Eagle Alternator Replacement

[Ericbsc]

After less than careful consideration, I have decided to completely rewire my 05 during the conversion. Wife says it will never be finished anyway!!! I am going to wire in a basic saftey system with overtemp, and low oil pressure. These will be tied to warning lights as well as the fuel shut-off selanoid. I am going to eliminate the large panel in the back, and remove and replace the front panel. The alternator on the bus now is factory. I won't say it is huge but a 5 gal. bucket is close!! I have a brand new Leese-Neville 270 amp alt. that I would like to use. The factory unit has a seperate regulator also. I'm sure it was sized correctly for passenders and all the lights and crap that were in the bus, but all of that is gone now. Anybody else done this? Tips, suggestions?

[TomC]

If you're changing to 12v, instead of using the 270 amp alternator, use the 130-145 amp size that practically all big rigs use.  They are about $200 with internal regulator.  You could use two-one for the starting batteries and one for the house batteries with a solenoid cross over incase one of them quit.  By using the same alternators as the big rigs, then you're assured that a replacement is handily near by.  One of the trucks I sold have the 270amp alternator because it has a Telma electric retarder.  It went out and had to wait 3 days for it to come from the area supply house.  Compared to the 130-145ampers that we have shelves of them.  With Delco, suggest the 35SI which is their most recent alternator aimed at the new trucks with higher under hood temps.  Leece/Neville, what would be the old Motorola design are also good.  Good Luck, TomC

[DrivingMissLazy]

If you're changing to 12v, instead of using the 270 amp alternator, use the 130-145 amp size that practically all big rigs use.  They are about $200 with internal regulator.  You could use two-one for the starting batteries and one for the house batteries with a solenoid cross over incase one of them quit.  By using the same alternators as the big rigs, then you're assured that a replacement is handily near by.  One of the trucks I sold have the 270amp alternator because it has a Telma electric retarder.  It went out and had to wait 3 days for it to come from the area supply house.  Compared to the 130-145ampers that we have shelves of them.  With Delco, suggest the 35SI which is their most recent alternator aimed at the new trucks with higher under hood temps.  Leece/Neville, what would be the old Motorola design are also good.  Good Luck, TomC

I agree with Tom on installing the smaller rated alternator, unless you plan on running your A/C from the alternator while on the road. And I have never really seen any big advantage to doing this.

On the other hand i do not agree with installing  a duplicate alternator. This makes about as much sense as installing a second starter (if it were possible). The alternator is one of the most reliable items on the coach, they are available almost anyplace and are relatively easy to install. Of course if you do have a failure you could do as I did once. My alternator failed on the way home from a trip. I had a battery charger in the bay. I simply hooked it up, started the genset and continued home. I could as easily have stopped at the next truck stop and purchased one for a few dollars if i had not had one on board.
Richard

[Ericbsc]

Let me toss out one more tidbit. The alternator was a freebie from a friend. I looked on their website and this unit is reccomended for  use on firetrucks and abbulances etc.  It looks HD!! It is not much bigger than the 135a units. It seems to be a std heavy duty? Can I just toss out a freebie?

[Busted Knuckle]

Let me toss out one more tidbit. The alternator was a freebie from a friend. I looked on their website and this unit is reccomended for  use on firetrucks and abbulances etc.  It looks HD!! It is not much bigger than the 135a units. It seems to be a std heavy duty? Can I just toss out a freebie?

Nope don't toss out thta freebee eabay it and use the $ from ebaying it to buy the more common easily available unit thus making use of the old one by generating cash with it! Knuckle

[pvcces]

What's the value in removing the best alternator money can buy? Some of the 50DNs retail in the $2,300 range. The 24v units must produce around 5 or more kw when the power is needed. And they don't take any power to speak of when there is no load. And many of them are oil cooled. And there are lots of them around. They're on buses.

Unless there is some serious need to get the old one out of there, it sounds like an exercise in futility.

For what it's worth.

Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576
Suncatcher
Ketchikan, Alaska

[Len Silva]

After less than careful consideration, I have decided to completely rewire my 05 during the conversion. Wife says it will never be finished anyway!!! I am going to wire in a basic saftey system with overtemp, and low oil pressure. These will be tied to warning lights as well as the fuel shut-off selanoid. I am going to eliminate the large panel in the back, and remove and replace the front panel. The alternator on the bus now is factory. I won't say it is huge but a 5 gal. bucket is close!! I have a brand new Leese-Neville 270 amp alt. that I would like to use. The factory unit has a seperate regulator also. I'm sure it was sized correctly for passenders and all the lights and crap that were in the bus, but all of that is gone now. Anybody else done this? Tips, suggestions?

When you design your shutdown system, be sure to include a time delay, a loud warning device, and a shutdown overide circuit. There may come a time when being able to drive another hundred yards may even be worth the cost of an engine.

Len Silva

[pvcces]

Regarding the engine shutdown function, we designed one of those for a boat about thirty years ago, and we gave some thought to the problem of an override. What we chose to do was rig the setup so that it required the use of a key to start it. The alarms were activated as soon as it was started if temperature or oil pressure went outside of preset limits.

If the key was left turned on, there would be no shutdown if an alarm was triggered. But if the key was turned off, and an alarm sounded after that, then the engine would shutdown. Turning the key back on would allow an immediate restart, with the alarm sounding if the pressure or temperature was beyond limit.

We decided against a delay because we felt that if the auto shutdown was set, then a quick shutdown would be most likely to prevent damage to the engine, especially if it took a bit to respond to the alarm. On the other hand, if auto shutdown was off, we expected someone to be able to take care of the alarm immediately, if needed.

There have been circumstances where an auto shutdown could get someone killed.

Like one old fisherman told me about Kelsey Bay in BC, "It's a good thing they make those diesels so they will run upside down, or I woulda never got out of there".

Those of you that have experienced Kelsey Bay in a full ebb with a good fairweather wind will know what I mean.

For what it's worth.

Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576
Suncatcher
Ketchikan, Alaska