Help with AirCon, Cooking, and Solar please! (1 Viewer)

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Pics of alt with "oil pump " ? maybe a cooler ? curious ?
It won't be an "oil pump", it is a vacuum pump for the power assist brakes since with diesels there isn't sufficient vacuum available like in a petrol engine.. The oil lines are just for the engine oil being used as a lubricant for the vacuum pump. The pump uses the alternator's shaft to get its rotational motivation. Very common, at least with older diesels.

cheers,
george.
How does one eliminate that? Like if I use a more modern, higher output alternator?
The again, maybe better to just leave it until I can swap in a 1HZ or something.
 
How does one eliminate that? Like if I use a more modern, higher output alternator?
The again, maybe better to just leave it until I can swap in a 1HZ or something.

cheers,
george.
 

cheers,
george.
Thanks!
1HZ seems to be a great swap without turbo.
 
That would be a good swap, FWIW you will be hard pressed to increase alt output enough to keep up. My minnie winnie has already done the research for you, IMO what you want to do would be best served by building an a/c system ( 110V) that runs off a small gen that can be plugged in ( portable so you can use elsewhere ) when you go on a trip put gen in, get a diesel one if you want same gas as vehicle, unless you can source some a/c that is super efficient that noone knows about or has used. I would look at what boats do for a/c, the real way do do this is have an inverter(2,000w min) running the 110V a/c and have the gen wired in so it kicks on when batt bank gets low and shuts off when charged, combined with solar this would be an automatic system that would serve your needs reliably. Expense being the batt bank, inverter, a/c unit, controller so gen is auto on/off.
 
A setup like that would have no problem running AC, microwaves, instant pots, toasters, etc including all lights and fridge, charging *in most cases*.
Curious. What voltage are you running?
What is your highest current draw device?
And how do you use that device relevant to the system that powers it?

An A/C, a toaster, microwave, and an instant pot will smoke any system running it in no time w/o a solid recharge strategy. A strategy that accounts for minimum drain levels of the batteries, expected/intended runtime, and the resources used to accomplish the recharge - fuel, solar, shore power.

It is this part that OP needs to understand and partly why just a single answer is hard to postulate. I suspect you have the understanding and execution down to help OP better wrap their head around it.
 
Curious. What voltage are you running?
What is your highest current draw device?
And how do you use that device relevant to the system that powers it?

An A/C, a toaster, microwave, and an instant pot will smoke any system running it in no time w/o a solid recharge strategy. A strategy that accounts for minimum drain levels of the batteries, expected/intended runtime, and the resources used to accomplish the recharge - fuel, solar, shore power.

It is this part that OP needs to understand and partly why just a single answer is hard to postulate. I suspect you have the understanding and execution down to help OP better wrap their head around it.
My personal setup is an FZJ80 with upgraded Photoman Sequoia 150A alt. Stock lead acid start battery. Second battery is 180Ah DCS LiFePo4 mounted on LCP plate in the cargo area. Monitoring via Simarine and DCS Bluetooth. Currently charging via BCDC1225d which charges the LiFePo4 via alternator and solar. I have 110w roof mounted solar and 95w fold out panel to combine for 200w max potential. No shore charger. The 25 amp DC to DC with 180ah capacity may be a little slow at recharging, still playing with that, could swap to 50amp charger. 2000w inverter. The truck takes us on trips of a few days to weeks typically truck packing style (drive to new camp spot every day). I’ll also say this is also a shop truck that we use at shows/events displaying some of the work we do and products we sell, so very well could be considered overkill for most, including myself!

With the 150a upgraded alternator, I don’t get voltage drop at the start battery anymore when using a lot of power. It can keep up with charging, heater/AC, radio, other electronics and lighting on. I have some high watt things I power on the truck when I’m out on trips. Toaster (800w), rice cooker (700w), bucket water heater (1000w). Soon to experiment with induction cooking.

Yes you do need a strategy and plan for all these things. Experience helps a lot too. I’ve been using LiFePo4 in my truck for 3 years or so and thru that, monitoring how it works and such, I am confident on what I can use, how low I can go etc. My system can cover anything I throw at it in pretty much all scenarios i plan in being. I spend hours with customers planning their setups. It’s hard to put that all across the forum since every vehicle, system, environment, use and needs are different.
 
