Got some new stuff for the hearse

[Morella]

Sorry if my writing is bad. I just took medicine an6 have double vision.

Tony brought me a 2500/5000 watt inverter to replace the 650/1300 one. I can run an air conditiomer or floor heater all night, as they cycle on and off. If the car is moving, I can have the AC running continuously or the heater on most of the time, in case the factory one breaks, or isn't enough. I added another battery t00, so I have 260 watt-hours of deep-cycle power, in addition to the main battery, which can't be drained with the key off, so it will always start.

Does the 76 with 440 has a 140 alternator? I'm going to need it to charge the batteries.

-denise

[spastic_chicken]

How many amps does your alternator need to be to run that big of an inverter? I didn't know it would power that big of one.

[BIGEVIL]

At full capacity, that inverter can draw over 200 amps of 12v power!

[Morella]

Has anyone ever tried to take out the AIR pump and put a second alternator in that bracket? I remember seeing the really nice setup with two alternators and electrical AC only, but that looked expensive. I have a few alternators around here.

Agreed, it would take well over 200 amps to run everything at once, but a small air conditioner will run on about 800 watts, and heaters don't usually quit completely. I would probably run the electric heat just for the first 5-10 minutes while the engine warmed up, and the A/C only when the factory A/C isn't enough. Would that work?

Another concern is that if both batteries are completely flat, and I start the car on the main battery, then I'm charging two dead batteries in addition to my normal loads. I could either use a smaller gauge wire like 12 or 14-ga for charging, or put in a 50-amp circuit breaker and if it blows trying to charge the aux batteries, reset it after the main battery is up, and turn off the AC or heat for a few minutes until the volts on the aux batteries come on (I have gauges for both).

Do any of these ideas sound workable? I would like to have a 200-amp alternator, but Tony doesn't want me to spend the money, and neither do I.

-denise

[BIGEVIL]

Locating an alternator where your smop pump used to be should be pretty straight foward if the alt is a single wire style.
For a cooler why dont you look in to one of those car swamp coolers. You put ice in a small ice chest and it works just like an evaporative cooler. Since your car already has a/c, getting a big bulky unit might be more effort than its worth. Check this out on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/KoolerAire-12-Vo...QQcmdZViewItem
Auxilary batteries should be charged using a battery isolator. They are very common for RV's. Sort of like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/COLE-...spagenameZWDVW The aux batteries can run low but never affect the main starting battery. Use at least 4 gauge wire for charging.

[BIGEVIL]

Just another thought.
If you used this for supplementing your car's exisiting heater.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PORTABLE-CERAMIC-CAR-AUTO-HEATER-12-VOLT-150-WATT-NEW_W0QQitemZ130207331390QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130207331390

And you used this to supplement your car's exisiting a/c

http://cgi.ebay.com/KoolerAire-12-Volt-Mini-Air-Cooler-Conditioner_W0QQitemZ330182043101QQihZ014QQcategoryZ16035QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

You would not need and additional battery or alternator. Both of these seem to draw a small amount of power.

[Morella]

I have the battery isolator and that's an excellent idea, if it will charge 3 batteries.

The big trucks have a system that starts the engine several times during the night. Tony keeps telling me how great those are, except that you can't use them in California.

The cooler won't work. Ten minutes later, you'll have a cooler full of warm water. I did a lot of experimenting with this stuff.

Thanks for looking this stuff up for me.

[Morella]

I may just replace the compressor with another alternator and go all electric with the air condtioning. I could probably get close to 2 tons continuous that way, the car would run cooler, and it would clean up a lot of stuff under the hood.

-denise

[BIGEVIL]

Not as easy as one might think. I am on my 3rd revision. Some of the biggest challenges were getting an inverter big enough to handle the load when the compressor first kicks on, getting the hot air from the condenser out of the car, and of course the duct work for the cold air.
The only reason I fabbed this whole thing up was to have cold a/c when the car is parked at car shows (and because very few people have done it). If I had it all over to do again, I'm not so sure I would.

[Morella]

Sometimes I need a major challenge, though, and this one might be right for me, as long as it's not too expensive. What did you use for the ducting? I was thinking of Kidex, because you can cut and bend it just like sheet metal, and it's grained plastic, so you don't have to put any finish on it, if you run a duct channel up the middle of the top. Dreaming up ways to exhaust the air is a concern that I think about a lot.

I don't need too much A/C. It's 90 degrees in the house now and I'm freezing. I set the cars to 85 or even 90 sometimes, but it gets up to 120 here, and I have those annoying passengers to deal with...people who like temps in the 70's and 80's.

