The Deuce as my backup generator

[Katahdin]

I've had similar thoughts and go through the same weather you do, but my 5500/8500 gas generator does a great job for what I need. With backup wood heat and no air conditioning requirements I can go a week of intermittent use on 10 gallons of gas. My biggest power needs are the well and septic pumps which require 220.

My suggestion would be to create a separate battery bank and tie your inverter into that. Then use the deuce's 60 amp alternator to charge the batteries as needed. That way you can run your stuff for hours at a time without burning fuel.

 

[DUG]

The repair shop trucks had a PTO gen set to run the welder I think. Not sure if they would put out the power you need though.

 

[rz14rt]

Yup, it plugs into the Nato jumper outlet. I would guess the beast is 70% efficient as a motor or generator are often about 85% each. On this you take the 15% loss twice. Many inverters are between 80% and 90%. BTW I, too, do not think it is a good idea to idle that 6 cyl diesel for days on end.

 

[patracy]

IMHO, Buy a genset or if you want it incorporated into the deuce, a 24v to 110v inverter. But for the money, the genset is the way to go. (Watts to $)

 

[General Mcgregor]

Ok let's go on the assumption that a self contained generator unit is not an option (if it was I probably would have made it a subject of this thread) Just the options as far as the deuce is concerned. I know it shouldn't be run for days on end but in an emergency it would be nice to run her for a few hours to get some vital electric devices running. I.E. Radio (cb/ham) Telivision (for news) Well pump (for... that goes without saying) and lights when the sun goes down. I'm not looking to run a wood shop on this energy just some basic things.

 

[littlebob]

Get a M51 Shelter and Sell or barter with the parts you don't plan on using. It has an enviromental unit you could use for heat and cooling and a 10kw genset(208 3ph with a 120v circuit). That was my plan anyway. I'm still a long way from getting mine setup to use like I want, too many projects, not enough time and money.

 

[patracy]

This might fit the bill...

PowerBright 3500 Modified Sine Wave Inverter 24V-3500

3500watt continuous 7Kw peak.


I've kinda got the same concept at home. I've got a 2Kw 12v inverter I can run off my pickup. Then my samurai has an onboard 110V-DC gen that can power lights and fans. I've also got a listeroid diesel and a 5Kw gen head I need to finish setting up that will be able to power the house 24-7 if needed. (Sans air conditioning of course) My ultimate goal is to add solar panels on the roof and a battery bank to power lighting in the house and inverters for lower power use items. Then use the listeroid "power plant" to power the house when the power is down. The trucks will just be "backup backup". I'd like to go off the grid on power, but it's just not that realistic.

Anyhow, good luck on the "backup generator". It sounds like the inverter is the path you need to take.

 

[General Mcgregor]

This might fit the bill...

PowerBright 3500 Modified Sine Wave Inverter 24V-3500

3500watt continuous 7Kw peak.

Yes That is EXACTLY what I need!! I could fit it right under the passenger seat.

 

[shovelheadmike]

Yes, there are a couple of PTO.driven generators.available that will work ok. Be sure to pick one that.is.designed to run at.1800 rpm.rather than the standard 3600 rpm generators. This.would.be a.four.pole generator. Keep in mind that there will not be any way for the gen to make the deuce provide more.power to the engine when the load increases. So, the.speed (frequency) will droop. This.will not be a problem for lights or heat strips. However, it will destroy some electronic equipment when it drops 5%-10%. Will it work? Yes it will. Is it better to get a self contained generator? Absolutely. You could.toast your heat pump or tv. I had originally considered doing this with my Ford 650 tractor, but ended up getting a.Generac water cooled 20 KW generator.

 

[shovelheadmike]

Oh, you are.the.manual speed/frequency controller. So, you get to adjust your hand throttle to maintain proper frequency. Works great for small loads.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

..... I want to find a way to run power from my deuce, did the military ever make anything that did that?

The essence of the Original Post is shown above, and the ANSWER to that simple question is.....

YES, the military HAS ENGINEERED a source of AC POWER deliverable by the M35 Series Trucks

Are you surprised? Well you shouldn't be.....

Good ol' Uncle Sam has provided AC POWER in the form of an accessory that connects SIMPLY to the Pintle Hook on the back of the Deuce.... It's called a GENSET and they are readily available as surplus from GL

All you have to do is SELECT a GENSET of sufficient size for your needs, then HOOK it to that butt-end of your Deuce and DRAG it to where you need it. (And you can still do other things with the Deuce while you're generating power.)

Many factors were surely considered, but here are a few that I can think of on short notice......

1. Portable
2. Interchangable in case of failure or resizing
3. Power INPUT sized to match/for efficiency with the KW LOAD requirements
4. Does not commit a vehicle unnecessarily
5. Self-Contained
6. Detachable from the transporting power unit (Deuce)
7. Smaller/more Compact that a full sized Deuce
8. Easily disconnected from and reconnected to various transport units
9. Ease of Maintenance - NOT a sub-component stuck in a tight spot under the frame of a truck
10. Seemingly FREE to the Military Machine - They are purchased and paid for by the TAXPAYERS and the ''goobermint doesn't really pay for 'em" - the little people do.

 

[OSO]

The essence of the Original Post is shown above, and the ANSWER to that simple question is.....

YES, the military HAS ENGINEERED a source of AC POWER deliverable by the M35 Series Trucks

Are you surprised? Well you shouldn't be.....

