42V Alternator Wanted

andyleonard

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We're re-powering a 24V gas/electric hybrid remote control tracked slope mower with 36V electric drive motors and now need a constant source of 36V power, run off a 22hp gas motor at a steady 3600 rpm. We know we can diddle the 24 alternator but I wanted to ask.

Railroad stuff? Airplane tug? Warehouse floor washers? ???

Mods, please move as necessary and thanks.
 
How about this?

 
Welp, there are a couple tech issues with that direction, but the main one is the $3500 price tag. I'm hoping for a real simple, air cooled, no semi-hybrid, 42V old-school alternator off...something that I can just swap in for the 24V one I'm running now.
 
Could it be as simple as changing out some resistors in the regulator module of an externally-regulated design like those that came with our coupes?
 
Good thinking. Mods to a 12V alternator will get the volts for sure, but here's my concern: Despite the many advantages of a higher voltage system, there's heat produced and, as we have seen, the stronger alternators - even at 12V - are liquid cooled. Don't got no liquid cooling. Plus the way this rig operates is a 22hp gas motor runs at 3600rpm at all times, the machine is in motion and mowing at all times it is on, and the DC drive motors are 15# 3/4 hp 30A gearmotors running full speed, mostly on steep slopes, over rough ground and in tall weeds/brush. Big loads on the motors. Yes there are batteries, but basically the alternator is powering both motors wide open full-time. We have cooked motors from the heat on 24V. So I have questions about the ability of a diddled street alternator to stand up to the work.
I guess there are reasons why a 48V marine alternator is $3500, but I'm not sure what they actually are.
Since I posted I have been made aware of a $1000 Mahle 48V 100A alternator used by John Deere on a zero-turn electric hybrid mower.
 
In that case maybe use two of them! (Assuming there’s room). It sounds like you’re on the way to finding something purpose-made but from a theoretical standpoint raising the voltage all the while demanding the same work amount of work ought to result in a drop in the current in the circuit. And since current vs. resistance is the main factor in waste heat you actually might be better off.

Make sure to show us the end result!
 
Interesting. The output voltage can be increased by increasing the current going through the rotor, which can be done by increasing the rotor voltage, and probably modifying the voltage regulator (which controls the rotor current). The stator should be fine because, when delivering power at a higher voltage, the output currents will be lower. That current is the main heat source...
Voltage can also be increased by increasing RPMs, but I assume the 3600 RPMs are a given constraint.
The alternator must have a current limiter, because the load presented by the motors can be abnormally high when they get stuck due to obstacles, etc. A fuse would be a pain, unless it is a solid state fuse of sorts.

The idea of putting two alternators in series is clever, and solves the issue of heat dissipation, as each alternator would be air cooled separately even if the share the same axle.

On a separate tangent I thought that gas powered lawn mowers will be soon banned, so perhaps explore a small green hydrogen fuel cell, power the motors, and produce clean water to irrigate whatever you were mowing. I visited this week the friend that is prototyping a 1MW Data Center in Mountain View on green hydrogen, off the grid. I am a convert. Great stuff, I can post a picture. Goes live in a few weeks. That IS the future.
 
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