Making power

MR. GADGET

MR. GADGET

New Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Location
Raleigh NC
So I was thinking about a way to charge a Battery on a trailer.
Looked at solar looked at hooking it to the truck and cant use anything like a battey charger (120v).
Was thinking about using an alternater out of a chevy truck got one now and a 3-5 hp motor like a preasure washer motor found a few cheep.
just wanted to do a belt drive or direct drive "if the RPM is good)to one or two to charge it up.
It would be used for camping to say charge for a few hrs but run 12v lights at camp or an inverter at night.
No noise at night just for a little time in the day and thats no problem.
What would you need on a set up to keep from over charging them or can you just hook it up and run it. looked at the blazer "89 k5" and it has one wire going to the battery. looks like I could do that.
Jon
 
power

I looked at the alt and 5hp motor thing. In the end I decided it would be just as easy to use a set of jumper cables and let the trail rig charge the batteries. (gallon of gas)The ideal solution would be the Honda EU2000, small and very quiet, but $995 price tag sucks.
 
LARRY SMITH said:
The ideal solution would be the Honda EU2000, small and very quiet
Click to expand...

I concur. They rock.
 
well, along these lines what would it take to make a 'regular' motor a bit quieter. Would a better muffler on the motor help things out ? Maybe a watter trap ?
 
I run three batteries on my trail rig, a 160 amp one wire alternator. I can charge them back without much issue. I have a extension I made for the welder, but I can also plug a jumper cable type end into it for charging and so on. I can isolate one battery so I only run off of two of them, so never a fear of not being able to start back up. If your tow rig is always going to be close you could use it. Simply install a + and a - from the battery and a fast idle switch or throttle cable and you will have charge. Biggest thing is to do what will work best for you.
Keep us posted on the outcome
 
I was reading on some RV forums about making their generators quieter.. Many people had excellent results with an automotive muffler attached to a foot or few feet of iron pipe, pointed up.

Don't forget the chrome tip.. :D
 
LARRY SMITH said:
I looked at the alt and 5hp motor thing. In the end I decided it would be just as easy to use a set of jumper cables and let the trail rig charge the batteries. (gallon of gas)The ideal solution would be the Honda EU2000, small and very quiet, but $995 price tag sucks.
Click to expand...

Don't want to run the diesel like that or the K5. Just don't like to let one run and not change RPM or be getting air it will kill a diesel if you don't have a high idle.
Free or cheep motor free Alt = free power other then the gas.
Don't want to spend the money and don't want to carry the 7500 watt gen.
I plan on bling bling stacks 1 in to two if I do it the motor I'm looking at will take a 1" or 1 1/4" treaded pipe and can use a big muffler.
Just thinking of a way to use the junk I got.
Does the one wire set up work and keep you from over charging it?
You really need two wires correct? one for the + alt to the Batt and one for the - to the Alt housing to the Batt.
J
 
Back in the good ole daze when I was youngster, we had connections that kept us supplied with infield passes to most of the big Charlotte races.... After a few "incidents" over the noise the generator made (usually involving large amounts of alkyhol & NASCAR induced testosterone), we started trying to "quiet" the genset. I'll mention here that the genset was a requirement of several of the females that accompanied us... :shaking:

Anyways, this was a standard el'cheapo generator... 8HP Briggs engine & 2.5-3K generator...

We started by adding the largest muffler (seems it was about 6"-7" dia. X 12" L) that would physically fit inside the frame... more BS from Mr."Earnhardt RULZ!"

Next we piped out of the existing muffler into a SET of AutoZoo 1.5" in/out turbo mufflers and added a 3' extension on top... these were welded to a bracket outside the frame... not bad, but still getting harassed by toothless Alabama resident in camo LUV truck w/ 3 bucks of scaffolding in the rear...

Next we added a doghouse... literally! "Borrowed" from a well known WC drivers dog pen... Lined with Texaco(?) blue hard foam insulation & set down over the top of the genset... never an unkind word about the noise after that... only a steady stream of @$$holes lining up to *USE* the power!

We DID keep a very close check on it to insure it was getting sufficient air to keep cool, but only ran it for a few hours at a time... usually while everyone else in the infield were trying to passout!

FWIW, AA Mfg. now have Briggs exhaust flanges for sale... you could make you own exhaust system to fit your needs...
 
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