240 & 12 Volts alternator. Direct swap for normal alternator?

[wrexham lass]

Hi all....

 

The captain has got me on a serach for something again...

 

He is sure that there is available an alternator that is a direct replacement for the normal battery charging alternator that comes with the engine....but this is one that can generate 240 Volt power, and can also be used as a standard battery charging alternator.

 

As the Vetus engine has only one alternator, the idea is to do a swap for this amazing gizmo....

 

If we can find one that is.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

[nicknorman]

Seems highly unlikely to me. There is a thing called a Travelpower which has a high voltage alternator (a modified 12v alternator) but it needs to be paired with a magic black box that turns the power into 230v 50Hz. It doesn’t generate 12v as well, but of course one could use a battery charger or Combi to get 12v from the mains. However you also need the right sort of pulley on the engine, a flat polyvee belt is needed to transfer enough power - 3.5kW max.

All in all I would put it on the “too difficult” list unless your engine manufacturer offers a kit to fit a Travelpower.

[PaulJ]

Someone used to make one  years ago- I cannot remember what it was called or who made it Im afraid.If I remember rightly you controlled the output via a switch.  Be right up there with the 12v motor driven inverter (cant remember what that was called either ) ..

Not sure if it ever actually worked properly either so maybe best you dont find one 

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, PaulJ said:

Someone used to make one  years ago- I cannot remember what it was called or who made it Im afraid.If I remember rightly you controlled the output via a switch.  Be right up there with the 12v motor driven inverter (cant remember what that was called either ) ..

Not sure if it ever actually worked properly either so maybe best you dont find one 

The 12 volt motor driven inverter for want of a better description was indeed a " Redi Line " if I remember correctly. They were very good but very inefficient but all we had before inverters were brought into use on boats in the  nineties.

Edited January 25, 2018 by mrsmelly

[ditchcrawler]

15 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

The 12 volt motor driven inverter for want of a better description was indeed a " Redi Line " if I remember correctly. They were very good but very inefficient but all we had before inverters were brought into use on boats in the  nineties.

We had one and I would estimate about 50%

Edit

Also the voltage regulation was crap, run the engine and the output voltage went up

Edited January 25, 2018 by ditchcrawler

[BruceinSanity]

8 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

The 12 volt motor driven inverter for want of a better description was indeed a " Redi Line " if I remember correctly. They were very good but very inefficient but all we had before inverters were brought into use on boats in the  nineties.

The OwnerShips boats had them to power the microwave. What with the noise and the inefficiency, most OS microwaves were used as bread bins 

[Sir Nibble]

I remember seeing this beast. It had a remote box with a switch. On 230V you had to adjust a hand throttle until an indicator light came on. It could weld too and was marketed mainly for site service vans. I doubt it's still available since the frequency was too high for anything other than power tools or lights and it has been made obsolete by inverters, which is the no brainer solution

[wrexham lass]

Well thank you for all the informative replies.

 

Looks like the Captain will have to think of something else...

 

He did like the look of the "build in" water cooled diesel generators....

 

But they need as much installation as the main engine!

 

Not so surprising, when you realise that these generators ARE another engine....

 

Also, they are not "real" generators, as they, like the Travel Power, are a low voltage generator with a remote mounted box of electrickery (An Inverter basically!).

 

All far to much hassle to fit. 

[OldGoat]

44 minutes ago, wrexham lass said:

Well thank you for all the informative replies.

 

Looks like the Captain will have to think of something else...

 

He did like the look of the "build in" water cooled diesel generators....

 

But they need as much installation as the main engine!

 

Not so surprising, when you realise that these generators ARE another engine....

 

Also, they are not "real" generators, as they, like the Travel Power, are a low voltage generator with a remote mounted box of electrickery (An Inverter basically!).

 

All far to much hassle to fit. 

How would you define a 'real' generator, then? Modern technology has moved the standalone box as dismissed in your previous paragraph into the  style of the Travel Power which not only takes less space but requires less hassle to fit as you point out. As with most nearly everything - no pain, no gain!

[MtB]

I think modern built in generators are proper generators, i.e. having AC coming direct from the alternator. Why else would they fixed speed? (They come in 1500 and 3000rpm variants.). 

Suitcase portables on the other hand, are usually low voltage dc plus an inverter all in a box. 

[wrexham lass]

Well.....

 

My limited knowlege of power generation would suggest a "real" generator is one without an add on inverter....this being an Inverter-Generator....

 

One with the output box integral with the engine/ Alternator assembly?

 

Anyway..... in the end a generator is a generator I suppose?

Edited January 28, 2018 by wrexham lass

[WotEver]

I you put fuel in at one end and get electric out the other end then it’s a generator. Does it really matter what happens in the middle?