The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 110 Amp alternator

I recently bought a 110 amp 3 wire alternator and have mounted it on my truck, I know the thing is a 10si, the reason I went big is I have a utility bed and plan on running a Large inverter off the truck so using my truck as a generator as it where . Just want too know the experts take on this the pitfalls etc.

pitfalls - cost of gas, and of the multiple batteries needed to make an inverter useful, and the cost of a large [quality] inverter .... versus the cost of mounting an efficient small AC generator on the utility bed run on gas, diesel or propane

Bill

Be careful of how much you load down inverter when you have engine running. Also alternator may be hampered on output with engine at only idle. -- As example 1200 watt inverter 120 VAC single phase load of 1200 watt draws 10 amp on the 120 V line -- BUT on DC side will draw 100 amp at 12 volt DC - even more as battery voltage droops. So it is all determined by the LOAD and how long you run load.

Dan Bentler


T

You didn't say what type engine you have. A high amp. alt. will not work good on the old 6 cyl. engines. There is not enough belt contact.

Its on the old 6 cylinder but the way I have mounted the Alt im getting the same amount of contact as the old 6 volt Gen. I just got a coupon in for a cheap petrol AC Generator that will work out a lot cheaper and less hassle I think . Will i have any problems runing this Bigger Alt if not using it like I intended

no problem if you're not loading it much more than just the original electrics, the main problem is the amount of horsepower it'd rob if you were using it to the max

Bill

Nope partial load wont hurt it at all.

Dan Bentler

Bill & Dan Thabkyou so very much im in the process of a whole rewire , Ive come too realise as an sparky , I make a darn good plumber lol

U R Welcome
If I were to do it I would have one or two (or more) batteries to supply inverter alone. When they run down start truck and after 1 minute parallel them to starter battery for recharge. Could do manual or automatic with time delay or hot water temp switch.

Dan Bentler

Are you going to use the stock ammeter with the 110 amp alt.?

This has the potential to peg the ammeter, and even burn it out, if the battery(s) are low from running the inverters or even a long cranking session on a cold morning. The fix for this would be to install a shunt across the meter to carry the excessive current. This topic has been discussed before and you will find loads of info by searching for "shunt". Another option when using a high output alt. is to bypass the ammeter altogether and install a voltmeter instead.

Waldo thanks for for pointing that out I was going too use the stock ammeter, and never thought about the overload . Thanks for pointing out a pitfall before I find it out by smoking my ammeter. I have gone off the Inverter Idea as I can buy a cheap gas driven gen a whole lot cheaper and will be less hassle. But will still use the 110 amp alt. So thanks for not letting me smoke my ammeter :o)