-denise

[Zachary]

Personally I have seen everything, gigantic alternators so big you nearly need an engine hoist to put them in, two to three alternators hillbilly rigged on a bracket system that looks like Robocops guts, etc. The best results in my opinion are ALWAYS from isolators.

First off, having several alternators just looks stupid in my opinion. It let's people know right off the bat that you don't have a clue how to solve power problems on your car. People with two inverters usually have naked lady mudflaps and those little balls that attach to your steering wheel to help you turn corners and curb feelers. Sorry, but it's true!

Anyway, isolators are great, they will power up to three batteries if you get the kind with four posts (one for charging, three for battery output) but I have run tons of shit off of my two battery isolator for years (HUGE stereo, light bar, toggle switches, neons and my inverter that runs my camera system)

The key I have found is getting a good battery. The Yellow Top marine starting deep cycle batteries are the best. They are expensive as shit but are indestructable, you can completely drain them something like 500 times before it even starts to affect the batteries lifespan or performance and I have had the same one since 2001.

[BIGEVIL]

First off, having several alternators just looks stupid in my opinion. It let's people know right off the bat that you don't have a clue how to solve power problems on your car.

That may be true in some cases, but if your electrical needs exceed the output of your alternator, extra batteries only prolong the inevitable. I run twin 200amp alts and 5 batteries because there are several situations where my car will be exceeding 300 amps.
The fact is, if an stock/substandard alternator is constantly trying to recharge multiple batteries AND trying to power the rest of the car, it will fail in a hurry. Adding extra batteries using an isolator AND using a stock alternator for a constant heavy load is like paying your bills with a credit card.

[Morella]

Adding extra batteries using an isolator AND using a stock alternator for a constant heavy load is like paying your bills with a credit card.

How so? (although I pay mine off every month). I have 260 amp-hours of marine battery in the back on an isolator, the idea being that I can't drain the main battery while the car is shut off. I've used a smaller inverter and single battery for a couple of years, but with a bus tie contactor instead of battery isolator. The contactor never connected the buses until I started the engine and threw the bus tie switch. The system was modeled after the Convair aircraft, but isn't practical anymore, unless I can find a gang-bang bar and those huge relays. Fuck, they're 24v anyway.

The idea was to run the stereo and lights without running down the main battery, and it worked flawlessly. I just decided to use an isolator instead of a bus tie with the larger system, because I didn't think that bus tie relays from smaller aircraft could handle the switching.

Maybe I'm electrically-impaired, but I don't understand the credit card analogy. It kind of bothers me, though, even though I'm only using two aux batteries. I may never even have much of an inverter load going if I have the engine running. If I don't, can a stock alternator charge the aux batteries without milking the system? I never even noticed it with one battery, even when I had run it dead. I could throw the bus tie switch and never lose more than half a volt. My main question is, do I need more alternator?

-denise

[BIGEVIL]

You have the right idea about the isolator (or a big relay or switch) and using lights and stereo without the engine running.
Here is the scoop though. With a stock charging system the battery is only there to start the car. The rest of the time the alt is doing all the work. (if you remove a battery cable off the battery for a quick second you will see that the car will stay running). Now with that being said, imagine how much current the car itself draws while running. I.E. headlights, coil, engine computer, a/c clutch, fan motor, dash lights, power windows, turn sigs, radio etc etc etc. Most car builders only install an alt just big enough to handle all of that to keep the price of the car down at the time of production.
Now lets add a big badass battery in the trunk. We hang around and play our stereo with the engine off, or use an inverter to power some tools or something. That deep cycle battery will power that stuff for hours. But now its time to leave. We start our car (it will because the main battery up front was unaffected) and off we go. The alt is now going to have to run the car's entire electrical system PLUS recharge that big badass battery. A somewhat discharged marine battery can easily demand a 50 amp charge. Since it has the lowest voltage in the system, it will be the 1st in line to gobble up all the power the alt is making. The bigger (or more reserve batteries) the bigger the draw on the alt. Now remember alt still has to keep the whole car running. It will be running FULL capacity to keep up. Not only will most of the car's systems be running about 2 volts lower than what they are designed for, the alt will get VERY hot. Heat kills alternators. It also wears out their brushes much faster than normal. All of this goes mostly unnoticed to the driver. (here is where I am saying paying bills with a credit card). You are over drawing your resources.

Let me make it simple. If you all you need is to run more accessories while the car is RUNNING, a bigger alt is the answer. (150-200amps). If you need to run accessories without the engine running, you have to use a bigger alt and an additional battery(s).

[Morella]

I believe I agree about the bigger alternator, but I just had one other idea...a trailer brake resistor between the isolator and battery rack? Would that let me adjust the charging current?

-d