I've been waiting for this video in my life. Thank you. Hard to be stealth in metropolitan areas with solar panels on the roof. Anyone on a second storey or higher knows.
Nice video- thanks! I am sorry if I missed it but did you program your wakespeed so it is off or derated at or near idle (to prevent too much load on engine at idle) or at high RPM, eg when you need all of the power of your engine? If so, how does it sense the RPM? I heard the Wakespeed has a feature called “Adaptive Idle” where it can estimate the RPM without it being fed actual RPM. Do you know how accurate this estimate is? Thanks again!
Will this void the factory warranty on brand new Sprinter? Void insurance coverage? Also, I understand new vans come with an option for a beefier Alternator, would this not be cleaner/easier than a having a second dedicated alternator?
Regarding the warranty, we're not legal experts but the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal to "void" a warranty based on aftermarket parts or other modifications. If your modification actually causes a problem, that problem is excluded from warranty coverage, but it was always excluded--nothing is "voided". Vehicle alternators are not purpose designed for continuous high-output charging like secondary alternators from Nations or other similar options are. They typically cannot be externally regulated with something like the Wakespeed that can monitor multiple factors like temperature of the alternator, voltage, current, etc. Vehicle alternators don't have safety features like avalanche diodes. Plenty of our customers will use their stock or upgraded vehicle alternators instead of a dedicated, purpose-build secondary. The general recommendation is to limit charging from a vehicle alternator to less than 50% of it's output rating so that you don't overtax it - particularly at idle. In a lithium battery system that is typically done with DC-DC chargers. To get an equivalent 200+ amps of charging from DC-DC chargers would be pretty expensive and have it's own complications.
I've been waiting for this video in my life. Thank you. Hard to be stealth in metropolitan areas with solar panels on the roof. Anyone on a second storey or higher knows.
Great work ❤
Great video, lots of good information 👍
Nice video- thanks! I am sorry if I missed it but did you program your wakespeed so it is off or derated at or near idle (to prevent too much load on engine at idle) or at high RPM, eg when you need all of the power of your engine? If so, how does it sense the RPM? I heard the Wakespeed has a feature called “Adaptive Idle” where it can estimate the RPM without it being fed actual RPM. Do you know how accurate this estimate is? Thanks again!
Would a desktop work for 9 hours using the charging by second alternator, please? Thank you
Would depend on your battery bank. The alternator would just charge the batteries back up when needed
Will this void the factory warranty on brand new Sprinter? Void insurance coverage? Also, I understand new vans come with an option for a beefier Alternator, would this not be cleaner/easier than a having a second dedicated alternator?
Regarding the warranty, we're not legal experts but the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal to "void" a warranty based on aftermarket parts or other modifications. If your modification actually causes a problem, that problem is excluded from warranty coverage, but it was always excluded--nothing is "voided".
Vehicle alternators are not purpose designed for continuous high-output charging like secondary alternators from Nations or other similar options are. They typically cannot be externally regulated with something like the Wakespeed that can monitor multiple factors like temperature of the alternator, voltage, current, etc. Vehicle alternators don't have safety features like avalanche diodes. Plenty of our customers will use their stock or upgraded vehicle alternators instead of a dedicated, purpose-build secondary. The general recommendation is to limit charging from a vehicle alternator to less than 50% of it's output rating so that you don't overtax it - particularly at idle. In a lithium battery system that is typically done with DC-DC chargers. To get an equivalent 200+ amps of charging from DC-DC chargers would be pretty expensive and have it's own complications.