High Output Alternator

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Schrodinger
Posts: 9
Joined: February 17th, 2022, 1:01 pm

High Output Alternator

Post by Schrodinger »

Hello!

Anyone have recommendations for a 200-ish amp alternator for an '05 Glacier with the Triton V10? AutoZone, Advanced Auto, and OReilly near me peak at 130 amps.
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Roly
Posts: 112
Joined: February 11th, 2015, 8:16 am
Location: Puget Sound WA

Re: High Output Alternator

Post by Roly »

I see one from BBB Industries at Rock Auto online for about $220.
Ebay shows a couple for $150. Get two, just in case...

Roly
1998 Premier
Schrodinger
Posts: 9
Joined: February 17th, 2022, 1:01 pm

Re: High Output Alternator

Post by Schrodinger »

Thanks, Roly! I'll give them a look
chin_k
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Re: High Output Alternator

Post by chin_k »

Originally, the Chinook Concourse comes with 130 A alternator. Don't know if the Glacier is the same. Why put additional 70 A load on the engine? You want to really charge up the batteries when cruising down the road? Your MPG will suffer a little, however.
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Schrodinger
Posts: 9
Joined: February 17th, 2022, 1:01 pm

Re: High Output Alternator

Post by Schrodinger »

chin_k wrote: February 7th, 2023, 7:22 pm Originally, the Chinook Concourse comes with 130 A alternator. Don't know if the Glacier is the same. Why put additional 70 A load on the engine? You want to really charge up the batteries when cruising down the road? Your MPG will suffer a little, however.
Hello, chin_k!

Yes, the Glacier (and Summit) shipped with the same 130 amp alternator. In the last month, though, I upgraded my aux battery bank from three 12v AGM batteries with a combined 300ah to four 12v LiFePo4 batteries with a combined 824ah. Lithium takes a much harder kick to charge and the new two-way AGM <-> Lithium Relay (with starting boost) I installed to replace the original 100 amp two-way AGM <-> AGM Relay (with starting boost) supports 120 amp continuous transfer rate. The old battery bank could be charged relatively quickly and at a lower voltage compared to the the new one. I was growing concerned about the temperature of the alternator given that it is running at peak output for much longer. So, in the meantime, I have disconnected the relay so as not to risk burning out my alternator. The larger alternator should be able to sustain the new charging requirements.

We installed a 1200 watt solar array on the roof, so the aux bank should stay really well charged most of the time, but we run into plenty of instances where we have a low bank, cloudy skies, and a long drive. We live in our Glacier full-time and travel between National Forests, BLM Lands, and Queens Lands (when we are spending time in Canada). To make this lifestyle sustainable we rely on solar as much as possible and the engine to top things off between destinations. The generator does a pretty good job of charging, but I've found that our generator is a gas hog. I don't know if there's something going on with it, but I get about eight hours runtime per quarter tank of gas. I'd rather take a small hit on my MPG over that massive drain.
chin_k
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Re: High Output Alternator

Post by chin_k »

I see. The genset is roughly consuming about 0.75 gph at 75% load, or 0.5 gph at half load. See Onan's specification to confirm. 8 hours should set you back ~4 gal at half load. You may want to check on the charge rate the lithium can handle, and match it with the right charger. It should not take 8 hrs to charge 824 Ah (~10 kWh), since your genset can output ~3kW, so you are losing (24-10)/24 or almost 60% of your energy there if you do need to run it for 8 hr at full load. At any rate, it sound off that you are using 1/4 tank in 8 hrs.

I would not charge the lithium to more than 80-85% unless I know I will drain it down right away in a few hours. It is not good for the battery chemistry long term. I don't know enough to absolutely tell you what to do, but you may want to considering some way to limit the current the charger is pulling when the 130 alternator is running, and your genset is not. It will keep it from overload/overheat, without the need for a 200 A alternator. Besides, if your charger is not appropriate for the alternator, the 200A will also going to be overloaded. See if there is a setting on the charger than allow you to limit the current on different sitation (low on alternator, and high on genset).
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
BobW9
Posts: 252
Joined: February 16th, 2018, 4:46 pm
Location: Full-Time on the Road

Re: High Output Alternator

Post by BobW9 »

Note that you probably don't want to charge the lithium house batteries directly off the alternator, for multiple reasons, including it has a charge cycle for lead acid not lithium, and the lithium BMS will cut off the batteries suddenly when they reach full or a high temp, which results in a sudden voltage spike as the alternator has no load anymore (called a load drop). A Battery-2-Battery charger is really recommended, or a sophisticated external regulator for the alternator. See the pdf file below for a short overview.

https://assets.discoverbattery.com/docu ... ithium.pdf
2000 Concourse, Ford Triton 6.8 V10
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