My personal setup is an FZJ80 with upgraded Photoman Sequoia 150A alt. Stock lead acid start battery. Second battery is 180Ah DCS LiFePo4 mounted on LCP plate in the cargo area. Monitoring via Simarine and DCS Bluetooth. Currently charging via BCDC1225d which charges the LiFePo4 via alternator and solar. I have 110w roof mounted solar and 95w fold out panel to combine for 200w max potential. No shore charger. The 25 amp DC to DC with 180ah capacity may be a little slow at recharging, still playing with that, could swap to 50amp charger. 2000w inverter. The truck takes us on trips of a few days to weeks typically truck packing style (drive to new camp spot every day). I’ll also say this is also a shop truck that we use at shows/events displaying some of the work we do and products we sell, so very well could be considered overkill for most, including myself!

With the 150a upgraded alternator, I don’t get voltage drop at the start battery anymore when using a lot of power. It can keep up with charging, heater/AC, radio, other electronics and lighting on. I have some high watt things I power on the truck when I’m out on trips. Toaster (800w), rice cooker (700w), bucket water heater (1000w). Soon to experiment with induction cooking.

Yes you do need a strategy and plan for all these things. Experience helps a lot too. I’ve been using LiFePo4 in my truck for 3 years or so and thru that, monitoring how it works and such, I am confident on what I can use, how low I can go etc. My system can cover anything I throw at it in pretty much all scenarios i plan in being. I spend hours with customers planning their setups. It’s hard to put that all across the forum since every vehicle, system, environment, use and needs are different.
Do you have a winch and which battery does it run off?
 
Do you have a winch and which battery does it run off?
Yes I do. It’s wired to the start battery. That’s kinda the agreed upon way to do it as your alternator will be feeding directly thru the start battery terminals and winch should always be ran with engine running.
 
Yes I do. It’s wired to the start battery. That’s kinda the agreed upon way to do it as your alternator will be feeding directly thru the start battery terminals and winch should always be ran with engine running.
Technically speaking ... If the winch is connected to the start batt terminals, with the engine running the alternator is feeding the winch directly and not thru the batt at all.

Just an alternate data point, my winch is wired pos+ to aux batt and neg- to start batt. The reason for this is resource management. If I can winch w/o burning fuel I would prefer to. Personal preference naturally.
Binding the batts doubles the available current to the winch for longer pulls. But I'll also add that the only time I winch w/o the engine running is during self recoveries. Generally not near anyone else when in 'conservation mode'.
 
Technically speaking ... If the winch is connected to the start batt terminals, with the engine running the alternator is feeding the winch directly and not thru the batt at all.

Just an alternate data point, my winch is wired pos+ to aux batt and neg- to start batt. The reason for this is resource management. If I can winch w/o burning fuel I would prefer to. Personal preference naturally.
Binding the batts doubles the available current to the winch for longer pulls. But I'll also add that the only time I winch w/o the engine running is during self recoveries. Generally not near anyone else when in 'conservation mode'.
Yeah sorry that’s what I meant my writing not always accurate ha.

So your 2 engine batteries are wired in parallel? To double the AH while winching?
 
My winch is connected to my house battery, which has its own alternator, so winching with the engine on should be fine, I think. Battery is a deep cycle AGM no longer covered by warranty so I'm trying to revive it. I think it got drawn down too much when I left it sitting for a week.
 
Yeah sorry that’s what I meant my writing not always accurate ha.

So your 2 engine batteries are wired in parallel? To double the AH while winching?
Yeah I figured. Just clarifying for posterity.
And yes, when bound, correct.
 
Battery is a deep cycle AGM no longer covered by warranty so I'm trying to revive it. I think it got drawn down too much when I left it sitting for a week.
Do you know the cause of the drain?
 
Probably running the fridge in the heat. The fridge has its own voltage cutoff, but the shop also mentioned I should have maintained the battery more through the winter. I was working away from home all fall, and then moved to a new job in February, so truck and battery got neglected. I noticed no issue with my start battery though, which is also AGM, just not deep cycle.
 

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