biglar

I have the camper package on my '02 and need to know the output of the alternator. I'll be adding a battery to my Lance camper for more capacity, then converting to a Progressive Dynamics module to replace the existing Magnetek unit in there now.

That should take care of charging while on shore power, but an RV forum has me puzzled about another thing. I was told that the alternator will charge the battery(s) while the engine is running, but that it'll be very slow and take a long time.

Is there a safe way to increase the charging rate to the camper batteries from the truck alternator while running ?? Will the alternator handle more load ??

Thanks.......I searched the archives, but didn't find what I need.

Lar.

WestTN

These trucks have a 160 amp alternator. What most people do not understand is these, like all others, will onlyput that maximum rating out for a brief period at most. The maximum output for longer periods is more like 90-100 amps

bigwheels94

It's possible, but not practical. You'll have to change out the wire size, & everything between the alt. & the camper batt. The existing wires are fused for about 20a for a reason.

biglar

Thanks. Can you go into more detail ?? I would assume the wires are fused to 20 amps because of wire size. I'm an electrician and a meticulous worker and experienced with 12 vdc to a large extent, too and wiring doesn't bother me. I'll have all winter to work on this, so time isn't a factor, either. I would very much like to have a faster charge rate while driving. If the alternator will put out a sustained 100 amps as WestTN says, then 30 - 40 amps should be very do-able.

P.S. I say I'm experienced in 12 vdc and that's very true - I'm very experienced, but this is outside anything I've done to date - which is why I'm asking for help. I want to do it right the first time.

Thanks again

Lar.

Jaxom

I have heard of folks changing the pulley diameter to speed up or slow down the alternator rpm. I don't know if that would do you any good or not.
Keep us posted what you come up with.

Jeff in TD

I suspect one of the other issues governing how fast a camper battery charges off the tow vehicle has to do with not having that much of a voltage difference.

The alternator will be putting out power as appropriate to the pickup's system voltage and the pickup's battery state of charge and temp.

Then there's voltage lost in a fairly long run of wiring between the alternator and the RV's batteries.

Say the camper's batteries are down to 11.5 v or so, I would think the tow vehicle wouldn't bring them up very fast.

Anyway, a Progressive Dynamics charger will push more amps to the camper's batteries when they are deeply discharged and can accept a higher rate without damage or water loss, then drop the charging rate as they come up (and should have a less aggressive charge rate).


Bottom line: I think you might be better served by investing in a small high quality inverter type generator, like a Honda EU2000 or the Yamaha. That and your intelligent converter/charger would recharge the camper much more economically and efficiently. Another option would be to stick some solar on the camper, though that works best in the summer when you have full sun and aren't likely to be running the furnace a lot.

Hvytrkmech

The alternator will adjust itself to the load demand accordingly. As previously stated the gauge and length of the wire is really the biggest concern. 20-40 amps for charging batteries is far more than adequate to quick charge or maintenance charge the batteries while you are towing your unit. You can run a 12g or 10g from the truck batteries to the camper with is own breaker if you like. If you have 2 batteries and are going to 3 then hook them up +++ and ---, then pull the load off the center battery, this will give you the best draw and charging performance.

DiezelSmoke

http://www.autoshop101.com/trainmodu...or/alt101.html

Here is a link describing the workings of Alt. The only way to get an alt. to charge more is decrease the voltage in the "S" wire. You are an electrician, use a dimmer switch to do this. You run the risk of burning up your alt. as it is only designed to put out 80% of it's max constantly. Here is a picture of the wire diagram:

biglar

OK, these last few posts are making me think back and try to remember. Isn't the voltage regulator built right into alternators anymore ?? Seems to me separate regulators went out years ago, but I haven't worked on solid state stuff much. I'm an oldie. :-(

With internal regulator, if I decrease voltage in "S" wire to send more charging amps to camper, then won't it overcharge the truck batteries ?? How can I get around that ??

I'm not familiar with the newer systems, as I said, so I need an education.

Thanks

Lar.

biglar

Hmmm........I told a bit of a lie there. I worked as a commercial appliance tech for years before retiring 3 years ago and have worked on many, many solid state control systems, but they were very specific applications and I was schooled in them. I'm un-familiar with the systems we're talking about here and don't want to fry anything.

Thanks again

Lar.

DiezelSmoke

Yes it will overcharge, but if you want it to charge faster that is the way to do it, just don't forget to turn the dimmer switch back.

biglar

With my memory these last few years ?? No, I think I'd best leave that end of it be. Maybe the larger wires and walk away.

Too bad they're not externally regulated anymore. That'd make it easy - just have a separate regulator for each. Oh, well........thanks again

Lar.

Bill M.

Have the same issue. When my batteries in the trailer get low, a full day of driving in the truck will not bring them back to good on the monitor panel. I wished I had checked the voltages with a digital meter, but at the time it seemed too much trouble. From what I can find out, it is mostly that the length and size of the wires cause the problem. Even 1/4 ohm of resistance drops the charging rate dramatically. My conclusion that putting in bigger wires will not help much, because it is still a long run.
I read one post about sombody with a adjustable voltage regulator on the truck but with a diesel with a computer and all electronic I am not about to mess with anything like that. Generator is a lot cheaper than a Dodge service center.
I am going go get a generator. My wife hates them, but I don't like running out of electricity and freezing because we can not run the heat in the trailer. Been looking a a Yamaha that runs on propane and is large enough to run the AC. But at $1500 I might just opt for a little gen to just charge the batteries.
In an emergency, I think you could partially charge the trailer batteries with jumper cables from the truck, but probably would involve hours of running the truck and probably too high a charge rate for the deep draw batteries at first anyway.

Jeff in TD

Yeah, that's kind of the point I was trying to make. Sometimes you run the battery low when you aren't planning on towing, and running a 5.9 L turbo diesel to do the job of a 98 cc engine that will run 6+ hours on one gallon...

I also go camping for peace and quiet, but with decent battery capacity and a fast intelligent charger/converter, generator run can be infrequent and fairly short. And the Honda is very quiet.

You could also consider catalyst heater, LED lights, and other stuff to reduce your electric needs, and run some solar.

montemorris

My truck would never keep my one RV battery charged up. After researching the problem, I found that most RVs have a cheap power convertor in them that will NOT keep the battery charged. I bought a new, fully ELECTRONIC converter which DOES keep the battery fully charged (and doesn't have that god-awful "buzzing" noise when it's running). It's an easy do-it-yourself install with only two wires to connect.

Check out at: http://www.adventurerv.net/parallax-...mp-p-1462.html