Drop in replacement alternator 150A

[Geo.Lander]

Hi,

I am looking to uprate my alternator for 50A DCDC charging (as well as supplying power for the cab's inverter and other toys).

I am a little confused about the mounting types and options. Does anyone on of a 150Amp 24v alternator of good quality that can simply be swapped out?

 

[Joe917]

You should be able find a Mercedes alternator, our 917 has a 200 Amp 24V .

 

[DiploStrat]

Sent you an e-mail with info on 150A Bosch.

Joe, 200A? Wow! My German friends expressed concern about the load on the drive belts. Any issues?

 

[Joe917]

Sent you an e-mail with info on 150A Bosch.

Joe, 200A? Wow! My German friends expressed concern about the load on the drive belts. Any issues?

No issues, and it is a single belt, unlike the compressor which is a double.

 

[Geo.Lander]

Sent you an e-mail with info on 150A Bosch.

Joe, 200A? Wow! My German friends expressed concern about the load on the drive belts. Any issues?

Thanks so much, replied in mail ?

 

[VerMonsterRV]

No issues, and it is a single belt, unlike the compressor which is a double.

No rush Joe, but would you mind sending me your VIN (message here on the portal or email)? You have the only civilian LN2 (not a firetruck/military truck) I know of and have some very interesting options (air suspension, 200amp alternator, AC etc). It is much easier to dig into a truck with the VIN in the EPC rather than start with a partial VIN (think it signifies the model) and hunt around for the original available options.

 

[Neil]

Just out of curiosity , unless you have the rate of charging Lithium batteries, what do you have on board that requires such power to be generated.

I have Gel batteries and obviously they charge at a much lower rate .

I have a 100 amp / 24v Alternator and i dont think its ever broken sweat

Just curious. ( not critical )

Neil

 

[Geo.Lander]

Just out of curiosity , unless you have the rate of charging Lithium batteries, what do you have on board that requires such power to be generated.

I have Gel batteries and obviously they charge at a much lower rate .

I have a 100 amp / 24v Alternator and i dont think its ever broken sweat

Just curious.

Neil

Maybe 100 would do it, I am planning on using a 50a 24v DCDC charger from RedArc for my 12v bank but the cab will also house litium start batteries, a separate inverter, about 500w of extra LED driving lights, our dometic fridge and 2 60w USB-C laptop charging stations. That is the plan anyway.. In winter, we have to rely on DCDC alternator charging for everything..

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Maybe 100 would do it, I am planning on using a 50a 24v DCDC charger from RedArc for my 12v bank but the cab will also house litium start batteries, a separate inverter, about 500w of extra LED driving lights, our dometic fridge and 2 60w USB-C laptop charging stations. That is the plan anyway.. In winter, we have to rely on DCDC alternator charging for everything..

I think the Redarc only pulls 25amps from 24V for an output of 50amps at 12V. Currently we have a Sterling DCDC charger, it was the highest output I could find of 70 amps at 12v (35 amps at 24v). Not sure I could recommend it though as we have already had one fail. We have a 100 amp alternator, mainly because we also have a rooftop DC air conditioner. Planning on 150amps should give you plenty of headroom and allow the alternator to run cooler. I plan on carrying a spare alternator and may get a larger one and keep the 100amp as a spare. Now one thing, if you are ever thinking about a 24v winch, then get the biggest alternator you can find. The power draw on one big enough four our trucks is enormous.

I am curious about the lithium start battery, why are you thinking of going that route?

 

[Joe917]

I would seriously look at a small generator for charging when solar is unavailable. Idling your main engine with low load is very inefficient and very hard on the engine.

 

[Geo.Lander]

I think the Redarc only pulls 25amps from 24V for an output of 50amps at 12V. Currently we have a Sterling DCDC charger, it was the highest output I could find of 70 amps at 12v (35 amps at 24v). Not sure I could recommend it though as we have already had one fail. We have a 100 amp alternator, mainly because we also have a rooftop DC air conditioner. Planning on 150amps should give you plenty of headroom and allow the alternator to run cooler. I plan on carrying a spare alternator and may get a larger one and keep the 100amp as a spare. Now one thing, if you are ever thinking about a 24v winch, then get the biggest alternator you can find. The power draw on one big enough four our trucks is enormous.

