Anybody add a second alternator for house battery charging?

[prevosman]

Sean,

Cannot disagree with your explanations. Bottom line we are talking about .13 or .14 GPH because I don't dispute your findings as expressed, and I know my generator fuel consumption to be reasonably close. The difference then may be 2 times, but not ten.

My Kohler is a turbo, no electronic controls.

I don't know how you measured your fuel or over what period of time but I do know based on my DDEC data that I can impose a certain load on my engine at a constant RPM and my fuel flow will vary based on whether my fan kicks on or not and the engine temp.

[oldmansax]

I have a second 125 amp, 12 Volt alternator for my house bank on the MCI. I have a switch on it so I can turn it off if the main generator is needed. Works perfectly.

TOM

[buswarrior]

Using the fuel pump back pressure shut off as your measuring stick is not very precise.

These things vary wildly, you have no idea as to how much fuel went through it while you were gone, and whether it was changed out.

Work a fuel pump for awhile, you'll be shocked at the erratic behavior of a fuel pump nozzle.

You see the pump tagged/bagged/out of service at the fuel station? The nozzle is waiting for replacement due to shut off too late and spilling. They won't be as quick to take it out of service if it shuts off early...

What is a busnut to do?  Park it level, fill the tank to the brim, where you can see it, every time, is as close as a busnut can get, but way closer than a nozzle shut off.

For the original topic, there's as many ways to skin this cat as there are cats.

One alternator? two? which voltage? both? generator use? ac or dc? stationary? down the road? inverter? inverter/charger? pure sine wave? modified sine wave? converter? equalizer? transfer switch? manual? automatic? simple plugs? neutral ground bonding? stock coach HVAC? house HVAC?

The right way is your way.

Get into the collective archives on the internet, here and at BNO, do a ton of reading, and get a feeling for which way you want to slice it. Everything except emerging technology has already been discussed somewhere on these two boards.

Do it your way, nobody else's?

happy coaching!
buswarrior