So power is coming and going.. I think we will lose it here for awhile as the storm progresses. I have a 220amp alternator on my truck. This sounds silly but I have a disconnect to my house, could I run a positive and negative from my alternator to the disconnect to back feed my house(100amp fuse panel)? The previous owner had a generac hooked up to the house but took the generator with him. Basically you pull the switch down and it cuts power to the house. There is a three wire (ground, positive and negative) hook up on the wall.

Not sure how many watts I could put down? If anything I need at least 15amp to run the furnace and 10amps for the fridge.

 

What voltage is it putting out? 12V or 110? Big difference....

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

Short answer--NO

Truck is 12V DC (direct current, doesn't work in transformers)
House is 240/120 V AC (alternating current)
It doesn't have positive and negative as the polarity is reversing 120 times a second.

Not compatible in any way.

 

Ah.

 

If you put an inverter on your rig, depending on size, you could run some lights or a blender to make margaritas, which might take the edge off...Mark

 

Where are you, as your avatar doesn't say.


BTW, Enjoying the day off in our mega storm. If it stays like this, I'm fine, otherwise, I'll be turning on the generator.

 

Upstate NY, wind is getting pretty crazy. I had word that the national guard has no more staff so NY will not be getting recover after it because it's such a wide spread on the eastern side.

 

Out here about 20-30 miles west of the Hamptons on the Island...getting REAL hairy. Hatches battened and the genset at the ready, just praying for everyone`s safety...and for that Maple in the backyard to stay off the house.

 

Wish you guys the best!!

 

Just getting steady rain and some moderate gusts in the DC meto area right now.
Heavier stuff due in this area around 6:00 pm.
New England area folks are in for a couple of days of

 

We're are getting a bunch of wind now. I just got back from cutting a huge pine off one of our guys house. The wind is supposed to go till late tomorrow morning then die down somewhat. Going to be a long 24hr shift Tuesday.

 

Here in Southern California it was over 95* today but I have 3 backup generators also my inverter in my truck that I can route into my house with an extension cord.

BTW the word "back-feed" always give professionals the chills when the have to confront downed utilities.
Properly installed transfer switches are reccomended.
Never backfeed through a dryer recieptle.

Jim

 

output wise your right on the truck (actually can be closer to 15 volts as a 12 volt lead acid is 13.2 volts)
Internally, an alternator produces a 3 phase alternating current voltage source. then its rectified and regulated to the output you get.

I have seen a couple kits that bolt onto the engine that will put a 240 volt service output on your truck.
Alternatively, some old school (50s?) car generators I believe would output an AC voltage that you then run thru an external regulator/rectifier.

 

It gets a bit more complicated when converting an automotive alternator to produce alternating current while on a vehicle becuse the frequency is directly proporniate to the rotors rotational speed, utility frequency is locked at 60hz portable and standby gensets can be from 57-63 hz
a lot of household equipment still use the line frequency for a timebase.
Install a Vanner Inverter on your truck and you could power a small house with basic needs.

Also some of the luxery cars from the late 60's and 70 had AC output alternators also to power the heated seats and heated windshields, this worked because the loads were resistive.

Jim

 

Yep, you're right. Used to make neat little generators when we were kids from old GM alternators and Briggs & Scrapiron 3 HP engines. Painted them up and sold them to the older folks in the trailer park for emergency power. Put out AC power but it was real hard to regulate how MUCH power. A very slight variation in throttle resulted in a HUGE difference in power! I don't know about hertz... I don't think anyone ever got hert! But seriously folks, I'm sure they weren't anywhere close to where they should have been.