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Posted by Jerry in Idaho on Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 00:53:06 :
A few posts by Sam have resulted in a fair amount of discussion of charging systems. It seems to me Sam's electrical problem was a lack of sustainable energy to power the motor on his snowplow. Every snow plow pump I have owned has a motor similar to a starter motor. Depending on how often you lift or angle the blade, this can amount to running that motor a lot, drawing the battery's reserves down. Imagine if you stopped your truck every 25' or so, turned the motor off and then restarted it. I am certainly not an electrician, but I understand that we are talking about amperage more than volts or watts in running the pump motor. Batteries are rated in cranking power, or amperage, isn't that true? Even if an alternator is capable of producing 100 amps, does that mean it alone will power the normal electrical needs of the truck PLUS the additional amperage required to run that pump motor so frequently? I don't really know. I am asking. My understanding is that it will not do it, this is why you need a good, strong, capable battery and good, clean connections. This is why I suggested the dual battery idea. Both of my Cummins powered Dodge trucks ('98/'06) have two batteries from the factory. My understanding is to sustain the amaperage needed to crank the Cummins. Sorry this is so long, but maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong.
JH
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