great white
Retirement countdown!
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2012
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So, I HAD dual alternators on my 6.5 Turbo Diesel.
This summer I knew I wouldn't be plowing come winter and a "friend" of mine has a 6.5 that he plows with. It has a power pak hydraulic system and he's always complaining about dimming lights and whatnot. So, I loaned him my setup with the condition I needed it back when I said so.
He's been plowing for a while now and it works great. So great in fact, that he has refused to return it.
Let's just say he's not on my Christmas card list anymore and I'm not getting my second alt system back.
His loss. No more work on his pile from me. And it will break down on him. He was around at least once a month looking for help or advice on something since he's seasonal and .....lower income.. That door to cheap/free fixes is now solidly closed. It will likely pop something while he's plowing and then he'll be loosing money. It's the only truck he's got and he has contracts, mostly for private drives. It's also his only source of money in the winter other than pogey. Doesn't claim his plowing income either.
Karma, she is a ***** and buddy is gonna get a whole snootful of it.....
But I'm still left with a big electrical load (my washer heater pulls 60A alone) and one 105 CS130D alt to carry it.
Anyone who has seen my build thread knows I like electrical goodies. Cold start goes like this: glow plug cycle (tear the sh!te out of the amperage), crank over a big high compression diesel, on come the heater mid to full blast, on comes the CB, on come the mirror heat, on comes the rear truck cap defroster grid, sometimes the wipers, the fog light running lights come on, all while the glow plugs are going through their post start glow cycles to keep the big diesel ticking over happy and clean. Adding a rear wiper is going to task it even more.
The driving lights I have planned with kick the crap out of it in the summer too. Not to mention: Every so often I fire up some fairly large wattage in the CB and I've got 600W of amplifiers that I like to dial up every now and then. There's also the inverter that we have running a lot for charging accessories or running a laptop and that big 35 foot trailer charging it's batteries back there off the truck doesn't help either.
Chuck in my commute is fairly short in -15C (and lower) temps and that spells trouble for my two big 800 CCA batteries.
Yeah, this single 105A alternator BS will not do. I need to build another dual system. (I do use a trickle charger every night to keep 'em fresh, but not in summer)
I'll give a few reasons why I prefer a dual system over a big single like an AD244 since the question will come up.
I prefer dual alts because high loads are split across two alts instead of one. This means less heat in each unit. When loads are low, only one alt is excited and the other is minimal drag on the system. Less heat means the units live longer.
They also turn out as much (often more) than a big single. Alternators are rated at a temperature. You may get 145 out of an alternator at it's rated temp, but that tends to be a little under it's usual running temp. It markets better to be able to say "210 Amps!", but that's peak and often it's cold. As it runs and heats the amperage comes down. You can loose as much as 40-60A off the rating when hot.
For example: a 145A alt may drop to 100A (keep in mind: these are peak ratings) when hot. My two 105A alts are rated around 75-80A hot. So, even hot, my dual alts will put out 150-160A (peak).
Redundancy is also a nice feature. If I pop one alt, I zip out my single alt belt and 10 minutes later I'm off and running no worse for wear.
Lastly: the CS130D alt is common. So common I can walk into almost any parts store or junkyard and walk out with one cheap. I used to buy them at 10 bucks a pop form the yards. Even if the parts store doesn't have an alt in stock, they usually have the regulator or diode pack on the shelf. An AD244 takes a week or more to get a hold of here. I can get a CS130D by just walking through the door.
Lastly, they "package" a little better because they are smaller. Larger alts can potentially run a little cooler due to the larger frame, but the CS130D's are pretty good units for cooling (dual internal fans) as they are.
There's nothing wrong with one big single, it's just not for me.
Dual alts are made easier on a 6.5 as the "ambulance package" had a dual alternator as an option:
That's a RH drive, but you get the idea.
Unfortunately, this kit:
Has long been discontinued by GM. The good news is the kit was really just the front bracket and some bolts. The main bracket is already on teh 6.5 as part of the AC/engine lift bracket.
So Ya gotta roll yer own front bracket if ya wants dual alts!
There's a couple guys that offer the basic pieces, but they either have disappeared over the yeas, have gotten stupid expensive or just don't reply to emails anymore. Meh, I made my last one, I'll make another.
First off, I need the bracket. Item number 6 in the pic above. I grab a pic of it off the internet:
and use the photocopier to blow it up until the distance between the alt mount bolt match real life. Then trace it on a piece of 3/16 stock and burn it out:
Close, some grinder work will finish it up.
Now to rummage through my parts bins. Pretty sure I have what I need hanging around and sure enough I come up with an idler pulley ( I always change 'em with the belt but keep the old ones):
A bit more digging finds some Alt wiring:
And I pull down one of my spare used CS130D 105A alts:
Since I can't stand working on dirty parts, I start cleaning the alt:
Brushes look good, commutator is clean, no obvious burns or signs of overheating, just a bit of grunge from running.
So that's where I currently am. I've got the bulk of it from parts I already have. Probably have about 30 bucks into it so far.
Next will be to source some alternator bolts, finish up the bracket, a few spacers and a belt. Some cables and I'm ready to go.
What this space for updates as I go.....
