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I see alternators spec'd from 160 amps on lower priced units, up to 220 amps on higher priced units. I know what an alternator does, how much difference would going to a higher amped alternator make? I can only guess that the higher amped alternator would charge your batteries faster, but only when you're driving around? Worth it to add a larger alternator to an M/H?
Tanks
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John and Patti
US Army (Ret)
Lifetime VFW
Lifetime DAV
While I don't have an answer for your question, I do want to welcome you to the RV Dreams forums. You will find a lot of knowledgeable folks here who are willing and able to answer your questions. Thus, we welcome your questions and comments.
Also, thanks for your service to our country.
Terry
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Terry and Jo
2010 Mobile Suites 38TKSB3 2008 Ford F450 2019 Ford Expedition Max as Tag-along or Scout
Yes, a larger alternator will charge your batteries faster when the engine is running if you have a large enough battery bank that is run down, 8 or more golf carts or 4 or more 8Ds (large batteries). Most motorhomes come with 2 to 4 golf cart batteries or equivalents for the house or 200 to 450 amp-hours of battery capacity. These are in addition to the chassis battery or batteries, which are for the engine. (Some motorhomes have more house batteries than 4 and some use larger batteries like 8Ds, which are rough equivalents to 2 normal size batteries).
For normal wet cell batteries you don't discharge them more than 50% and the maximum charging rate is C/5 or capacity divided by 5, so each set of two golf carts (most are around 220 amp-hours of 12-volts for two) can handle a maximum charging rate of 220 /5 or 44 amps. 160 / 44 = 3.6 so a 160 amp alternator can charge 6 (3 * 2) golf cart batteries at maximum charging rate. (AGMs can handle higher charging rates, my memory says C/3, but I could be wrong). If you have 8 or 10 golf cart batteries a 220 amp alternator might make sense, if you dry camp a bunch.
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Bill Joyce, 40' 2004 Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid Journal at http://www.sacnoth.com Full-timing since July 2003