Dual alternators

you have to consider, thats differing between dc voltage, and ac voltage. huge difference.

 

It is also the max load we are noting. You shouldn't be running it for long, otherwise the winch will fry. This is especially true for the permenant magnetic motor winches.
If you are at max load, you are probably doing something wrong. Get a snatch block and extension line.

 

Do you know what your battery is rated in cranking amps? Your starter approaches that while cranking. Short duration loads=smaller gauge of wire.

 

Typical load? 0-2000 lbs on a Warn M8000 is 80-200 amps. That is minimum.

Get an alternator that can run your lights and stereo. For a winch, you want to rely on a second battery. You won't end up killing your battery as fast and you can jump yourself if you leave the electronics on with the engine off accidentally.

 

DC Power Inc makes a 270a alt, puts out 160 @ idle and max at not very high, but they're expensive.

That link that was posted w/ the 250-390A alts isn't working, anyone have a new one?

 

....Please explain. I really have no idea how they differ. I was under the impression that 12V at X amps was 12V at X amps regardless of DC or AC.

 

He means 120V AC is what is in the home.

 

think about it if your battery is rated at 680 CCA ( cold cranking amps) @12v... that's a lot of power albeit not for long a few seconds at best. 12vx680a= 8160w Max even pulling 480amps at max load it's feel within a batteries ( without and alternator running) capability for maybe 30-40 seconds before it's completely useless and needs a deep cycle charger.

I have a deep cycle marine battery hooked up to a VR10000 that I use in my boat house to pull my boat out of the water 3500lbs @15* angle) without a charger on it. Granted I only lower and retrieve the boat once before I need to charge the battery again.

 

Yeah, I guess I just view the majority of winch situations as extremely slow so I didn't really see how it would just be quick. I guess the real reason is that you're rarely pulling the full load of the winch. I can come to terms with that.

 

I'll revamp an old thread!

There are quite a few options available that I'm currently looking at myself.
I used to compete in car audio w my Tacoma and pulled about 12-1600 amps during burps off my battery bank on an upgraded alt.
I was looking at a dual set up but the parasitic loss wasn't work it as most of the new agm batteries like xs power provide a substantial res to draw from for short periods of time. I had about 450ah reserve capacity at 20amp draw of battery in the truck and it wasn't near enough to hold my voltage stable during long beats/demos to even provide for 1/2 the power the amps were cable of.


Anyhow: dc/mechman/excessive amperage all make direct bolt on alternators for our trucks, that can withstand the terrain we deal w and constant draw when using a winch etc. I currently have a xs power 3100 as my main battery up front and that thing is stout! I'm saving up for a 270amp alt at idle and the best part is, it's a simple direct bolt in. Most of the " other " high output alternator so called ratings are complete bs and " bench marked when cold. I want a true world application 270 and the aforementioned supply that.
A strong battery like the 3100 and a 270amp should easily hold a 5000 watt inverter for quite some time and wouldn't need a second alt. if there is to much voltage drop, make sure to double up on ur power and ground 1/0 or 2/0 depending on length and add a second battery.

Another set up I had which I'm duplicating again I had 6kw rms on 2 3100s and when the truck ran i didn't suffer any major voltage drop so if that worked out for me, anything Els would be ok as well

 

very pricey, even more so than DC power, id be willing to spend the money if it was absolutely worth it. they seem to be a very legit company. i'll have to collect some pennies and maybe give them a shot in the future

 

So have any of you setup a dual alternator setup? Or am I going to have to be the first. I need about 270 more amps of power and I'm already maxed out with a 320 DC Power alternator, which by the way, kicks major butt.

 

What exactly are you doing with this truck that would require that many amps ?
320 Amp should be more than enough if you have proper reserve capacity...... for example the xs power 3100D batteries. They are Awesome! We use them for car audio all the time.
What is your voltage doing ? how low does it drop ? This will tell us if you need more or not.
also, if your drawing more than 320 A plus batteries are draining 1/0 wire is most definitely not big enough. When i was competing and limited to 2 batteries i gained from 155 to 155.6 by doubling my wire runs. 155 to 155.6 is increase is MASSIVE

 

I'm currently pulling 180 amps with one amplifier, and 30 amps with the driver amplifier, the transceiver is pulling 14 amps. Truck runs great, I have a bit of voltage drop across the lines about 1v which doesn't seem like much but that little bit kills alot of the PEP and even RMS output wattage numbers which is kind of annoying. I am upgrading my system and will need to have another 300 amps on hand. I'm wanting to avoid going to a "motor maul" as I'd rather have another alt than a crap ton of batteries.

The issue with my application versus Car Audio, is when I pull a draw on the system, there is no quick spikes, sudden bass thumps that pull down on the system briefly for only a moments time....when I key a microphone it's full on hardcore above anything any audio competiton would experience....my draw is CONSTANT draw. Caps and stiffeners don't help with what I'm doing. It's not uncommon to have 30 seconds to a minute or so of a constant 200 amp draw on my system. It's pretty wild.

There are guys who are running 5 Leeve Neville 320amp alts on their Suburbans keying 50,000 watts. I'm not ever gonna do that, but I want to beable to key a constant draw and peak watt output around 3000+ watts at 14 or 16 volts(if I can get an externally regulated isolated second alt). Ohms law being 14.5vx210ampsx.50%efficiency = 1,522.5 wattage output which is roughly where I'm at right now. When I'm done I'm planning on keying above 3000 watts so Ohms law would be looking like: 16voltsx320ampsx.50%Efficiency = 2,560wattage output.
Not interested in getting the voltage much higher than 16 as the transistors will likely overheat and produce more output but not on the frequency of which I'm wanting it trasmitted on.

I just figured some of the offroad boys with the onboard welders and what not would be running dual alts for sure, but i just can't find any information. The chevy guys have it easy. Direct bolt on systems and bam 640 available amps on hand.

 

30 seconds is how long a bass race lasts for,
Voltage drop with 200 amp draw won't be to bad with a 300A alt and 2 group 31 AGM deep cycles and the recover will be really fast. Even 3 batteries WONT be that bad to carry around and with that alt should be more than enough

 

Right on Mantheon, thanks for the heads up. I figured I'd post a video of a similar system to what I plan on running but ill have the each stage in its own cabinenet rather than in one big one like this video. ...if I can get the amps to do it. It's gonna need about 300 for itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5j8IEG9ERA

It's for scientific purposes only though.