Ford Dual Alternators
- Thread starter Zee09
- Start date
Cool, a 16 pill Fat Boy "maul dropper" option. Equipped straight from the factory!
Even if it is an inefficient thermoelectric cooler/ fridge/beerbox, they only draw 4 to 5 amps continuously, no second alternator is needed, just for that additional load, but it could help if the coolers run for several hours with the engine off and depletes the battery(s) to low levels where they can suck a lot of amperage.
Does this truck come with a large Inverter and dual batteries?
I've be interested in how the voltage regulator(s?) controls them in parallel. Do they share the load equally?.... or is the second only sent field current when one alternator can't maintain the voltage desired by the voltage regulator due to a large DC load.
While tangentially related. Here is a power curve for different alternators in the same casing from 320 amps to 185 amp rating. The 185 amp rated one starts producing amperage at a much lower rpm, and makes more of it until about 2000 alternator rpm.
I've read on this forum more than once how people assume a higher rated alternator always makes more amperage.
Depends on the pulley ratios, and engine idle speed rpm, but this chart shows otherwise.
All the alternators in this chart below, are the same physical size.
That's a large frame leece neville 320 amp J-180 saddle mount on the left with , Nippon Denso clone 50/120 amp on the right, which maxes out at 109 amps and has very poor hot idle speed output. of about 32 amps, both numbers shy of its 50 and 120 amp rating.
The one on the right will be my second alternator, but the one on the left could, if driven by a 10 groove serpentine pulley, outperform both.
I'm stuck with Dual V belts and the large frame Leece Beast above, would be extremely difficult to mount to my engine.
is it underperforming because it's a poor copy or are the original Denso alternators the same in that regard?
Poor nd copy made in Malaysia. Bought new from az.
Couple hundred more rpm it does pretty well. Better than another 50/120 alternator of different design.which does.meet its ratings.
Couple hundred more rpm it does pretty well. Better than another 50/120 alternator of different design.which does.meet its ratings.
Zee09
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AutoMechanic
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I’ve never seen anything with two alternators that’s a new one to me. Heck not even my dads rig has two alternators. And after tonight I don’t know if I want to see another alternator LOL. I had to put an alternator in an 84 Camry I was filling in for a college automotive teacher and man that bolt with the built on bracket was nothing but trouble luckily I had dealt with them before and was able to explain to the students and other instructor that it was normal and hard to get lined up just right.
When I was truck shopping back in 2014, I visited the Ford, Chevy and Ram dealers in the western Minneapolis suburbs (I lived in Rogers back then). I remember the brochure for the Ram heavy duty trucks showed that dual alternators were an option (one 220, the second 180, or both 220s). The brochure said this was for users who had heavy electrical loads for inverters, plows, etc. I wasn’t in the market for a 1 ton back then, but it was interesting to read. (Now I could use a 1 ton for what I do these days).
I ended up buying a low mileage 2009 GMC Sierra Denali 1500... I probably should have kept it a while longer
I ended up buying a low mileage 2009 GMC Sierra Denali 1500... I probably should have kept it a while longer
I have heard of dual radiators.
I have not heard of dual alternators.
BIG Stereo guys (many thousands of watts RMS) use a special set up like this .. Please pardon the soundtrack, but it is the only thing I can think of that is like this. This also isn't an SPL thread, I know of videos where the exact alternator setup I describe is on it but aside from this .. Never seen.
I have not heard of dual alternators.
BIG Stereo guys (many thousands of watts RMS) use a special set up like this .. Please pardon the soundtrack, but it is the only thing I can think of that is like this. This also isn't an SPL thread, I know of videos where the exact alternator setup I describe is on it but aside from this .. Never seen.
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It's been a 100 years (or so it seems) but in 1992 I owned Predator Alternator, we wound our own stators and rotors, and were one of the first to use avalanche diodes, and our own small diameter and extra wide serpentine pulley using 7102 alternator we were able to produce 220 amps at 3400 RPM. Caveat, most engines could not rev above 6,000 else you could over spin the alternator and blow up the rotor. This was a very popular alternator for High Output Car Audio systems and their "Sound off" events. The issue was the car during the competition was limited to no more than 2500 engine RPM's (yes we made and sold solenoids that could be activated with the key fob for the remote-control alarm system.) The issue they had, and I'm sure it's the same for Ford, is not at freeway speed, rather at idle. A single alternator just doesn't produce enough power at idle.
I have heard that the guys that power their truck when sleeping off batteries so it does not need to idle like them to build up the bank of 4 or 6 batteries. Popular on ambulances and fire vehicles to operate additional fans, lights and coolers
Rod
Rod
A lot of the super duty trucks come with dual alternators. Especially if you have the upfitter switches and the inverter option. It would be interesting to know if they share the load or are on separate circuits. As an aside I wish Ford made the dame upfitter wires longer so they were easier to use.