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New battery bank going in - Alternator/Regulator OK?

January 10, 2013, 08:57:21 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 84989

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2004 ISL370 in an Allure.

Bumping up to 800AH with 4 Lifeline AGM GPL-L16's (Yep, thanks again Tom!) and a new CAT 8D for chassis.
How can I determine if my Alternator is up to the job? I am not sure what size it is, but hope it is a 200 output unit. And I wonder about the regulator too...
Has anyone with this era 2004 Allures any opinions on this. I won't be able to get back to the rig until Monday, where then I might be able to read the model numbers off of these...

Just planning the next steps, and trying to get a jump:)!

TIA,
Smitty

04 Allure 31017

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Re: New battery bank going in - Alternator/Regulator OK?

Reply #1 – January 10, 2013, 10:06:25 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 84994

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Smitty Your alternator will put out whatever it is capable of. This is no different than you setting the shore charger at 10 or 15 amps versus the 30 amp max that it is typically capable of. It will just take longer versus if you had a 270 Amp alternator. Because I went with an electric cook top and residential fridge CC wanted me to put in 2 inverters so that I would have 2-30 amp chargers. The typical charge rate is 30 amps because that is what a 15 amp circuit will support. It is like using a 3/4 hose to fill the pool versus a 1 inch hose. It will just take longer to fill the pool or fully charge the batteries. Short answer to a long question.
Hope this answers your question

Ron Baran 09 Magna 7025

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Re: New battery bank going in - Alternator/Regulator OK?

Reply #2 – January 10, 2013, 10:21:08 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 84996

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Smitty,

You have a 160 Amp alternator. It is up to the job and I would not consider making any changes in that area. You are going to love your setup.
I replace the two 8D house batteries in my coach today also. As much as I love Lifelines and Tom's prices, I went with US Battery 145 XC2s. These are traditional wet cell 6V batteries rated at 251 Amp Hours.
I installed six of them for a total of 750 AH. They just fit in the drawer sized for two 8Ds.

George in Birmingham
'03 Magna 6298

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Re: New battery bank going in - Alternator/Regulator OK?

Reply #3 – January 12, 2013, 09:42:47 am

Yahoo Message Number: 85028

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Smitty

I was at the FMCA show in Indio yesterday and the Trojan people now have 6V and 12 V AGM batteries. I would like to know how they stack up against Lifeline but their show prices sounded pretty good.
You put 8 of the 6V batteries in your tray and you have some serious reserve capacity.

Dan 2006 Allure

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Re: New battery bank going in - Alternator/Regulator OK?

Reply #4 – January 12, 2013, 12:13:41 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 85035

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Thanks Dan - I like Trojans, and if I was going wet, I would have gone with their T-145's. If I did my research right (always possible for Smitty to be confused:)!), 8 AGM 6V 200AH would have yield a bank of 800AH's.
I'm yielding 800AH's with the four Lifeline L16's. And with the price that Tom helps us all out with, the 1 L16 was less $$ then two Trojans 6V AGM's.
I had this thing sketched out two ways with the the CAT 8D chassis in both options. The 4 L16's is what I went with for house, though the 4 8D's did provide another 220AH's capacity. Looking at the pictures, and reading what others have done (Dallas's 'before' battery compartment is the same setup as our Allure's), I decided to retain the dedicated sealed upper inverter/charger compartment. Less fabrication required for the 4 L16's.
I kept coming back to what I felt I would need, and still retain adequate reserve capacity, and the 800AH's will provide this for us.
They're bought, and going in next week - so that part is a done deal:)!
As many different size battery compartments exist in RV's - many different configurations can be applied to battery banks...
Appreciate your sharing the Trojan to be sure I knew about them. They make a great wet battery, no reason to think they won't build a good AGM too.

Best,
Smitty

04 Allure 31017

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