Hey Guys,

I've been searching high and low on the net for info on this. Most of the info I find are people making the remark "if it were so easy, EVERYONE would be doing it." Without reading into specific details of the questions being asked.

My new girlfriend mentioned she likes camping, but in a camper, not a tent. So I've been looking into getting an older camper to give some TLC. However, I don't want to be confined to finding campsites with full hookup, though I would migrate mostly towards them, just want other options, just in case.

And since I have found this group of guys to be some of the most intelligent groups of people as far as practicality and wisdom, I decided to come here. So, I'm looking for more ideas/input on hooking up a belt driven generator head to my truck engine. like this...

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog.../category/429/

Many comments I found in various forums from googling the issue has guys mostly making fun of the idea, assuming that everyone is trying to do this with any ol car like a small honda or something...But the specs on the gen head say it takes 16 HP to run full power. At 345 stock HP, even, not counting any mods, I find it hard to beleive I am not pumping out 16 HP at idle. They also mention varying frequency from a varying idle of a car motor, ok, again older cars I understand how it'd happen, but with the computer technology of my 06, it seems to idle VERY steady and smooth.

I'm not looking for a permenant setup that this stays on the truck all the time, I kinda want some brackets to hold it steady while it sits on the ground under the truck to create power to run an AC and few other small things in a camper while parked, if I go anywhere, I can pack it up easily. I'd also use it for emergency power at home.

The reason I want something like this is it is a little less money than buying a regular portable generator, more power for less money, and lastly and most important...QUIET. Though our Hemi's have some of the sexiest purring for a newer V8 with a good exhaust, with stock exhaust and at idle, they are pretty hush hush. I HATE the sound of a regular generator, I've even looked into creative ways of quieting a generator from adding car mufflers and long pipes to building a doghouse, and still not that satisfied when I can get so much more power for less money...ok, so the more power isn't an issue for the camper, but if I have the set up for emergency power at the house as well, I could use all the power I can get to help keep the as much of the same lifestyle as I do being on the power grid. Another bonus to this vs a regular generator is I work a lot of construction, sometimes no power is available, so if I can get quiet electricity with this setup, I will be much happier, the air compressor is loud enough.

Any input is greatly appreciated as always guys.

Thanks,
Eric

 

That unit looks big.. too big to put anywhere under the hood. If you're looking to power the camper with it, I'd mount the generator on the trailer with a strong 12 volt DC motor connected via a dedicated plug at the hitch.

 

Not even counting the mechanics of fitting a PTO or something similar to your 1500, most normal AC generators spin at 1800rpm or 3600rpm to get that magical 60hz power. The one you have listed specs out at spinning 3600rpm. That would put it only 400rpm under what the factory hemi neutral/no load limiter is set to (4000). Curious, what part (pulley?) would you run it off of? My grandfather's old boat (1948 old) had a belt driven gen in it, one of the engines had an extra groove in the crank pulley for a belt to go sideways. I recommend against trying to fabricate something like this with a hemi since the crank pulley is integrated with the vibration dampener. Might be worth looking into seeing what the 4500-5500 or the Sterling rebadged Rams have for a PTO and maybe you can adapt that. Other thing is, how do you intend to govern it? Generators require constant adjustment to throttle/rpm consistent with load. A simple throttle stop or a brick on the pedal won't do it here. Example: the ship I just transferred off of has a CAT 3406B driving a 250kw gen. This rig spins at 1800rpm and there is a hydraulic governor (which gets governed electronically when paralleled for load sharing, but lets not digress) that adjusts fuel to it in direct proportion to the electrical load. More kw's, more fuel, less kw's, less fuel. All day doing this while maintaining a constant 1800rpm. Just some food for thought.

