Additional or more powerful alternator mk7 2019, 170hp FWD

[Rimorello]

Hi, I am lookong into making a boost to my camper, Ford based.
From what I could find it has 180A alternator, but that's too weak for my needs:
I want to be able to charge my power station 2400W during driving.

Currently I can afford only 300 watts (because many appliances already using the alternator energy), and this is extremely low. I need at least 1000, so I am looking into either add another alternator or swap the existing one with Ford original 250A one.

The question: if money is not the question, what would be the best solution?

Best wishes and happy holidays,
Maks

[metalworker0]

your message bit jumbled up mk7 ??-------- custom 2.0 ecoblue is what you mean

SO ----You need to charge batteries with a more powerful alternator, then supply a 2400 watt inverter ... do i have this right? ...... even if so, i dont know the answer ... as your van is equipped with a smart alternator, i looked at upgrades on ebay and the maximum i think is 250 amps (i could be wrong). standard i think is 150 amps.. very hard to search ebay with numbers and amps

and i dont know if you room for an "extra " alternator with longer drive belt like this chap did .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVIDDS7VdX4

he has more space than you


all the best.mark

[Rimorello]

You’re right, my mistake – thanks for pointing that out.
I mixed up the Mk7 naming.
To be fair, when I google “Ford Transit Mk7”, I keep seeing the same front as my van, which is probably why I got confused in the first place.
The camper is a Rimor Kilig 18 Plus, so Ford Transit (full size) base, not Transit Custom as I wrote initially.
The main issue remains the same though: I’m trying to get significantly more charging power while driving for a 300Ah LiFePO₄ setup, but I’m currently only seeing around 300 W from the alternator side.
I’m now leaning towards a proper DC-DC charging solution rather than a simple alternator swap.
Thanks again for the clarification and for taking the time to reply, appreciated.

Happy holidays
Maks

[metalworker0]

I’m currently only seeing around 300 W from the alternator side

That's 20 amps when its putting out 15 volt

Like i said, you have a smart alternator that is sometimes on and sometimes off , and sometimes makes 17 volts . and sometimes just measures as battery voltage 12.5 or so.. and that's about all i know about them

Very hard to measure what its doing when its acting like that .. your 300 watt measurement came after it was caught taking a rest ........ when all batteries are charged it will not be doing anything .. you'll have to put a peak load on it .. to measure its full output .

Careful, as i don't know enough about smart alternators to guess if putting peak load on it might bugger something up, the link i gave above shows how he tests for peak voltage and amps and i don't know if his alternator is smart or not .. he's smart though.


all the best.mark

[dumper]

You can disable the smart charging by earthing out a wire in one of the plugs underneath the driver’s seatbox look on YouTube quite a lot on this subject