Q for Ron and Greg: Can a Car be used as an improvised generator?

[Brian Jones]

Hi, everyone,

I have a week off (YAY!) and will be able to catch up on this forum finally! I would've started posting sooner, but have been holed up with Ron and Karen's videos for the past few days -- got 'em as an Xmas present from my brothers. These videos are a must get -- first time I have seen the whole series (well, first 8 volumes anyway). Hope everyone had a great holiday...

Ron and Greg (or anyone else): with all the talk of cars etc., can a car or truck be used as an improvised emergency generator for blackouts? If it can, and you can elaborate, I'd be interested in learning how...

Best,

Brian.



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Suburbia: Where they tear out the trees, then name streets after them.

 

[Doc Ron]

Brian,

Good question and the short answer is yes. Alternators can be modified to put out 110vac. It will void the manufacturers warranty

There are several ways to do it but you need complete instructions which can be had for about $5.00 from the back of many magazines like Popular Science etc. The instructions might be available online. It is not the best way to get power and uses way too much gas for the power generated inless you hook the thing to a small motor.

The most popular way to get power from a car system is through an inverter which turns the 12v into 110vac.

We use solar panels on a series of deep cycle batteries with 2kw in inverters to give us 110vac when needed. The regular household wiring can be cut from the mains and we just pump 12vdc through the lines to run RV lights and appliances. When the power comes back we remove all 12v system units and refire the circuits. Sounds worse than it is.

The biggest problem is locating phantom loads. These are the things that draw power but you don't notice. Wall clocks, oven clocks, clock radios and even stereo and TV's often have a drain even when off. Once all of the phantom loads are located you.....

OOPS! Sorry run on thought...

Ron