General "Generator" questions:

[C-10 simplex]

So, because of the recent storm i "had" to rig up some sort of temporary power; i went over to my parents' house because their power got knocked out plus one of the bridges was closed so i probably could not get to my appartment anyways.

i took an optima yellow top 34/78 and put it in the car and then hooked a "husky" (home depot brand) 750 watt inverter to the battery. We were able to at least get on the net and watch TV indefinitely as long as the engine was running or run occasionally---say at least 15mins per every hour. This setup seemed to work ok. This was on the 2.2 engine at first, but then i decided to switch to the truck (small block) because believe it or not, the small block was actually quieter than the 4 cyl (needed to run late at night) AND i figured (possibly wrong) that the small block is better suited to idle also considering how big the fan and radiator is on the truck?


Some of my concerns are:

1) i don't know what size alternators generally come stock on cars, but is this sort of thing stressful for the alternator? Keep in mind i will only be using it in this manner during power outages which is pretty rare.

2) Would switching to a larger alternator help?

3) i'm thinking of getting a larger inverter maybe 2500-3000 watts so that i can power the fridge, fans etc. How would #1 and #2 be affected by this if at all?

4) Would using more than one battery at a time change anything?

5) Note that i don't know much about electricity, alternate power etc.

[Lippyp]

By the time you've bought a bigger alternator and a bigger inverter it'd probably be as cheap to buy a stand-alone gas powered generator, the small suitcase type will power a TV etc. Buy a used one thats a bit bigger and you could run a light or two and a fridge/freezer.

[rpmerf]

My father and I have been wondering these same questions for a while also. He has a 2500W(3000 peak) inverter. We were wondering if it would matter if he runs it off his suburban or his del sol. The suburban has a larger battery and alt, but the del sol has a 1.5l engine.

Just going off the top of my head here, having not done much research on the situation, but being decently familiar with electronics.....

my truck has a 61 amp listed on the options list, I don't know otherwise.

Basically, the way I think of it is that the batteries are almost like gas tanks, they provide the energy to the inverter. Your alternator fills the batteries like a gas pump fills your gas tank. A larger alternator will help recharge your batteries faster, and be able to keep up with the load better. A larger battery or dual batteries will also help with the load. running 2 batteries is like having 2 gas tanks, you have double the energy to draw from. However, I would think it would be a better idea to have one large battery running the inverter, and a smaller/normal sized battery isolated just for starting the truck, so you never have to worry about killing your starting battery. In an isolated setup, the two batteries are connected by a relay. When is off, the relay is open and the batteries are separated. When the key is to run/start, the 2 batteries are connected, giving you all of the available power to start the truck.

For a 750w power supply, I don't think I would really worry about any of this, but it might become more important with a 2500w inverter.

With my truck (70 c20), I plan to setup an isolated dual battery setup, and change from a the generator to an alternator. I will also run some 2 or 4 gauge cable directly between alternator and auxiliary battery. I'll add some extra ground of the same sized cable. This will ensure that the power can easily flow, and I don't have to worry about burning out some 40 year old 10 gauge wire.