Im planning on taking a trip in my yota and Im working on a power source... I have a couple power hungry power-tools like my mieder saw and compressor, I would like to take with me. Along with just needing to charge my computer,phone, batteries etc... I was looking at a 1500/3000w power inverter I could use to accomplish this.. But my question is.... is it worth it? Would it be economical to just let my truck idle as a generator for hours.... or would it be better to just buy a small generator and bring it along... I dont know what the fuel economy is for a 22re staying just at idle but is it comparable to a little honda generator...? Im balling on a budget, so i was also looking at an option of maybe taking this lil weed wacker motor i have (4stroke) and rigging it to an alternator from the junk yard. And just mount it somewhere under the bed.....as like a cheapo generator..
Just get a real generator. You could do it but it'll cost out the butt and be a real pain in one too. Problems: The alternator on your 22r/re puts out 12v and under 60 amps and thats at medium RPM. At idle, it barely runs itself (computer, fuel pump, gauges, headlights, radio) so you're going to have to raise the rpm. Assuming you surmount that, 1500w / 12v is 125 amps. more than double the PEAK output of your alternator. That doesn't even get into startup surge on electric motors, especially the compresser. So now you have to graft 2-3 alternators (or upgrade to a really big one) at which point you're going to have to raise idle to keep from stalling the truck. (since 22R/RE doesn't have a feedback idle control to compensate for loads). weed wacker motor isn't gonna help either. lets say it's 1hp, that means (with perfect efficiency) you can run a 1hp electric motor, not counting startup surge. Every one of the tools you're planning to use is probably more hp than the weed wacker AND you're going to be looking at massive inefficiency from going gas motor->12vDC->120vAC plus startup surge, blah blah blah no luck there either. Look at the amp rating for each of your tools and figure you're going to need that much in steady power from the genny minimum if you only run one at a time.
I had a similar idea of using 2 or 3 100-140 amp alts. Maybe use GM types with internal regulators, or late 80s dodge truck type with external regs. Both similar case sizes. What I was gonna do was mount them to a lawn mower tray. Have the blade shaft spin a belt to the other 3 points. But you'd also want 2 batteries to have some power capacity It could be done but I think it would end up being some Rube Goldberg Macgyver looking contraption taking up a lot of space. Might be better of renting a generator from a place like sunbelt rentals, ace equipment or even uhaul. Then if it breaks just exchange it. You don't need to tell them its leaving the area for a while lol.
One other thing to consider using your truck engine as the generator motor is that depending on the rpm setting used, it may tend to foul up the spark plugs from a constant rpm. I'd assume you need the truck about 2000 rpm to get enough juice from extra alternators, even if you ran different pulleys to drive them faster than normal to get more output with less input rpm.
lol "Rube Goldberg Macgyver" is right! after reading the 1st reply i was picturing a contraption with belts and several alternators! it's all good, most of my tools are cordless anyway. so at least my truck can charge batteries and light the work area. Ill just check out what they got at harbor-freight, get me a cheapy. because I know ill go through all the trouble and end up using the thing like 2 times..
