How to wire dual alternators.

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Duallylife

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Yea it is, the only time I have seen a winch used is either home-made setups or small cheap, home grade plows such as snow bears etc, they also don't have power angle. I would never run them commercially.
 

GoToGuy

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Is the power pack the type that uses what looks like an early chevy starter motor mated to a small reservoir?
 

Duallylife

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What do you mean by power pack? You mean my plow pump? No I use actual brand names like Western, Fisher, my current plow on this truck is Boss. I use the pumps that come with the plows. Built by western boss fisher etc.

Ok so I wired in the second alt this weekend, big wire straight to batt, and exciter to the batt. When I started the truck the gauge sat normal, and when I used accessories (heater 4wd etc) the gauge acted the same so it seemed as if the second alt wasn't doing anything. So I shut the truck off and changed where I had the exciter wire hooked to the batt, when I started the truck again after a few seconds the idle RPM dropped (so the second alt kicked in) and when I looked at my gauge it was almost in the red. While it was running I disconnected the exciter wire and ran it to the original battery thinking maybe it had to read off that one, the whole time the gauge sat almost in the red, I disconnected it completely after that as I was leaving for a trip yesterday and didn't want to catch fire on a highway lol. BOTH ALTS ARE USED BUT WORKED like they should before trying this dual alt set-up. Is it ok/ normal for my guage to sit that high with dual alts?
 

thegawd

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A power pack is the electric/hydraulic motor that makes and controls the hydraulic pressure. so ya were talking about the same thing.

I have no idea with your set up but if you dont use a multimeter then your just guessing and that's no good. I have never hooked up a one wire alternator but I have 1 on my new to me 65 year old tractor that I'm trying to get going and I have another one on a mini 12v off grid generator that someone made with a 3.5 Briggs. so I have some learning to do....

and that's why I'm paying attention.
 
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RichLo

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Check voltage with a multimeter with only the original hooked up and then with both hooked up.

I'm willing to bet your original will be sitting at around 13 and with both you'll be almost 14 or slightly above. Which is perfectly fine.

If the voltages check out, you can check alternator output with an ammeter, not the one on your multimeter, that one is usually only rated for 10 amps. I bought a 60-amp gauge on ebay, like they used on tractors back when they had generators instead alternators. (link below). Wire that inline between your alternator and battery to see how much each one is putting out. cycle the plow a few times and see where each one maxes out at and you'll know the health of each alternator then.

You can wire this up temporarily any time you think an alternator died or you can buy 2 of them and wire them up permanently in the cab to see output real time. If you wire them up permanently, be sure to grommet the cables extremely well so they dont rub and ground out.

 

Duallylife

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60 amp? The OEM alts put out about 120 amps stock. I do plan to see what my plow draws but I know it's atleast 200amp as thats what boss them selfs say. I didn't have a multi meter with me out at the cottage this weekend, but when my volt gauge on my dash typically reads 14, then when I hooked up the second alt my battery light came on (assuming saying over charging) and the gauge then sat at almost 19, I would say there is a big increase in voltage, but not sure why? Should still only be 13-14v just more amps.
 

RichLo

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Yea, it should only be slightly above 14v max. That's why a few people recommended using a trusted multimeter to verify.

Both of my alternators are rated for over 100 amps also but with dual batteries and the relatively low RPM that I am generally running, I rarely see over 40amps from my gauges. And thats only when I'm lifting and angling the plow.

I also have a meyer E60H pump which is the largest and highest draw motor/pump that meyer has ever offered.
 

Duallylife

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Yes I have a Meyers E60 on our 79 suburban, doesn't appreciate the 9'2 plow it's up against, freshly rebuilt and with a new motor it's still a little bit slower and weaker then my old cable op western pump. For some reason my Boss seems to draw the most, even though it didn't before. I'm thinking motor going bad as I have cleaned all the grounds on it.

I'll hook up that second alt again hopefully tomorrow evening and see what happens again, if it shows high voltage again I'll check it with both of my multi meters to be sure. I don't have an ammeter though, but I'm more worried about volts right now as thats what seemed to spike. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
 
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