Upgraded Alternator?

Eric3187

Adventurer
next month the body of my van is getting pulled and all the motor work is getting done as a preventative step for the 6.0, i figured it wouldnt be a bad idea to swap out the alternator for a higher output unit.

What size is stock on the 6.0 powerstrokes? i want to say that i've read about 110amp?
As far as replacements ive seen 185/190, all the way up to 350amps.

plans for the van are 12v fridge, 12v pump for sink, microwave, a few 120v plugs, invertor/charger, on board air compressors, and a few LED light bars, and a kenwood 4 channel amplifier.

I plan to put a solar panel on the roof to help keep everything topped off when parked, but will keep it down to a single panel.
I am not sure on which style of batteries ill use for the house batteries, most likely 2 6v deep cycles.

there is a significant jump in price from the 185 to the 250amp, but i will make the funds work if the larger one is Needed.
 

Bikersmurf

Expedition Leader
I'd run dual alternators from an Ambulance on a 6.0. Keep in mind that many alternators have a high peak output, but much lower continuous output. For the battery banks, you don't need high outputs, you need lower amps for a long period of time for deep cycle batteries.

My 97 E350 with a 7.3 PSD came with a 215 amp continuous duty alternator... I've read it'll put out 300 amps peak. The problem with them is he list price is $859 and Ford doesn't have stock listed in North America.
 

Raul B

Explorer
We have ran DC power alternators on all our 7.3ls and customer vehicles and they work great. Granted all have been superdutys and not vans but application should still be close.
 

maelgwn

New member
Have a look on the Ford forums - basically output at idle is more important than max output (they are generally related however). Also you need to make sure any uprated alternator is a "large case" for better longevity/durability.

Probably the number of batteries you are trying to charge is more important than the load on them? How many Ah are you planning for?
 

Mwilliamshs

Explorer
First, some terms: series and parallel. They're important.

SERIES: Pair of real heavy 6v batteries that lasts a long time in your camper's 12v system. Double the voltage, 2 x 6 = 12, but the current (amp-hour ratings apply here) stays the same as a single battery (lots of folks are surprised by that last bit).

PARALLEL: Pair of 12v batteries crank the big engine in your van. Double the current of a single battery (cca here) but the voltage stays the same. These two wiring schemes are very useful but neither is magical. You can multiply either voltage or amperage by connecting things differently but never both.

Trojan T105 are the yardstick of 6v golf cart batteries. 225ah 20hr rating so figure 110ah usable power before recharge. Best to keep them above 50% for long life and under 20% is basically fatal. When selecting a charger, the charge rate should be between 10% and 13% of the battery’s 20-hour ah capacity. For example, with a 20-hour capacity rating of 225 ah use a charger rated between 23 and 30 amps (for multiple battery charging figure by ah rating of the entire bank), so double those numbers for a bank of 2 or simply put: 46-60 amp optimum charge for the bank of 2 auxiliary batteries. This is per Trojan's Tech Info. I say optimum because you can certainly go over that amperage if your system is well regulated to 14.8v daily charge (engine running or solar max) and 13.2v float charge and 15.5 equalization voltage. Again, this is direct from Trojan. These numbers are only exact at 80°F. Add or subtract .028v for every 10° below or above that, respectively. (If 70° add .028v and if 90° subtract .028v, etc)

Long story short, a well regulated system can't have too much power. It'll only push/pull (again, choose the term you like) as much amperage as cables (you need #1 or better) (good for 130 amps @ ~160F IIRC) and connections allow and regulating voltage precisely is what matters most. Undercharge = stratification and overcharge = boiling. Both very bad, especially with flooded/wet cells.

Many battery experts suggest operating wet types between 50 and 85% charge. This is best but requires frequent equalization, frequent watering, and more careful voltage regulation than most recreational users have time/patience for. I used these batteries in commercial applications (golf carts, manlifts, mining conveyors, etc) and we just charged each pair to 14.6v in use, to 13.2v during off hours/storage and then equalized seasonally or during other service, normally about 3x per year, and got EXCELLENT service from them, ~5 years avg in daily exercise with ZERO unexpected/unexplained failures under very un-battery-friendly conditions (cold, hot, high-vibration, damp, etc).

For alternator output to battery matching, I've always seen industry standards of battery bank total ah / 4 = alternator output in amps. This is common for boats and commercial applications so I've used it and never had a problem.

Your stock starting batteries + house batteries total probably about 325 ah. Reserve capacity of group 65 batteries is usually about 120 min @ 25a, so 50ah x 2 batteries [parallel] = 100ah stock + 225ah dual battery auxiliary bank [series], so 325 ah / 4 = 81.25 amp alternator, call it 90, is the minimum I'd want in that application. More is not worse but be advised these (truly) deep-cycle wet cell batteries with extremely heavy lead plates (that's why you're buyin them-the thick plates) charge slower than standard car batteries, MUCH slower than AGMs, and more current won't speed things up much, see below.

Recommended charge rates for a 80% discharged flooded-cell deep-cycle 6v battery is 10 hours @ 20 amps but for 50% it's reduced to 6hr @ 20a. This is per battery. Regular usage for me would be maximum discharge of 50% and would need 12hr @ 20a to replenish or 6hr @ 40a or (more realistically) 4hr @ 60a, or whatever's available as free current after all the other electrical loads are supplied. To extend battery life I'd hope to NEVER discharge them below 20% and on a daily camping/extended overland trip I'd keep it to 50% max discharge, this is to reduce charge times but also to keep batteries healthy longer and reduce the need to equalize them.

Correcting a 50% discharge on 1 T105 battery needs:

26. hr @ 5 amps
13. hr @ 10 amps
6.0 hr @ 20 amps

That's one battery. If you have 2 batteries you can either maintain amperage and double the time frame (probably more like 210% due to increased resistance in a series connection) or you can double the amperage and keep the time as-is (probably more like 110%, again due to the fact that all the charge current must flow completely through both batteries).

This answer is all about alternator(s) charging the batteries, a boondocking application so to speak, NOT alternator(s) powering high-amp-engine-running loads, like an ambulance application.
 
Last edited:

Bristol

Observer
I know I am digging up a six year old thread, but I want to ask a related issue. Like the OP I have a 6.0 PSD Ford van. This van has a 220A upgraded alternator, two 74 Ah (the 20hr Ah rating) starter batteries, and an automatically isolated 245 Ah house battery - total 393 Ah, well within the spec for that alternator. I am adding loads to the house battery (water system, interior lighting, and CPAP machine) and noticed that it's dipping quite a bit in performance with extended boondocking. I am looking at options like a smart shunt to really track power usage to better understand my needs and to check the health of the battery and I have 160 Watts of solar, but can also easily add more. But I can also relatively easily add another 245 Ah house battery, putting my battery total at 638 Ah. Dividing by 4 (rule of thumb) I get the need for a 160A alternator, again mine is 220A. It seems like I would be okay adding another battery with this setup, but I am poorly educated in this area and Google wasn't a lot of help. What are your thoughts with this setup, any harm to adding another battery? The best info I could find is that the risk is to the alternator if I totally drain the batteries and then overheat the alternator trying to charge everything back up!

I am just kicking this idea around for now. First step will be to add the smart shunt or other battery monitor, collect data, and then determine if I need more capacity (another battery) or if I just need to increase my boondock charging capability with more solar.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
189,849
Messages
2,921,569
Members
233,030
Latest member
Houie
Top