Newbie Question re alternator loading

[craigcurtin]

Guys,

I want to hookup a 24 volt alternator (around 120amps) to my Listeroid 8/1. My purpose for this is to power 3 Micro Inverters of 600 watts 240v each that will be grid tied.

I DO NOT have a battery bank. The idea behind the alternator is that if my Lister is underloaded (outside of optimum) power generation, then i can enable these Micro Inverters (one at a time) to slowly place a load on the Lister.

My question - if i have a 24 volt alternator with inbuilt voltage regulator - is it Ok to run this at different times with no load (i.e. when my ST head is soaking up all the power from the Lister) or will this damage the alternator ? If there is no load on the Alternator how much load would this add to the base load on my lister ?

Craig

[mike90045]

Try to stick with a serpentine belt, the V belts suck a lot of power.

You will have the load of the cooling fans for the alternators.  Someone, somewhere had a handle on some conversion fans that were more efficient that factory ?

[mobile_bob]

 a well engineered V belt drive need not rob bunches of power, i know mine are less than 2% in losses.

however given the choice i would go with a serpentine belt if you can make it work for your application.

most alternators do not like running without a battery to work against, serious overvoltages can occur
and damage to rectifier diodes and/or regulator can result. you may want to install a small set of batteries to buffer
against.

i would not be surprised if they alternators present about 100-150watts of load just spinning and not producing power for a load.

what alternator are you planning on using? can you get at the regulator or brush set?

bob g

[craigcurtin]

Hey Mobile_bob

I did not have a preference at this point but am in Australia so i thought a relatively cheap and easy one to get would be a Toyota Landcruiser unit from a wrecker.

When you say a serpentine belt you are recommending replacing the stock pulley i assume ?

Craig