Good ol' Uncle Sam has provided AC POWER in the form of an accessory that connects SIMPLY to the Pintle Hook on the back of the Deuce.... It's called a GENSET and they are readily available as surplus from GL

All you have to do is SELECT a GENSET of sufficient size for your needs, then HOOK it to that butt-end of your Deuce and DRAG it to where you need it. (And you can still do other things with the Deuce while you're generating power.)

Many factors were surely considered, but here are a few that I can think of on short notice......

1. Portable
2. Interchangable in case of failure or resizing
3. Power INPUT sized to match/for efficiency with the KW LOAD requirements
4. Does not commit a vehicle unnecessarily
5. Self-Contained
6. Detachable from the transporting power unit (Deuce)
7. Smaller/more Compact that a full sized Deuce
8. Easily disconnected from and reconnected to various transport units
9. Ease of Maintenance - NOT a sub-component stuck in a tight spot under the frame of a truck
10. Seemingly FREE to the Military Machine - They are purchased and paid for by the TAXPAYERS and the ''goobermint doesn't really pay for 'em" - the little people do.

That is the best solutition to the problem!

 

[466Navastar]

[FONT=arial, helvetica](12V DC to 110/120V AC in 60Hz)

click here to see all products. 2000 Watt: $165.00, 3000Watt:$275.00, 5000Watt:$399.00
[/FONT] www.topsalesdepot.comthese inverters should do the job--------then you only have to keep the batteries charged by running the deuce--------sorry about the colors - thats the way it cut/pasted

[FONT=arial, helvetica]5000/10000 Watt Power Inverter, 12V DC to 220/240V AC in 60Hz with Free Wireless Remote Control

[/FONT]

 

[466Navastar]

sorry - above reply didnt work so well

the idea here is INVERTERS----big ones...take 12 or 24volt dc and invert to 120/or 240 volt ac------only have to run the truck or a car when the batteries get low and need charging.....if you prepare with a bunch of car batteries that are kept charged up - you would be in even better shape in a power failure.

www.topsalesdepot.com for the info including prices

 

[jesusgatos]

I've got one of these 3000 watt pure sine inverters in Mah Deuce. Going to have a bank of deep-cycle batteries onboard, and a multitude of ways to charge them. There will be a 2nd 12-volt alternator mounted on the engine, one or two small generators (something like Honda EU2000's), solar (eventually, not in the budget right now), and I've been looking at some of the PTO generators too (like these).

 

[cranetruck]

When selecting an inverter, make sure it's a "pure sine wave" type, anything else will cause problems if you try to run motors (the refrigerator, for example). The 10KW genset on my 8x8 produces the best waveform of all our generators and inverters by far.

Don't run your inverter off a lead-acid "starting" battery, the battery will not recharge fully after only a few cycles of deep discharge.

If you want a battery/inverter back-up system, isolate the battery bank from your starting batteries, similar to what's done on boats, marine style.
Also, combination deep cycle and starting type batteries compromise either feature and I wouldn't suggest using them.

A well pump should only be operated from a super reliable genset IMHO, at least 5KW to prevent a burned out motor.

Image below shows our back-up wood stove heated water heater, a propane gas water heater modified for the wood stove...

 

[patracy]

I forgot to mention about the sine wave. I honestly just grabbed the first 24v inverter I saw on google with a decent wattage output. That link I gave was for a modified sine wave. A little background on sine waves. The AC current in our households is a nice curve. Some inverters make a nasty sine wave of just voltage switching positive to negative. The modified sine wave inverters try to replicate the sine curve by stepping the curve down. Here's a nice illustration of the three waves.

Sorry, you'll have to click on the link.
http://www.reuk.co.uk/OtherImages/square-modified-sinewave.jpg

 

[cranetruck]

The "modified" sine wave still contains a lot of high frequencies, which you will hear as a back ground noise in a speaker system, for example. It probably won't deliver full power to your appliance, microwave or whatever, so go for the "pure" sinewave if possible.
You'd think that any motor driven generator would produce a nice sine wave, but not so, my son bought a cheap 3KW genset and the waveform is terrible, kind of a truncated sinewave (checked it on the oscilloscope)...doesn't run motors well...

 

[jasonjc]

It's alot easyer to get a inverter and deep cycle battery to run the TV, some CF lights. Keep it in the house, mine is under the tv. I just unplug the power strip from the wall and plug into the inverter. For the short power outages you just plug a batt chager in to rechage it.For longer ones you can take the bat outside and hook it to the car/truck with jumper cables to rechage once/twice a day. Now the well pump is going to take a lot more power than you will get from an inverter,unless its a BIG one. Then the 60 amp alt on the deuce WILL not keep up with that.Inverter need like 1 amp for each 10watts it makes. A 15 amp mortor on 220vac would need 3,300 watts so the 12v inverter would need 330 amps at 24v you would still need 165amps

 

[tennmogger]

One method of getting 115 volt AC from a vehicle is to scrounge around for a UPS (Uninterruptable power supply)with dead batteries (cheap). Of course find one that has the voltage you need. These are available in many Wattages. I have a 2400 W and a 3600 W, if I remember correctly. One is installed in my Unimog radio truck.

Many smaller UPS's have 24 v (two 12v) batteries in them. Just remove the bad batteries and use adequate wires to connect in your trucks 24v. To get 115 vac out just turn on the UPS switch. Since there's no 115vac supply for it, it'll immediately start inverting and supply 115vac to the sockets on the UPS.

Fringe benefit is if you plug in the UPS when power is available, it'll float charge your truck batteries. Beware that the current rating for the charger in a UPS is tailored to the small UPS batteries so don't try to charge up dead truck batteries this way.

Bob