brianjw
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Re: 2021 E450 dual alternator
pnichols wrote: Let me chime in here with some thoughts: 1. Large and reliable alternators will probably become more important as lithium coach batteries become more common in motorhomes. Supposedly lithium battery banks charge fast - but only if one has a charging method that can deliver the high currents that the batteries will accept. For dry camping - especially when many hours of enough solar aren't available - a large capacity alternator driven by an idling chassis engine might be very useful. 2. Since any vehicle's alternator is very important, having two on board - when one or the other is getting used a lot for high current lithium coach battery charging year after year - to me would be a necessity for equipment backup purposes should one or the other fail when drycamping. Always have a Plan B for critical Plan A failures! P.S. I think that emergency service vehicles often have dual alternators. Exactly this, thank you. Most ambulances around here are privately owned ragged out rigs. The company I work for has switched to a lot of transits for new rigs (or HD commercial trucks) so I haven’t seen new 7.3L gas ambulances around here yet. Maybe I need to head over to a ford truck forum and see if I can find a VIN that works.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: 2021 E450 dual alternator
It was the Ford dealer parts dept, they’ve historically been awful. I’m not concerned about warranty, the second alternator wouldn’t be integrated into factory electronics at all. I’ve modified everything I’ve ever owned. I’m going to run a 400 amp hour lithium battery setup. I want to be able to run the roof top AC off of the Victron inverter while driving (or just quickly recharge the batteries while driving). The plan is to run a 60 amp sterling B2B charger off of each alternator, for a combined 120 amps to the lithium battery bank. I don’t want to overwork/overheat a smaller single alternator asking too much from it, and this seems like the safest way to do it. A little overkill, sure. No, I don’t want to have to rely on the generator while I’m driving. In fact if the solar and alternator perform well enough the generator will come out.1KViews0likes0Comments2021 E450 dual alternator
Does anyone have this package, or can anyone help with parts? Specifically with the gas 7.3L. My RV has the single 210 amp alternator, and I’d like to upgrade to a 240/157a dual alternator setup. Nobody lists an aftermarket setup yet and the dorks at the parts dept were not just unhelpful, but angry that I was asking... Supposedly without a vin number of a unit with dual alternators, they can’t look at parts diagrams and tell me what brackets/idlers/belt etc would be required. Thanks for the help!6.6KViews0likes20CommentsRe: 30 day trip out West - Dare we without reservations?
I live in Oregon and travel/camp all over the west. I don't believe I've ever made a campground reservation. Aside from showing up at canyonlands national park and secure three sites on the white rim trail anyway. Then again I try to stay away from the huge touristy campgrounds with swimming pools and such. I don't know where you're going on the north rim but toroweap campground is amazing if your rig can stand a bunch of washboard roads. The southwest is going to be extremely hot in June too.734Views0likes0CommentsRe: Dual alternator as a generator
I don't believe they're suggesting idling the engine overnight. Between having a large battery, solar, energy efficient components, short drives should recharge the battery and a short time idling. Their setups really shouldn't need to have constant charging power. When you start driving off in an earthroamer you ought to be working it enough to clean it out.911Views0likes0Comments
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