With proper wiring the stock alternator does quite well charging larger
battery banks, and does it quite well. You do have to consider that at low
speeds or when idling full output is not available and if you try the
alternator to inverter to charger trick you can get into some real trouble
during these low speed periods. Instead of the system balancing and sharing
what is available with both the house and chassis battery systems the
inverter/charger combo will steal what is available (down to 10.5 volts) and
can leave the chassis battery discharged. Sit in enough traffic or low
speeds and you may even shut the engine down. I believe you do not have air
conditioning. That will make it work even better.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Rocket J Squirrel
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2012 10:53 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Alternator continuous-duty rating?

On 09/23/2012 07:31 PM, Dennis Haynes wrote:
> The Vanagon compartment really does not get all that warm. The open
> bottom and some air coming down the rear pillars keeps the air
> exchanged. Rarley does the stock alternator fail from heat so you are
> looking to solve a problem that doesn't need solving.
>
> Dennis
>

Rarely does someone connect his alternator to a pair of GC2 golf cart
batteries and expect that thing to charge them up quickly!

Persuant to my periodic engine shutdown during hot hot weather on long steep
grade climbs problem and my current interest in getting one of these little
90A alternators to push mucho amps into a pair of GC2 golf cart batteries,
I'm gonna hang a remote-send temp sensor in the engine compartment and see
how warm it is in there.

You could be right, the alternator might be getting all the cooling it's
gonna get anyway, through I wonder how effective the alternator's built-in
fan is compared with forcing air through the device.

Then there are fluid-cooled alternators . . . !

--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
Bend, Ore.