At FOT, Had alternator go out on the way to GV reunion, had one put on at Love's, they told me they don't normally work on RVs but would help if they could, they had an alternator that seemingly worked and we made it here @ 2am. While here, I learn about Duvac and alternators and also discover that my batteries are down and realize that Love's probably didn't know or understand the difference my MH is from a regular truck alternator. Long story short(too late for that) Foretravel doesn't have the 190 amp Leece Neville alternator that shows what should go in my coach, but the shop foreman says the 160 amp one they do have will work. Seeking advice from all who know more about alternators than me. If Love's truck stop will work with me about swapping out the alternators, I may take it back to them as I've already bought one from them and now the 160 amp LN is almost 700. The other problem is a leaking water pump and finding the OEM for a 28 year old coach is presenting a challenge. Trying to get back to ATL, having to miss another week of work.
Do you have the original alternator? If so you might be able to get it rebuilt in Naco or at least Lufkin.
Unfortunately I was not smart enough to keep the original alternator
Got a rebuilt alternator for my 2001 U320 here in Houston for $130
Michael,
All you need to do is fire up your generator and turn on your boost switch. The generator will keep both sets of batteries charged while you drive. You can drive home that way without even having an alternator.
Has been done many times by Forum members.
What you need to do is find a competent auto electric shop that understands DUVAC. The alternator you have can be modified for DUVAC cheaply.
For water pump try searching part number 3802081
Thats the part # I had, but Cummins gave me a different part #??
As far as I know the generator will provide 120v to the charger which will charge the house batteries. As it was originally configured only the alternator or a supplemental charger will charge the start batteries unless the boost switch is on.
A DUVAC alternator has been modified so that is needs an ignition source to function. Normal alternators do not. And the LN alternators operated at a higher voltage to accommodate the voltage loss in the diode based isolator. Check to make sure the pulley on the alternator is the correct size.
Most alternators have a sense wire connected to the start batteries. This helps them charge them a bit faster. If the new alternator is connected to the old isolator and does not have sense wire then the voltage supplied after the isolator is lower than what you need. It might just be cheaper to replace the isolator with a modern zero voltage loss one. You will get 0.7 to 1.0 more volts to the batteries.
$120 at BayMarine and you can get a discount using FFMember in the appropriate place.
Victron ArgoFET Battery Isolator (https://baymarinesupply.com/argo-fet-battery-isolator.html)
Not necessarily. Mine does not. Only a sense wire is used and the DUVAC wire goes to the inside of the alternator.