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Old 02-13-2014, 07:00 PM   #1
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Not sure if this is the place to ask this, but...

Not sure if this is appropriate to ask on a school bus conversion forum, but if not, I apologize.

I really need the help of some folks who've been around the block a few times RV-wise. I'm helping a friend build his camper. I don't know if anyone here has heard of the Great Dale House Car Company, (http://housecar.com/)? Well, this fellow Dale built a little over 50 cars by hand, mostly by himself and his wife. A few weeks ago I was contacted by a friend (who directed me to the aforementioned site) and asked me to help him build a camper onto the 1965 Cadillac ambulance chassis he'd just picked up. It's a good car, even after being ram-charged up the rear by a big rig (which is why we assume the ambulance company stopped using it. Too hard to slip the patients in through the drastically reduced roof line.) We plan on cutting the car off just after the front doors and building the new camper body behind.

In any event, he wants auxiliary power from a genset, and our current design leaves precious little space in the body to house one. He mentioned a kit to do this that his father had installed in the family station wagon back in the '60's.

From what I understand this kit consisted of a 5 hp air-cooled gas engine and a pair of electric clutch pulleys, and a double pulley. One of the clutches mounted on the end of the crank shaft where the alternator belt normally ran. The alternator pulley was replaced with a double, and the other clutch was mounted to the front of the aux 5 hp engine. Of course this kit came with all of the appropriate brackets, belts, clamps and hoses (to connect it to the car's fuel line).

The way it worked is while the car engine was running, the crankshaft pulley was energized, and the aux pulley was de-energized. To provide aux power the reverse was true. He told me that his father could start the aux engine just before shutting off the car by flipping a switch under the dash. When the little aux engine was running, a red indicator light on the dash glowed. He remembered his father installing the engine, but could not remember what it was called.

Does this system sound familiar to anyone here? I've tried to search the net for this, but I don't even know how to describe it. Thanks!

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Old 02-13-2014, 07:33 PM   #2
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Re: Not sure if this is the place to ask this, but...

I don't understand what your question was. Are you trying to run your Alternator from two different engines, so you don't have to run the big engine to have power?

Please use proper sentences, paragraphs, ect, so we can read and understand what you are trying to say.

Communication is a ongoing battle on forums. We are all learning how to communicate better as time go's on.

Looking forward to understanding your question so we can help.

Nat
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Old 02-13-2014, 10:09 PM   #3
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Re: Not sure if this is the place to ask this, but...

Wow, Nat. That's the first time I've received a lecture on proper sentence structure and comprehension since college. Sorry for the confusion. And yes, that's what I'm led to understand that the kit did. (That is, used a small axillary engine to turn the alternator whilst the main power plant was shut down.)

As I mentioned, this is what he (my friend) told me that the kit that his father installed on their family station wagon. (He did not invent this, just did the installation.) I'm relaying information from his (possibly shaky) memories of a car that his father sold 40 years ago. I wish I could be clearer, but that's what the story he told me at his house the other night.

What I'm asking is has anyone heard of this kit? I'm sure it's no longer in production, but does anyone who might be familiar with this thing know what it was called?
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Old 02-13-2014, 11:06 PM   #4
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Re: Not sure if this is the place to ask this, but...

Well done on the edit. That's much easier to understand now.

Even if you do find the kit, it's not really a good plan for the following reasons.

You would need to attach the small engine to the big engine to keep your drive line from being destroyed from main engine mounts flexing.

Using a small engine to power a car alternator wastes as much as 50% of the energy from the engine. This is due to field voltage, no auto idle down, ect.

By using a permanent magnet Alternator made for wind turbines, you can use a air cooled engine half the size, and keep generating power all the way through the RPM's.

PMG's have no parts to wear out as long as they are not overheated.

The PMG, air cooled engine set up would be half the size.

Nat
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Old 02-18-2014, 11:06 AM   #5
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Re: Not sure if this is the place to ask this, but...

Just get a Honda EU2000.
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