Your last generator Maintenance Run

[ultrarunner]

Mission creep with alternators..... Dodge Journey's use something in the range of 150A, often with a decoupler pulley.

Getting old.... I remember when 60A seemed not small.....

I'd have thought there would be at least a basic Physics course on the way to an RN cert.... but perhaps not the case today.....

Rgds, D.

I think some of the early alternators were in the 35 to 40 amp range... about double what a basic generator put out...

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Way back, Chevy trucks came with 37 amp alt. for years and years, it was a big deal when they went to 60!

I got the "plow prep" package on my new pu, and it came with a 120 amp alternator. I figure at some point, that 120 is going to be pretty useful.

SR

 

[grsthegreat]

I think some of the early alternators were in the 35 to 40 amp range... about double what a basic generator put out...

ya, but their output is 14 volts...not 240 volts. My old work van had an inverter to charge tools and run microwave. it was nice to have hot lunches at the worksites. i did have a cheap inverter catch fire years back. luckily i had a fire extinguisher onboard. After that i bought a high quality, expensive unit and never had any other issues.

 

[daugen]

I really want to see what happens when some lady tries to plug a full size hair drier into that inverter "convenience outlet" providing about 3amps...
watch it short the entire brain of the car out, cascading system failure.
Folks see the plug, do not understand electricity at all, and are puzzled why they get that burning wire smell so often.
Owning a small town Radio Shack for five years, I was thoroughly entertained by the ways folks could misuse electronics.
That was where I learned about keyboards, energized circuit boards, etc: if you teach it to drink, it will soon learn to smoke
Water and electricity are bad news together.

Which makes me wonder how waterproof these portable generators are. Are they rated to sit out in the rain and run?
I sure wouldn't, but some folks don't even understand the basics here. Perhaps a wireless model where no cords are needed.

if those inverter fuses or relays don't work, you have the makings of a fine toaster.
And why I always travel with two fire extinguishers...

Here's a maintenance question for you. Better quality portable gens have GFI outlets on them. Other than clicking the test button on them,
which I always mistrusted, is there any way to safely test their operation?

 

[aczlan]

Here's a maintenance question for you. Better quality portable gens have GFI outlets on them. Other than clicking the test button on them,
which I always mistrusted, is there any way to safely test their operation?

A plug in GFCI tester will do that:


If you don't already have a voltmeter in your RV, I would get this kit so that you can verify voltage at a campground before plugging in: https://www.amazon.com/Southwire-10037K-Electrical-Manual-Ranging-Non-Contact/dp/B07H9WNZP3/

Aaron Z

 

[3930dave]

Way back, Chevy trucks came with 37 amp alt. for years and years, it was a big deal when they went to 60!

I got the "plow prep" package on my new pu, and it came with a 120 amp alternator. I figure at some point, that 120 is going to be pretty useful.

SR

My olde Chev car had a 38A alternator. Did the job, but didn't seem to have a long lifespan.... and about the only slightly higher load that alternator dealt with was a set of Hella H4 conversion headlights....

One nice thing with EMS orientated alts is the output at low rpm, not just the max output...... Esp. pre-LED lighting, those alts had to support massive lighting arrays, sometimes for hours at idle. Other than the unit 90 selected for his hybrid system, those ^ alts would probably be my next best choice. But hey, Needs Must..... armaggedon events or way back of nowhere with nothing else, even one of those old low output ones would look good....

Rgds, D.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I had an issue with a Diesel 8wd ARGO. 2 cyl Rugerini air cooled motor that came with a busted low capacity, magneto. Needed power to run cooling fans for the brakes. So I installed a typical GM alternator for simplicity and output. But the rig did not like to run that alternator at idle and elevating the idle kicked in the snowmobile clutch. I got rid of the whole project, but wonder what my options could have been to this day.

 

[DEWFPO]

I had an issue with a Diesel 8wd ARGO. 2 cyl Rugerini air cooled motor that came with a busted low capacity, magneto. Needed power to run cooling fans for the brakes. So I installed a typical GM alternator for simplicity and output. But the rig did not like to run that alternator at idle and elevating the idle kicked in the snowmobile clutch. I got rid of the whole project, but wonder what my options could have been to this day.

Was the alternator output too low, or was the load pulling down the engine rpm too much at idle?

If the alternator output was too low but the engine was handling the load fine you could have used different sized pulleys to get the alternator rpm up without having to increase engine rpm too much. If the engine couldn't handle the load at idle, you could have change the pulley size in the engine so that you could have raised idle rpm to meet alternator output needs but not so high that the clutch or belt engaged on the transmission.

DEWFPO

 

[Industrial Toys]

The engine had no power at idle. Today, I might have investigated changing the characteristics of the clutch (is that possible?) and installing some kind of solenoid for elevated idle, if I require brake cooling. I bought this as a factory prototype/experiment.

 

[3930dave]

The engine had no power at idle. Today, I might have investigated changing the characteristics of the clutch (is that possible?) and installing some kind of solenoid for elevated idle, if I require brake cooling. I bought this as a factory prototype/experiment.

First thing I thought of was pulleys too..... next, just throw a 1kw quiet generator on board, and run 120vac muffin fans..... should get you the air moving you needed, and bonus of on-board AC (meaning voltage).....

Rgds, D.