I am curious about the lithium start battery, why are you thinking of going that route?

Aircon is definitely on my list of future wishes, not sure what route to go but i think id like an integrated unit because I want an over the cab roof rack..

I want to house the start bank inside the cab and use it for peripheral devices in the cab too, so it basically just boils down to smaller, lighter and better cold weather performance (last much longer too). I am not 100% set on this plan yet thou.

I have not planned on a winch although the discussions on LN2 forum are quite entertaining I am with the "why bother" set I think. Some good arguments for and against but Id go hydraulic if that was the case..

 

[Geo.Lander]

Massive thanks to @DiploStrat for providing me with a Bosch part number for exactly what I was looking for, I have been looking at autodoc and found some "copies" of this alternator for about 11/3 of the price. Does anyone have any experience with AS-PL or CV PSH ? Visually they all look identical and have the same mounting and cabling houses, etc..

 

[Neil]

I would seriously look at a small generator for charging when solar is unavailable. Idling your main engine with low load is very inefficient and very hard on the engine.

With the Victron Dc to Dc Orion TR Smart charger ( 24v to 24V ) you can lower the activating voltage on the app, This allows it to produce the full 15 amps at Idle with 28.8v at bulk . Obviously you can get much higher current on the 12v versions.

This can be done in second on the bluetooth app

My previous Sterling one, that gave me nothing but trouble, didn't have this ability and hardly charged at all at idle , I had to crank the revs up to get a good charge out of it

I have a small Honda generator that I never use as it can never produce such a good charge .

Neil

 

[Joe917]

With the Victron Dc to Dc Orion TR Smart charger ( 24v to 24V ) you can lower the activating voltage on the app, This allows it to produce the full 15 amps at Idle with 28.8v at bulk . Obviously you can get much higher current on the 12v versions.

This can be done in second on the bluetooth app

My previous Sterling one, that gave me nothing but trouble, didn't have this ability and hardly charged at all at idle , I had to crank the revs up to get a good charge out of it

I have a small Honda generator that I never use as it can never produce such a good charge .

Neil

Using our Magnum charger we can deliver 125 Amps at 14.4 volts (12V bank) run off the generator.(we have it choked to 90 Amps, recommended by Rolls Surette)
For what it's worth our Stirling starts putting out 40 Amps almost immediately after start up.
Idling a diesel with low loads will lead to glazed cylinders and shortened engine life. It will also pollute more than a small genset. Just because you can charge from the main engine at idle does not mean it is a good idea.

 

[Geo.Lander]

With the Victron Dc to Dc Orion TR Smart charger ( 24v to 24V ) you can lower the activating voltage on the app, This allows it to produce the full 15 amps at Idle with 28.8v at bulk . Obviously you can get much higher current on the 12v versions.

This can be done in second on the bluetooth app

My previous Sterling one, that gave me nothing but trouble, didn't have this ability and hardly charged at all at idle , I had to crank the revs up to get a good charge out of it

I have a small Honda generator that I never use as it can never produce such a good charge .

Neil

Hi Neil, I do not plan to Idle. The first few years will be a lot of travel within Norway with 4-9 hours in between stops this should be enough to fully charge my planned bank (8*280Ah 3.2v cells). At a 50A charge I am calculating to be fully charged within 6 hours using the REDARC BCDC1250D (thanks again to @DiploStrat). Of course I plan on solar too (maybe 2*500w panels or 3*300w) The guys at REDARC seem to be solid and very helpful. Of course I am very much still in the planning stages.

I am also pondering a updated part number 100A alternator from an OEM manufacturer. Should be sufficient.

@DiploStrat - I read your LN2 posts about that bosch 150A project. How did that go in the end? Did you have any issues with the belt load/tension?