Thor freedom elite batteries and alternator

[Thorfreedom]

Hello. I have 2017 Thor freedom elite 30fe which came with one house battery. I am planning to upgrade to two 12 volts in parallel or 2 6 volts in series and adding 1000 watt inverter. Ford e450 chassis alternator is only 120 or 130 amp and Thor don’t upgrade to high amp alternator even it’s available in 150 and I think 220 or close. My question is if I do these upgrades, do I have to upgrade my alternator to high amperage. Or this alternator will handle it easily. Don’t want to over stress the alternator. I see lots of people do this upgrade of batteries and inverters. I am sticking with deep cycle batteries. So any help regarding this I will really appreciate.

[Bob Denman]

You don't have to upgrade the alternator when you add the extra battery.
It only allows you to recharge them quicker: that's all...

[Mo_Mike]

I had the same question in my mind, "will the alternator handle a load on the inverter and still charge batteries"

I just installed a 1200 Watt inverter mainly to run the GAS/ELECTRIC refrigerator while on the road (instead of using propane) Hey, the televisions "might" accidentally turn themselves on also

With the alternator (and engine) running I get 14.4 volts on both the chassis and coach 12v circuits. When I turn on the inverter with no load, still get 14.4 on the coach circuit. Add a television, no change. When I turn the refrigerator on with the propane valve off (forcing it to run on 120v AC) the coach circuit drops to 13.6-13.7, while the chassis circuit stays at 14.4v.

At 13.6-13.7 on the coach circuit, my thinking is that the coach batteries will still charge, while the alternator is providing the power for the inverter and the fridge.

If my thinking is flawed (or downright off the tracks) let me know....

[sanjaun2]

Your stock alternator should be fine with the loads described above. The higher draw from the refrigerator is not constant. Cycles on and off. Going to a higher amperage alternator can get expensive and may require a bigger belt too.