alternator running coach ac

[elbundi]

This may have been addressed previously, but my search here on the forums has been fruitless thus far.

Will a suitably strong enough alternator on a vintage MH (using a 454) run a coach AC (12,500 BTU+) with appropriate inverter?
Dash air currently doesn't work. surprise surprise.
My mechanic friends (hot-rodders) never heard of such a set-up!

[bkahler]

Wow, hadn't thought about that possiblity. You'd have to have one hefty alternator installed to be able to feed the inverter. There are inherent inefficiencies when converting from 12vdc to 120vac. I think you would find that the amount of horse power you would rob from your 454 would be very noticeable. Your gas mileage would suffer and I wouldn't be surprised if you started experiencing over heating issues.

If you try it let us know how it works!

I would definitely get your dash air to work again. We couldn't live without the dash air in our 310. Very noticeable difference in comfort level when the dash AC is not on.

Good luck!

Brad

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, first off, don't you have a generator on your motorhome? [Onan or Generac] This could run the A/C while driveing. Alternating current generators are made to maintain batteries. Running this big of a load would melt your Alternating current generator. [only Chrysler products have "Alternators".]

[elbundi]

the kohler generator i have works like a champ, it's just a matter of economics what with high gas prices. was exploring an idea i must have misread from another thread. is there such a thing as an air con unit which runs off of 12vdc?

your right brad, i do need to fix the dash air, the compressor sounds like it works, but it won't take any freon and blows hot. there's another morning gone searching these forums on how to fix it