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24 volt alternator ( auxiliary )

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HarryN

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I have been involved in some van projects where we added 24 and 48 volt alternators.

The 48 volt work, but it can be a lot more complex than 24 volt versions due to products availability.

Since my auxiliary battery pack will be 24 volt, gathering together info on what it takes to add on an after market alternator on the 25+ cummins / 3500.

The reason is that it is fairly easy to get 3 kW from a 24 volt alternator and much easier to move it around.

Right now just gathering information.

Thanks

WARNING - This is just information gathering and some of it will not be correct. Please double check before using anything and feel free to contribute anything related to the OEM setup for p/n's etc as this will lead to other parts, brackets, etc.
 
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I have a 2024 Rebel 6.7 and it has 2 alternators. It was an option. Now I am trying to figure out how to harness that DC power for my RV trailer. What I mean is the wire with constant power on the 7 pin trailer connecter is maybe a 12 gauge which would limit the current going to the trailer to about 20 amps.
 
Haggs said:
I have a 2024 Rebel 6.7 and it has 2 alternators. It was an option. Now I am trying to figure out how to harness that DC power for my RV trailer. What I mean is the wire with constant power on the 7 pin trailer connecter is maybe a 12 gauge which would limit the current going to the trailer to about 20 amps.
Click to expand...

The wire in the 7 pin connector are just not useful for moving significant power from the truck to the trailer. I can run the math for you but you are right that it just is not useful.

If we target moving ( 100 amps ) x ( 12 volts ) ~ 1200 watts using DC - DC chargers, then the absolute minimum wire size ( reading from the left column of this ampacity charge ) is ~ 2 awg. This is possibly feasible, but disconnecting a live DC wire like that is - not ideal. The spark is substantial and can be quite damaging.

A more common approach is to use 120 vac, so 10 amps can easily be carried by 10 awg wire.

So put a 1500 or 2000 watt inverter in the truck, and run the wire to the RV trailer. Many trailers have a 120 vac charger in them that can be used to charge the battery.

This approach is very common in the van up-fit world that I play in.

Most consumer inverters are rated for "occasional duty" vs "continuous duty" so it is important to substantially oversize it.
 
Haggs said:
I have a 2024 Rebel 6.7 and it has 2 alternators. It was an option. Now I am trying to figure out how to harness that DC power for my RV trailer. What I mean is the wire with constant power on the 7 pin trailer connecter is maybe a 12 gauge which would limit the current going to the trailer to about 20 amps.
Click to expand...

It probably is not easy, but if you can get any photos of how the dual alternator it is implemented that would be interesting.
 
Haggs said:
I have a 2024 Rebel 6.7 and it has 2 alternators. It was an option. Now I am trying to figure out how to harness that DC power for my RV trailer. What I mean is the wire with constant power on the 7 pin trailer connecter is maybe a 12 gauge which would limit the current going to the trailer to about 20 amps.
Click to expand...

Most common approach is to run a separate set of cables to the RV with an Anderson style disconnect at the bumper and then use a larger DC-DC converter.

HarryN said:
It probably is not easy, but if you can get any photos of how the dual alternator it is implemented that would be interesting.
Click to expand...

What do you want to know? There isn't much to learn from a photo with how they are integrated. Pass alternator has the field wire coming from a wire harness on the pass side and feeds directly to the pass battery, the 2nd alternator is on the drivers side and has it's field wire from that side and ties into the drivers side battery. Not much to it, both are ECM controlled.
 
AH64ID said:
Most common approach is to run a separate set of cables to the RV with an Anderson style disconnect at the bumper and then use a larger DC-DC converter.



What do you want to know? There isn't much to learn from a photo with how they are integrated. Pass alternator has the field wire coming from a wire harness on the pass side and feeds directly to the pass battery, the 2nd alternator is on the drivers side and has it's field wire from that side and ties into the drivers side battery. Not much to it, both are ECM controlled.
Click to expand...
This is what I do. My trailer system is 24v so I’m running a Victron Orion XS1400 in the trailer because it can do any 12 or 24v on either side at a max of 50A. There’s a 2AWG run from my truck battery to the Anderson connector on the bumper, and at the Orion it hits a fuse block that drops it to 4AWG as that’s the largest wire that fits in the Orion. It also leaves me room to add a second Orion if I want to send 100A back there.

In the summer this thing cranks out all day long at 50A as I run the trailer ACs off of my battery when I drive. I also highly recommend the Orion XS models as they’re extremely efficient. There’s only a 13W loss at 700W throughput, so it never gets hot enough that you can’t put your hand on it. Find an inverter setup that’s anywhere close to that efficient.
 
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