dual altenators on the same system

Hi everyone,

I have a Toyota Hilux (thats a pickup for the americans) and the altenator i have isnt quite doing the job,  the best thing to do would be to purchace a higher output altenator but instead of buying another one i was wondering if it is possible to run dual altenators off the same system (ive seen it done with two batterys and an isolator but not with a single battery) , but i have a spair altenator lying around and i have a v8 engine and there is pre-made brackes to mount the altenator off either head.  so the only problem i have is wiring it all up.

is it possible and if so how would i go about wiring it all up? do i just hook up the b+ of each altenator to the battery and away i go? or is it more complex then that?

also if i have two 50a altenators for example, would i achive close to 100a (nothings perfect so im expecting to loose some current to resistance, ect) or is it more complex then adding up the amperage?

thanks

-Daniel

If I were going to use 2 alternators, and go thru the headache of making it all work .... MY second alternator would be H.O. for a second battery.

I do not see the point of 2 alternators to do the job that 1 would. This is why I make the above statment.

Just my thoughts.

valid point i guess

ive done more researching, reading and ive since found how to do it now, you simply hook both altenators positive output together and run a cable to the battery and same with the negative, similar to setting up battery banks in parallel, and you can wire them in series to give off 24v..

just thought i'd share incase anyone was curious, thanks anyaway

Vehicle manufacturers are using dual alternators in some of their stuff.. I'd see what they are doing. The one thing that comes to mind is the voltage regulator; are they running one regulator controlling two alternators, or a regulator for each alt? Dueling regulators might be a problem.

Ford controls their dual alt setup through the PCM. Dual alternator systems are fairly common on diesel trucks, ambulances, and limos. My personal opinion, based on what I've read, is that you'll get more idle amps from a dual system with stock alternators than with a single high output alternator.

Jim

sounds good, low RPM amps is exactly my goal as i do a lot of rock crawling (very ameture stuff) and te car spends lots of time at idle

thanks for the reply Jim,

ill experiment with dual regulators and a single one to see what gives the best results