Is this possibly? I need to know since I have a restored Corvette generator with tach drive(which I need) and I bought an A/C unit to run in my coupe(yes I know). The wife will never ride in the car without it. How do I do this? Will the battery go dead at night with the headlights on and A/C running?. I don't know enough about this and want the straight skinny. Electrical gurus I need your help. Two batteries?
doesnt the motor have to be running to spin the AC pump? The ac system should be fairly electronic free, shy of the electronic clutch on the pump and the blower motor.
Looks at '60 Lincoln keys in pocket... Why yes. Yes you can. My 60 Lincolns both have factory air, they use 50amp Generators vs the 40 amp u its in the non-AC cars. Factory and aftermarket air conditioning was around for about 25 years or so before alternators took over. How many amps is this Gen that you're using? Bear in mind my car uses a 50amp with air but its also got a ton of electrical gizmos in it, I doubt you'd need anywhere near that much juice.
You better check the output of the generator. Most of them in those days only put out 30-40 amps at best, and that may not be adequate. I had a 64 Comet with a generator and on cold, dark, rainy nights with the high beams, wipers, and heater on you could run out of battery. And running a generator at or near full output for long periods will reduce brush life. While you're hiding that AC compressor, maybe hide an alternator too and just run the generator as a shell for the tach drive. Also keep in mind it can depend on how fast you spin the generator. Generally the hi-po cars spun them slower which will hurt output at cruising. But if you change the pulley, that will make your tach inaccurate....
The Tach drive generator has an output rating of 30 amps when engine is running at speed. At idle generator output will drop to almost zero. The fan motor and electric AC clutch coil will draw approx 12-14 amps on high speed. Look at your ammeter now. At idle you see it fall to below zero with lights on. You can estimate actual load by leaving engine off with key on and read amps with lights and ignition, radio etc on. If lights are on, radio is on, and AC is running generator will be hard pressed at speed. At idle lights will be noticeably dim. Generator will just not get the job done. Expensive but check this solution http://www.powermasterperformance.co/item/Powermaster_82051_and_82111/289/c41 Tach drive is the problem with any conversion
Of course you can. All of the A/C cars from the 50s ran generators. The problem MIGHT be that your generator with the tach drive might not be enough to maintain the battery level over many hours of not being able to keep up with the demand on hot humid nights. It is not automatic... your car does not die immediately when a fan belt breaks. It runs off of the battery until it runs down. Sure it will run down quicker with the A/C on but in emergencies you can cycle the A/C by hand with the switch. Is that less than ideal? Maybe but how many times is that going to happen a year? I would not panic. So many of the younger fellas are scared ****less of generators. They used to sell "Mark IV" add on A/C units for the 50s cars with nothing said about it requiring a higher output generator. If the generator runs at maximum out put and still can't keep up, switch the A/C off for a while and watch the ammeter. Not exactly climate control but it's a hot rod.
Thanks guys. Someone told me it would not work after I dumped a bunch of money into my Corvette generator rebuild.(not sure on the output-will check that out) The car is still being built and I though for a while I was heading in the wrong direction. I will proceed with my components as planned then I will be hiding the air cond. as much as possible. It's going behind the seats blowing forward instead of under the dash. I think it will work. I'll make it work.Thanks again for all the imput. New territory for me.(Thanks Tommy.)
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