Broken Alternator Belt

R

robert teed

New member
Feb 15, 1998
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Well, I got the GMC running. Then the belt
to the alternator broke. I want to move the
coach to my house ( about five miles ). Can
I use the onan generator to supply 12volts
to the main battery to run the engine? Maybe
thats the way it works anyway??? If not I'll
have to replace the belt where it sits. That
can be done...But its in the old REO building
and really dirty place to work. It would be alot
easier to work on it at my house.
Thanks,
Rob Teed
 
>Well, I got the GMC running. Then the belt
> to the alternator broke. I want to move the
> coach to my house ( about five miles ). Can
> I use the onan generator to supply 12volts
> to the main battery to run the engine? Maybe
> thats the way it works anyway???
>
>

No not under normal set-ups,

however if you run the ONAN and provide
110VAC to the coach, you can then plug in a battery charger to provide 12VDC
to keep the battery charged. a little round the way of doing things, since its
not that hard to replace the alt belt..
Just run the charger leads to the engine battery. be sure to secure them,
for while
you are driving, to prevent them from coming loose....
 
Rob,

If your batteries are fully charged you shouldn't have any problem driving 5
miles without the alternator. I once made it about that far at night with
all of the lights on but that was with a running start and no other
reasonable choice.

My '75 palm Beach has the house batteries mounted behind the generator and
the 40 amp DC supply for them is powered when the generator is up and
running. This is the vintage where the shore power cord must be manually
plugged in to the generator to make it work. The good news is that there is
about a #2 battery cable running from these batteries up to the front to a
solenoid mounted on the firewall on the passenger side.

I believe this solenoid is connected to a battery booster switch on the
dash. When the switch is active the front and rear batteries will be
connected together. I don't even know if mine actually works but the point
is both batteries have heavy cables coming to that solenoid. Jumper them
together at the point and all of your house capacity will be available to
the engine system. Both batteries are also attached to the alternator
splitter but I believe the heaviest wires are at the solenoid.

Get yourself a good voltmeter and it is easy to check all of this out. On an
earlier mini (actually later since it was a '79) that I had I actually kept
an alligator clip under the hood so I could couple the two batteries and
play the dash radio while on shore power. This was easier then changing wiring.

Hope this helps

Dick Kennedy

>Well, I got the GMC running. Then the belt
> to the alternator broke. I want to move the
> coach to my house ( about five miles ). Can
> I use the onan generator to supply 12volts
> to the main battery to run the engine? Maybe
> thats the way it works anyway??? If not I'll
> have to replace the belt where it sits. That
> can be done...But its in the old REO building
> and really dirty place to work. It would be alot
> easier to work on it at my house.
>Thanks,
> Rob Teed
>
>
>
>
 
I drove over a 100 miles Sunday after my alternator belt broke while
returning home from a weekend trip without a problem. I did monitor the
volt meter though and turned off the radio.

Charge the battery and drive it home.

Paul Bartz

> From: Dick Kennedy [SMTP:rakennedy]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 1998 6:02 AM
> Subject: RE: GMC: Broken Alternator Belt
>
> Rob,
>
> If your batteries are fully charged you shouldn't have any problem
> driving 5 miles without the alternator. I once made it about that far
> at night with all of the lights on but that was with a running start
> and no other reasonable choice.
>
> My '75 palm Beach has the house batteries mounted behind the generator
> and the 40 amp DC supply for them is powered when the generator is up
> and running. This is the vintage where the shore power cord must be
> manually plugged in to the generator to make it work. The good news is
> that there is about a #2 battery cable running from these batteries up
> to the front to a solenoid mounted on the firewall on the passenger
> side.
>
> I believe this solenoid is connected to a battery booster switch on
> the dash. When the switch is active the front and rear batteries will
> be
> connected together. I don't even know if mine actually works but the
> point is both batteries have heavy cables coming to that solenoid.
> Jumper them together at the point and all of your house capacity will
> be available to the engine system. Both batteries are also attached to
> the alternator splitter but I believe the heaviest wires are at the
> solenoid.
>
> Get yourself a good voltmeter and it is easy to check all of this out.
> On an earlier mini (actually later since it was a '79) that I had I
> actually kept an alligator clip under the hood so I could couple the
> two batteries and play the dash radio while on shore power. This was
> easier then changing wiring.
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Dick Kennedy
>

>
> Well, I got the GMC running. Then the belt to the alternator broke.
> I want to move the coach to my house (about five miles). Can I use
> the Onan generator to supply 12 volts to the main battery to run the
> engine? Maybe that's the way it works anyway???
>
> If not I'll have to replace the belt where it sits. That can be
> done...But its in the old REO building and really dirty place to work.
> It would be a lot easier to work on it at my house.
>
> Rob Teed
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gmcmotorhome
> [mailto:owner-gmcmotorhome]On Behalf Of Bartz, Paul
> Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 1998 9:37 AM
> To: 'gmcmotorhome'
> Subject: RE: GMC: Broken Alternator Belt
>
>
> I drove over a 100 miles Sunday after my alternator belt broke while
> returning home from a weekend trip without a problem. I did monitor the
> volt meter though and turned off the radio.
>
> Charge the battery and drive it home.
>
> Paul Bartz
>
> > From: Dick Kennedy [SMTP:rakennedy]
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 1998 6:02 AM
> > Subject: RE: GMC: Broken Alternator Belt
> >
> > Rob,
> >
> > If your batteries are fully charged you shouldn't have any problem
> > driving 5 miles without the alternator. I once made it about that far
> > at night with all of the lights on but that was with a running start
> > and no other reasonable choice.
> >
> > My '75 palm Beach has the house batteries mounted behind the generator
> > and the 40 amp DC supply for them is powered when the generator is up
> > and running. This is the vintage where the shore power cord must be
> > manually plugged in to the generator to make it work. The good news is
> > that there is about a #2 battery cable running from these batteries up
> > to the front to a solenoid mounted on the firewall on the passenger
> > side.
> >
> > I believe this solenoid is connected to a battery booster switch on
> > the dash. When the switch is active the front and rear batteries will
> > be
> > connected together. I don't even know if mine actually works but the
> > point is both batteries have heavy cables coming to that solenoid.
> > Jumper them together at the point and all of your house capacity will
> > be available to the engine system. Both batteries are also attached to
> > the alternator splitter but I believe the heaviest wires are at the
> > solenoid.
> >
> > Get yourself a good voltmeter and it is easy to check all of this out.
> > On an earlier mini (actually later since it was a '79) that I had I
> > actually kept an alligator clip under the hood so I could couple the
> > two batteries and play the dash radio while on shore power. This was
> > easier then changing wiring.
> >
> > Hope this helps
> >
> > Dick Kennedy
> >

> >
> > Well, I got the GMC running. Then the belt to the alternator broke.
> > I want to move the coach to my house (about five miles). Can I use
> > the Onan generator to supply 12 volts to the main battery to run the
> > engine? Maybe that's the way it works anyway???
> >
> > If not I'll have to replace the belt where it sits. That can be
> > done...But its in the old REO building and really dirty place to work.
> > It would be a lot easier to work on it at my house.
> >
> > Rob Teed
>
Thanks Everyone for the info...
I'll charge the battery and Go..Go..Go..
Rob
 
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