Too many hobbies...

**Ezmoney** · 10-10-2013, 11:04 AM

Welcome to Autogeek.

There are many knowledgeable people on this forum whose areas of interest / expertise extend beyond detailing.

You my friend are a good example of this!

**Calendyr** · 10-10-2013, 12:13 PM

Welcome to the forum.

You mentionned something interesting to me. What is the typical wattage output of the OEM alternators? Could be important if I decide to purchase an inverter to drive my Tools

Also since you are an eletrical engineer, would it be a good idea to setup a battery unit in the vehicle to drive the Tools instead of using a generator? I was thinking putting a few marine batteries together in a group (parallel config) and driving the invertor off them. I am not sure if they could provide enough power or/and provide enough working time for detailing Tools like Polishers and pressure washers though.

Would love to have your thoughts on that.

BTW, I have the same "Problem" you have. Anytime I find something interesting I must learn all there is to learn about it

That is what drove me to detailing. As far as problems go, I'll take that over drugs, alcohol or anything else in a heartbeat LOL

**goodinblack** · 10-10-2013, 12:20 PM

What camera do you have?

**c8n** · 10-10-2013, 01:17 PM

A renaissance man!
I like to think of myself as one... but when I have to call a professional to fix my mess... then I think otherwise.

**drvnbysound** · 10-10-2013, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by Calendyr

Welcome to the forum.

You mentionned something interesting to me. What is the typical wattage output of the OEM alternators? Could be important if I decide to purchase an inverter to drive my Tools

Also since you are an eletrical engineer, would it be a good idea to setup a battery unit in the vehicle to drive the Tools instead of using a generator? I was thinking putting a few marine batteries together in a group (parallel config) and driving the invertor off them. I am not sure if they could provide enough power or/and provide enough working time for detailing Tools like Polishers and pressure washers though.

Would love to have your thoughts on that.

BTW, I have the same "Problem" you have. Anytime I find something interesting I must learn all there is to learn about it

That is what drove me to detailing. As far as problems go, I'll take that over drugs, alcohol or anything else in a heartbeat LOL

I certainly won't claim to be an expert on OEM alternators, but from what I've seen I believe most of them are 70-100A output. You may be able to get a good ballpark by entering your vehicle information into an auto parts website (i.e. AutoZone) and searching for replacement alternators.

With regard to adding additional batteries, there are plenty of people who do this for car audio in general, but you can do it for tools or whatever other purpose as well. What you will want to look for is a battery isolator. When wired properly this will isolate the extra batteries from the front battery when the car is turned off; battery voltages will be different from battery to battery, and when they are wired together, they try to stabilize... doing so will end up draining all of them as they try to feed energy to each other. By isolating the rear batteries, your primary battery remains charged for starting. Once started, the isolator will allow the alternator to begin charging all batteries.

**drvnbysound** · 10-10-2013, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by goodinblack

What camera do you have?

I'm currently using a Canon 50D, but I'm starting to reach some of the limitations of the camera and really want to upgrade.

I just got done borrowing a Canon 5D Mark III for 2 weeks and loved it... I just dont have $3,400 to spend on one right now.

**drvnbysound** · 10-10-2013, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by c8n

A renaissance man!
I like to think of myself as one... but when I have to call a professional to fix my mess... then I think otherwise.

Yeah, there are a few things that I've definitely hired out... a plumbing leak in my house being one of them. I also stay away from some of the major automotive engine work.

I don't mind doing things like brakes or other routine maintenance... I replaced the master and slave clutches on my RSX about a year ago. I recently replaced the IAC valve a few weeks ago, which required removal of a decent amount of hardware including the throttle body... that was 'fun' until I stripped the screws that secure the IAC valve to the throttle body

For me, I think it comes down to being frugal (for lack of a better term) and not wanting to spend money on things that I know that I can do - assuming that it's just labor and time. I know how much I make per hour, so if someone is going to charge me more than that amount, and I know it's something that I can do, I'd generally just prefer to do it myself. However, at some point I know that there are only so many hours in a day

**JSou** · 10-10-2013, 01:48 PM

Jack of all trades!

Cool RSX. I use to help my friend build his back in 04-05, good times.

**Calendyr** · 10-10-2013, 11:00 PM

Originally Posted by drvnbysound

I certainly won't claim to be an expert on OEM alternators, but from what I've seen I believe most of them are 70-100A output. You may be able to get a good ballpark by entering your vehicle information into an auto parts website (i.e. AutoZone) and searching for replacement alternators.

With regard to adding additional batteries, there are plenty of people who do this for car audio in general, but you can do it for tools or whatever other purpose as well. What you will want to look for is a battery isolator. When wired properly this will isolate the extra batteries from the front battery when the car is turned off; battery voltages will be different from battery to battery, and when they are wired together, they try to stabilize... doing so will end up draining all of them as they try to feed energy to each other. By isolating the rear batteries, your primary battery remains charged for starting. Once started, the isolator will allow the alternator to begin charging all batteries.

Ok so that would be 100A at 12V? So roughly 1200 Watts? That's much lower than I was expecting. For some reason I thought that a car needed tons of power to operate.

Thanks for the info about the isolator, I did not consider the draining of the main battery as a problem. I guess it really dépends how long the battery pack can operate... if it has say 10 hours of work time, then the isolator would not be needed. If it's more like 1 or 2 hours then yes you can be in trouble without one

I guess I will need to research the subject. This seems like a good way to work instead of getting a generator that is super Noisy. Not sure what kind of battery would be best, I was thinking marine ones because they are designed to work for a long time but they may lack the power. Otherwise probably car batteries would be best.

**Calendyr** · 10-10-2013, 11:03 PM

That's a good way to look at things I think. It's fun to learn new stuff and if you can save a buck in the process then why not.

My next project will be to learn basic mechanic to replace items that break often on a car. I was thinking alternator and water pump. Probably breaks too although I remember that when I was younger I tried working on breaks and bleeding the lines was a pain in the butt. I am not sure if brake systems improved in that regard.