Originally posted by cletis:
You guys seem to think this is a new idea. This is the way chargers were made in the 40s.
Actually they go bacl much further than the 40's.... As Briggs&Stratton built and sold a full line of what they called "Power Chargers" beginning in the 20's through the early 50's. They cam in a range of voltages (6v,12v,18v,24v,36v), and were powered by a 3/4hp engine direct coupled.
They were originally designed to be used on farms, back when most farms didn't have electricity. The farmer would use the charger to charge and maintain a bank of batteries that would in turm supply electrical power to the house and/or what ever else he needed. The voltage was dictated by what the farmer was operating as well as how far away he needed the electricity. When the REA came into being in the late 30's and rual america began to get electrified, alot of the old power-chargers were either tossed on the junk pile, or (for the 6/12v ones) relegated to the barn/garage as battery charger/jump starters for the farm equipment. During WW2 and Korea Uncle Sam saw a further use for these as field units for charging the battery on, or jump starting equipment in the field..... You'll notice that most all military gen-sets of the era (PE-73/PE-105 etc.) were also set up to not only provide 110v AC, but also provide 6/12v DC for radio equipment or battery charging as well.....
I happen to have one from the early 50's that is 12v and the output leads are HD cables with jumper cable style clamps on the ends. the unit even has gauges to show volt/amp output. Of course this one is painted OD green...lol
I also have several old 30's,40's gen-sets floating around here...lol
