240V Inverter in a Van or Truck

[Judaslefourbe]

or what if Alta sold battery packs to refill the bikes battery then you could leave that noisy generator refilling the 'charging' station while your out roosting @Judaslefourbe

Provided unlimited engineering resources, I would love to use older packs to build transportable "charging stations"

 

[WoodsWeapon]

Still seems the best solution to all of our desires is an extra battery. Even if said battery was $3,500, its still a cheaper solution than most charging options aside from 120lb noisy generators. But that brings us back to the plug not rated for repeated cycles, and unavaiability.

 

[Bionicman]

The more & more I think about it Simplicity rules a spare Alta battery is simply an intermediary and additional weight on the overall rig to the track I think we're just stuck with spending the big bucks on the nice quiet Honda generators. Got to kill those dinosaurs somehow?
Same Theory applies with the Tesla battery just an intermediary and an additional 300 pounds on your rig.
Harbor Freight also sells a generator motor so you can potentially belt up to your vehicle engine but regardless you need some place to store the extra energy so you have the weight of backup batteries Etc. Or allow your rig to run but I think expensive Honda generator is cheaper than my vehicle! Then there's solar but you wouldn't capture enough energy so you charge your motorcycle and then you come full circle with a bank of batteries to harness the excess energy while you're riding.

Perhaps a group Buy on Honda generators for a minimal discount?

 

[Philip]

Your math seems fine, but are you certain these alternators can be paralleled into a single DC load?

Well, I reached out to the guy who came up with this van inverter recipe, and he said that only one of his dual generators charges the deep cycle batteries and powers the Alta charger. He said this is how the installer recommended.

Can't the two generators be connected in parallel?? They are DC generators, not AC generators.

If this is as easy as I think it is, then the deep cycle batteries would be unnecessary, as the two high-amp alternators would provide a plenty of power to run the van and the Rapid charger simultaneously.

 

[Philip]

Google says:

If you have two alternators then you should be using two chargers/controllers or onecharger/controller that has two inputs to charge the batteries.

 

[OneLapper]

I would assume that the dual alternators simply means there is an aux alternator in addition to the OEM alternator. If thats the case, the aux alternator charges the "house" batteries only, like motor coaches and boats. Those batteries store the energy to run the inverter that charges the bike. He may well need to run the van engine because the house batts have a limited amount of power (run the van engine and you dont need two extra house batteries for example).

You can run alternators in parallel, but why would you want to? One larger alternator is cheaper than two.

 

[snydes]

Perhaps a group Buy on Honda generators for a minimal discount?

Have you read any of the discussions on European/Australian 240v inverter generators? From everything I’ve seen these could be the ideal Alta charging generators. Problem is they would be expensive to import and they wouldn’t be good for anything else than charging your Alta (unless you plan on moving to Europe).

Now if some young business minded individual (Scott @Elite Motorsports comes to mind) was to import enough to make the price reasonable this might be an attractive option...

 

[Bionicman]

Have you read any of the discussions on European/Australian 240v inverter generators? From everything I’ve seen these could be the ideal Alta charging generators. Problem is they would be expensive to import and they wouldn’t be good for anything else than charging your Alta (unless you plan on moving to Europe).

Now if some young business minded individual (Scott @Elite Motorsports comes to mind) was to import enough to make the price reasonable this might be an attractive option...

Negative - my apologies perhaps I need to take a big trailer up to BC & pickup a load of these European generators....

 

[snydes]

@Bionicman , here is an old discussion if you wanted to skim over it....
European/Australian generators

 

[WoodsWeapon]

Have you read any of the discussions on European/Australian 240v inverter generators? From everything I’ve seen these could be the ideal Alta charging generators. Problem is they would be expensive to import and they wouldn’t be good for anything else than charging your Alta (unless you plan on moving to Europe).

Now if some young business minded individual (Scott @Elite Motorsports comes to mind) was to import enough to make the price reasonable this might be an attractive option...

This.

 

[Philip]

Nations Starter & Alternator tech guru Adam said that connecting two similar DC alternators in parallel is straightforward and does not require any additional hardware.

So, I think I may have a new and improved recipe:

RECIPE #2

1) Upgrade the stock alternator:
270 Amp High Output Alternator for 2014-2015 Dodge ProMaster Work & Cargo Van

2) Buy a second alternator (dual alternator kit):
Dodge Promaster Dual Alternator Kit with 280XP High Amp Alternator for 3.6L Gas Engines

3) Buy a 12-240V inverter:
4000 Watt Pure Sine Inverter Charger - 12 Vdc to 120/240 Vac

This seems to be all. No extra batteries or high idle kits, hopefully.

Total: ~$3,500

Positives: compact, always available, lightweight, quiet, no charging, no buying extra gas.
Negatives: requires running the van, heat from the van, cost, not very fuel efficient.

 

[OneLapper]

Its been my experience that inverters work much better when connected to a battery, even if it's just a small T105 or group 31.

Right now I dont see a more cost effective solution than a good ole high resale value Honda generator. 4000 watt max, 3500 nom, 240vac, will power a Rapid charger. As far as it putting out 3300 watts at 7000 feet altitude, it might not without re-jetting. A 5000 watt generator would be a safer bet at those altitudes.

 

[Philip]

Its been my experience that inverters work much better when connected to a battery, even if it's just a small T105 or group 31.

It will be connected to the van's stock battery.

No need for several large deep cycle batteries if the alternators are powerful enough to keep the stock battery from discharging under load.

 

[OneLapper]

It will be connected to the van's stock battery.

No need for several large deep cycle batteries if the alternators are powerful enough to keep the stock battery from discharging under load.

Agreed

 

[Bionicman]

or mount one of these under your hood with belt/ pulley gearing to acheive the 3600rpm at idle....
10000 Max Starting/7200 Running Watts Generator Head

 

[Rainmaker]

Why not buy a spare Alta battery pack? I thought someone mentioned that the part could be swapped out quickly..?

 

[snydes]

Why not buy a spare Alta battery pack? I thought someone mentioned that the part could be swapped out quickly..?

@Mark911 tried to buy one and they told him there are none available to purchase. At this point it seems they don't have any stock built up.

 

[WoodsWeapon]

Im not convinced an extra will ever be available for purchase. Lets face it, the Alta is a higher end bike, and several of us have looked into spending thousands on generators, powerwalls, and every other conceivable charging system we can think up. The fact the plug isnt rated for multiple cycles, and the liability, suggests to me it’ll never happen.

 

[Bionicman]

Im not convinced an extra will ever be available for purchase. Lets face it, the Alta is a higher end bike, and several of us have looked into spending thousands on generators, powerwalls, and every other conceivable charging system we can think up. The fact the plug isnt rated for multiple cycles, and the liability, suggests to me it’ll never happen.

Apologise for coming into this late but can you define your statement regarding the plug not being rated for multiple cycles??

 

[snydes]

It’s not designed to be continually plugged in and unplugged without compromising the integrity of the connection, if that makes any better sense.