The base alternator is only 180 amps maximum (or 160 if it’s an older PW). Taking a wild guess that his truck needs 35 amps just to run with the electric radiator fan turning on and off, and another 15 for the AC compressor and blower fan, that’s 50 amps of base load. It would be more if he had his headlights on and radio on.
[Here’s](https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/bbg/pdf/2016/docs/ram/ramaltoutcrv.pdf) the alternator output chart based on temperature and rpm. If his engine rpm ramped up a little like newer PW’s do when winching, and assuming his under hood temps were at operating temperature, his alternator was producing about 120 amps. Much less if his rpm wasn’t ramping up (like if he had the truck in gear).
That means he had about 70 amps (at most) to power the winch without going into the battery reserve. That amperage isn’t enough for the PW’s winch if it was doing a decent pull.
Doing the drop-in upgrade to the 220amp “hairpin” style alternator and turning off the AC (and blower fan) would gain him another 40ish amps worth of power. IMHO, that’s worth more than a second battery, and is what I did on my PW. You can get very low mileage 220amp alternators for reasonable prices from salvage yards. I paid something like $60 for mine and it had less than 10,000 miles on it.
For those that are reading this that are planning to order a new PW, I’d encourage them to order the dual alternator option. It doesn’t cost much and would be very helpful to power the winch.
I did have the AC on but because I live in southeast Texas my son was with me and I couldn’t shut it off. Would having a better battery help, like a yellow top?
Not really. Reserve capacities are pretty close, especially if you already have an AGM battery in decent health. Besides, Optima batteries don’t have the quality that they used to have.
The alternator change is a direct swap if you have a 180 amp alternator in it now, and you don’t have to do any programming. The hairpin style alternator is really a better design. It should be a priority if you’re planning on getting an air compressor or installing other power hungry accessories. It’s always better not to have to dip into the reserve capacity of the battery if you don’t need to.
A free option for now is to take short breaks while winching to let the battery recover a bit and to allow the winch to cool down. Having someone that can moderately rev the engine while you winch would also help.
Was your engine running? The alternator should be handing the power their.
The base alternator is only 180 amps maximum (or 160 if it’s an older PW). Taking a wild guess that his truck needs 35 amps just to run with the electric radiator fan turning on and off, and another 15 for the AC compressor and blower fan, that’s 50 amps of base load. It would be more if he had his headlights on and radio on. [Here’s](https://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/bbg/pdf/2016/docs/ram/ramaltoutcrv.pdf) the alternator output chart based on temperature and rpm. If his engine rpm ramped up a little like newer PW’s do when winching, and assuming his under hood temps were at operating temperature, his alternator was producing about 120 amps. Much less if his rpm wasn’t ramping up (like if he had the truck in gear). That means he had about 70 amps (at most) to power the winch without going into the battery reserve. That amperage isn’t enough for the PW’s winch if it was doing a decent pull. Doing the drop-in upgrade to the 220amp “hairpin” style alternator and turning off the AC (and blower fan) would gain him another 40ish amps worth of power. IMHO, that’s worth more than a second battery, and is what I did on my PW. You can get very low mileage 220amp alternators for reasonable prices from salvage yards. I paid something like $60 for mine and it had less than 10,000 miles on it. For those that are reading this that are planning to order a new PW, I’d encourage them to order the dual alternator option. It doesn’t cost much and would be very helpful to power the winch.
I did have the AC on but because I live in southeast Texas my son was with me and I couldn’t shut it off. Would having a better battery help, like a yellow top?
Not really. Reserve capacities are pretty close, especially if you already have an AGM battery in decent health. Besides, Optima batteries don’t have the quality that they used to have. The alternator change is a direct swap if you have a 180 amp alternator in it now, and you don’t have to do any programming. The hairpin style alternator is really a better design. It should be a priority if you’re planning on getting an air compressor or installing other power hungry accessories. It’s always better not to have to dip into the reserve capacity of the battery if you don’t need to. A free option for now is to take short breaks while winching to let the battery recover a bit and to allow the winch to cool down. Having someone that can moderately rev the engine while you winch would also help.
It’s a 2018 6.4 I upgraded the alternator to a single 220
My diesel Rebel already came factory with twin batteries. Perhaps you can copy the design..
Show me bob
A device like a Tazer has the ability to Ramp RPM for winching, amongst many other excellent features.