete waste.

[time2roll]

You mean you do not have the MEX 3-phase tap off the alternator yet?

> Nice Remote Mounted Alternator Rectifier