Some simple alternator amp question.
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Joined: May 2003
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From: Joliet, Illinois
Some simple alternator amp question.
Well, there is a site that has these high powered 200 amp alternators used in their under hood welding system.
Well, I have two 12V alternators out of Corvettes that are listed on the case at 120 amps, so I will assume each has 120 amp potential.
If I wire them both up to run like stock I should still have 12V with the potential of 240 amps, right?
Let's say you have two, 12V batteries both rated at 800 cca.
Wire them in parallel, you get 12 volts and 1600 cca.
Wire them in series and you have 24V and 800 cca.
Also, you could take a 24 V truck alternator and wire it up to two 12 V batteries in series and wire everything off one or the other battery at 12 V.
Not that I am setting up a welding system right now.
Any thoughts?
Well, I have two 12V alternators out of Corvettes that are listed on the case at 120 amps, so I will assume each has 120 amp potential.
If I wire them both up to run like stock I should still have 12V with the potential of 240 amps, right?
Let's say you have two, 12V batteries both rated at 800 cca.
Wire them in parallel, you get 12 volts and 1600 cca.
Wire them in series and you have 24V and 800 cca.
Also, you could take a 24 V truck alternator and wire it up to two 12 V batteries in series and wire everything off one or the other battery at 12 V.
Not that I am setting up a welding system right now.
Any thoughts?
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Also, you could take a 24 V truck alternator and wire it up to two 12 V batteries in series and wire everything off one or the other battery at 12 V.
Thread Starter
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Posting Guru
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,242
Likes: 3
From: Joliet, Illinois
Try to avoid the situation of putting all the load on one battery if you can help it. With two batteries in series, it's best to run them both down at the same rate. It's actually possible to run one battery completely down, and then when it's hooked to a load in series with another battery, the charged battery will flow current through the dead battery, charging it backwards, reversing the polarity of the dead battery.