 

Your initial idea seems good, but imagine having your truck running all night to power your camper... Taking into consideration the cost of purchasing the gen head plus constructing a mount/support system for it, and the issues with rpms needed (which could only be partially solved with correctly-sized pulleys), you would be far better off buying a small generator made for this sort of thing. Camping World sells a small generator that works quite well and would use far less fuel to operate. I have this same one and it works great for my 30' travel trailer which includes a refrigerator / freezer, air conditioner, and several electrical outlets for fans as needed. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/champion-4000-watt-portable-generator-49-state-model/67293

 

i love the idea of you looking to use the truck for power but heres a much easier way. install a secont ALT. and second batt. (can put it in the bed in a tool box then add a power inverter. (like this one: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Whistler-P...ndingMethod=rr ) it will run your camper with ease. and you can go even higher i know them make a 5k one just need to look online. now do youre math. inverter say $300 ALT say $500 the wiring say $75 to 100 and batt $110 (a good deep cycle batt) so a grand total. and you would deffently pay more then that for the gen head. and you get the same exact thing. Plus it will run the nessary power at idle so you save on putting a govoner from woodwards which are about 3500 (family business so the price is close considering most people dont make them for trucks) but either way good luck and let us know whats going on with it and or if it works

 

Thanks for the replies guys. No offense, but now I'm going to pick them apart to better explain issues I have with each of them, and then maybe it can be explained to me why they are more important issues than I thought, and putting all of our minds together, can find a solution that best suits my situation.

AWESOME idea, never thought of that, only issue is incurring the cost of said DC motor. I don't want this gen head mounted under the hood per se, It can sit basically on the ground, with brackets to hold it still and in line with pulleys on truck...granted, this makes the truck immobile when generating power, but that's fine with me...

Pulleys can be varied in size and used to make the 3600 RPM from truck idling at 700 (or whatever it idles at) truck seems to me to idle very stable, maybe I am wrong? to keep the frequency steady.

I understand the most simple solution is buying the generator for the job...but I DESPISE how loud they are, even with many youtube videos showing quieting techniques, and even combining some of those techniques.

I have two issues with this idea, have thought about it a lot. Though I soon plan a second battery at the air box, like the CTD trucks have and run a CAI...power inverters to get big enough for what I need for a camper get pretty high dollar, more than this gen head, and they don't have near the power to run a house in emergency...yeah it'll run SOME things, but I want my air conditioner to work most of all in a power outage, and a power inverter on my truck will not run that. Second issue is I am an electrical engineer (student) so to speak (obviously haven't studied motors and generators) and my alternator already producing AC with a diode pack rectifying into DC, to put an inverter on it and re-rectify back to AC is just troublesome in my head...converting than reconverting back just doesn't seem like a good idea as it is a wasted step, which is why I have also been contemplating a second (and maybe third to produce the power I am wanting) alternator without the rectification so they are AC...but I know that this is getting into the issue that they may not be producing 60 Hz at idle

Again, thanks for the replies, not trying to say you don't know what you're talking about by ripping apart all the comments, just inquiring to find the best solution.

Thanks,
Eric

 

Pullies CAN be varied, but where would you put it? The crank bearings were not designed for that kind of side loading. The idle is steady under no load, but the computer's idle isn't designed to compensate for load changes.

 

I kind of thought about that after submitting the reply, but was running out the door to get to work.

enough reasons why it won't work the way I have described have been given. Is there a way to add alternator(s) and remove rectifier to make it AC and a way to stablize the frequency at 60 Hz while idling?

 

Converting to AC not sure about. Voltage regulation for the alternator is controlled by the PCM or the BCM (can't remember offhand). These guys might be able to come up with something:
http://www.americanpowerinc.com/uparmored%20power.htm
Also, the newer Ram chassis cabs are fitted with dual alternators for power requirements, might be able to give you some ideas since the factory has apparently worked it out already.

 

Follow Honda's lead and generate DC and then the inverter for 120vac. Try and find a Honda EU2000i ("i" is for inverter) with a bad engine and see if you can figure out how to spin the generator from your truck engine. The rpm is not as critical since it doesn't determine the frequency of the output. I've owned a bunch of generators (currently have 4), and the Honda Inverters are the "hot ticket". New, they cost about $900 from places like Mayberry's or Wise. You could always buy and sacrifice one of the Generac or Champion inverters (don't know about the Honeywell) that are trying to compete with the Honda.