*update*
aBracket is coming along nicely:
This summer I knew I wouldn't be plowing come winter and a "friend" of mine has a 6.5 that he plows with. It has a power pak hydraulic system and he's always complaining about dimming lights and whatnot. So, I loaned him my setup with the condition I needed it back when I said so.
He's been plowing for a while now and it works great. So great in fact, that he has refused to return it.
Let's just say he's not on my Christmas card list anymore and I'm not getting my second alt system back.
His loss. No more work on his pile from me. And it will break down on him. He was around at least once a month looking for help or advice on something since he's seasonal and .....lower income.. That door to cheap/free fixes is now solidly closed. It will likely pop something while he's plowing and then he'll be loosing money. It's the only truck he's got and he has contracts, mostly for private drives. It's also his only source of money in the winter other than pogey. Doesn't claim his plowing income either.
Karma, she is a ***** and buddy is gonna get a whole snootful of it.....
But I'm still left with a big electrical load (my washer heater pulls 60A alone) and one 105 CS130D alt to carry it.
Anyone who has seen my build thread knows I like electrical goodies. Cold start goes like this: glow plug cycle (tear the sh!te out of the amperage), crank over a big high compression diesel, on come the heater mid to full blast, on comes the CB, on come the mirror heat, on comes the rear truck cap defroster grid, sometimes the wipers, the fog light running lights come on, all while the glow plugs are going through their post start glow cycles to keep the big diesel ticking over happy and clean. Adding a rear wiper is going to task it even more.
The driving lights I have planned with kick the crap out of it in the summer too. Not to mention: Every so often I fire up some fairly large wattage in the CB and I've got 600W of amplifiers that I like to dial up every now and then. There's also the inverter that we have running a lot for charging accessories or running a laptop and that big 35 foot trailer charging it's batteries back there off the truck doesn't help either.
Chuck in my commute is fairly short in -15C (and lower) temps and that spells trouble for my two big 800 CCA batteries.
Yeah, this single 105A alternator BS will not do. I need to build another dual system. (I do use a trickle charger every night to keep 'em fresh, but not in summer)
I'll give a few reasons why I prefer a dual system over a big single like an AD244 since the question will come up.
I prefer dual alts because high loads are split across two alts instead of one. This means less heat in each unit. When loads are low, only one alt is excited and the other is minimal drag on the system. Less heat means the units live longer.
They also turn out as much (often more) than a big single. Alternators are rated at a temperature. You may get 145 out of an alternator at it's rated temp, but that tends to be a little under it's usual running temp. It markets better to be able to say "210 Amps!", but that's peak and often it's cold. As it runs and heats the amperage comes down. You can loose as much as 40-60A off the rating when hot.
For example: a 145A alt may drop to 100A (keep in mind: these are peak ratings) when hot. My two 105A alts are rated around 75-80A hot. So, even hot, my dual alts will put out 150-160A (peak).
Redundancy is also a nice feature. If I pop one alt, I zip out my single alt belt and 10 minutes later I'm off and running no worse for wear.
Lastly: the CS130D alt is common. So common I can walk into almost any parts store or junkyard and walk out with one cheap. I used to buy them at 10 bucks a pop form the yards. Even if the parts store doesn't have an alt in stock, they usually have the regulator or diode pack on the shelf. An AD244 takes a week or more to get a hold of here. I can get a CS130D by just walking through the door.
Lastly, they "package" a little better because they are smaller. Larger alts can potentially run a little cooler due to the larger frame, but the CS130D's are pretty good units for cooling (dual internal fans) as they are.
There's nothing wrong with one big single, it's just not for me.
Dual alts are made easier on a 6.5 as the "ambulance package" had a dual alternator as an option:
You must be registered for see images attach
That's a RH drive, but you get the idea.
Unfortunately, this kit:
You must be registered for see images attach
Has long been discontinued by GM. The good news is the kit was really just the front bracket and some bolts. The main bracket is already on teh 6.5 as part of the AC/engine lift bracket.
So Ya gotta roll yer own front bracket if ya wants dual alts!
There's a couple guys that offer the basic pieces, but they either have disappeared over the yeas, have gotten stupid expensive or just don't reply to emails anymore. Meh, I made my last one, I'll make another.
First off, I need the bracket. Item number 6 in the pic above. I grab a pic of it off the internet:
You must be registered for see images attach
and use the photocopier to blow it up until the distance between the alt mount bolt match real life. Then trace it on a piece of 3/16 stock and burn it out:
You must be registered for see images attach
Close, some grinder work will finish it up.
Now to rummage through my parts bins. Pretty sure I have what I need hanging around and sure enough I come up with an idler pulley ( I always change 'em with the belt but keep the old ones):
You must be registered for see images attach
A bit more digging finds some Alt wiring:
You must be registered for see images attach
And I pull down one of my spare used CS130D 105A alts:
You must be registered for see images attach
Since I can't stand working on dirty parts, I start cleaning the alt:
You must be registered for see images attach
Brushes look good, commutator is clean, no obvious burns or signs of overheating, just a bit of grunge from running.
So that's where I currently am. I've got the bulk of it from parts I already have. Probably have about 30 bucks into it so far.
Next will be to source some alternator bolts, finish up the bracket, a few spacers and a belt. Some cables and I'm ready to go.
What this space for updates as I go.....
*update*
aBracket is coming along nicely:
You must be registered for see images attach
Last edited:
