just finished a 10 day cruise on the Chesapeake bay. Had a great trip. We were away from marinas for 4 days at a time on the hook. Batteries would get to about 55% according to the bat monitor. Ran the engine for a couple hours not showing any increase in charge state in amps, but voltage increased. I suspect the lack of charging is due to the stock 55 amp alternator. I Believe I'm going to upgrade the alternator. Here's my config-
2-200 amp hr AGM 4d batteries, paralleled.
Alt directly connected to house bank with 1/0 tinned battery cable, and fused at the battery terminal, 150 amp fuse.
ACR connected to AGM Optima starting battery. Starting battery connected to starter.
I've read some articles on the alternator here, and Mainesails article on Pbase.
With the M-35 engine, the Leece-Neville 8mr2069 and 2070 are basically plug and play replacement for the stock Motorola 55 amp alternator? Do most people go with the 2069, the imperial model?
Also, using the built in regulator is okay to do? I need to get a new fuel pump as well, so I'm looking to save some money at this point.
Using the internal regulator, with AGM batteries, to what should I set the regulator?
thanks for your help.
Robert Trinkle
Troubador, 1995 C36 MKII #1433, SR/WK
Universal M35A
Kinsale Harbor Marina
Kinsale, VA
Just spent some time looking up the 2069. All websites are showing 2069t or 2069ta. Are these the same direct swap for the old alternator?
Robert Trinkle
Troubador, 1995 C36 MKII #1433, SR/WK
Universal M35A
Kinsale Harbor Marina
Kinsale, VA
Robert
I'm not trying to high jack your Alt question.
I too just got back from a two week cruise, all on the hook. (moorings)
We just put 200 watts of Solar panels on the boat, I couldn't believe how well it worked!
We were at 95% SOC by 3PM each day.
We had a buddy boat with us who has a 120 AMP Alt. He ran his engine for hours each day. He said he going Solar next year.
May not be perfect, but Wow it was sure nice.
Chuck Lennox
97 MKii Ventura Ca
Island Girl Hull #1611
Chuck,
Actually, its not a hijack to me. I'm thinking about solar as an alternative. What kind of panels do you have?
Is your alternator still the 55amp? I think part of my problem was my RPM speed. I was on the hook running the engine at idle speed when I noticed I was not getting the amps I needed.
Robert Trinkle
Troubador, 1995 C36 MKII #1433, SR/WK
Universal M35A
Kinsale Harbor Marina
Kinsale, VA
Still looking for information on the questions I originally posted.
Robert Trinkle
Troubador, 1995 C36 MKII #1433, SR/WK
Universal M35A
Kinsale Harbor Marina
Kinsale, VA
Robert
I bought 2 100 watt flexible panels and a MPPT controller from a company in Ventura Ca (Windy Nation) for $612. Cables etc included.
I just temp installed every thing, prior to drilling holes.
Yes, I have a 55 amp Alt.
Never ran the engine for Battery Charging. We did change anchorage a couple of times. I went out of my way not to charge the house batteries with the engine.
We were seeing 2 amps at 7am and 12 amps mid day. One day it was light overcast and we only got 4 amps at noon.
Chuck Lennox
97 MKii Ventura Ca
Island Girl Hull #1611
Robert,
For two Lifeline 4D batteries the Leece-Neville would not be my first choice nor would I recommend it for a customer who had 400+ Ah's of Lifeline batteries. While that alt can work, externally regulated, I would go for the 105A model then use belt manager level 4 to get it running down around 70-80A or so... I would then set alt temp compensation for approx 230F as your back up insurance.....
The internal dual fan alts loosely based on the CS130 frame dimensions (Balmar, E-Maax Mark Grasser etc.) would be a better fit for your Lifeline batteries.. The Leece-Neville internal regulator has no thermal compensation to protect itself so with a large bank of AGM batteries you run the risk of burning it up. By converting it to external you can de-rate it and add a temp sensor.
Your Lifeline's will benefit from an external regulator with battery temp compensation and they will also be very hard on an alternator unless it is set up properly. While the 8MR series is a decent little alt it is really a better fit for standard flooded batteries so long as the bank does not get too big. I recently ran a test in my shop with lab grade equipment where a 125Ah Lifeline was charged at .2C from 50% SOC. It spent 1:42 minutes in BULK. That Leece Neville was never meant to run a full bore for 1:42 minutes before catching a break. Heck any small case alternator will benefit from belt manager when feeding large banks of AGM batteries.......
Lifeline's really require temp compensated charging and like to see a minimum of 20% of capacity in charge current (more is better) in order to achieve optimal cycle life. They also need to get back to 100% SOC as often as is humanly possible. The faster your bulk charging time,and early absorption, the more optimal your solar wcan be at "finishing" the charge.. The alternator and solar work together unless you have a massive array.....
-Maine Sail
https://www.marinehowto.com/
Wow, Mainesail, thanks for the comment. I was hoping you would respond to this post. Is the 105a plug and play with my engine and belt, just replace it and not have to modify the pulleys or shim the alternator? Being new to researching alternators, can you explain "belt manager level 4"? Also, I assume the temp sensor is part of the external regulator?
Thanks again for for your help, and the help adding the starting battery.
Robert Trinkle
Troubador, 1995 C36 MKII #1433, SR/WK
Universal M35A
Kinsale Harbor Marina
Kinsale, VA
[quote=rtrinkle]Wow, Mainesail, thanks for the comment. I was hoping you would respond to this post. Is the 105a plug and play with my engine and belt, just replace it and not have to modify the pulleys or shim the alternator? Being new to researching alternators, can you explain "belt manager level 4"? Also, I assume the temp sensor is part of the external regulator?
Thanks again for for your help, and the help adding the starting battery. [/quote]
Considering the piss poor alignment issues I have seen on Universal factory installations I would argue that no alternator is really "drop-in". If you want to drive high-ish currents with a single belt the alignment needs to be spot on and this will often mean some shimming even with alts with virtually identical cases...
Belt manager is a tool in the Balmar regulators that allows you to essentially derate or current limit and alternator. This does two things,
#1 Places less load on your belt and reduces heat induced from belt slippage.
#2 Allows the alt to trot along at a more reasonable & sustainable pace creating less heat and thus lasting longer. Think of how your car would last if every time you used it the pedal was on the floor and you were driving through the desert in 130F heat. That is a small case alt charging AGM's in an engine bay without belt manager... Think of belt manager as a self protective governor for your alternator.
The temp sensors are an option with Balmar regulators but with AGM batteries, they are really not so optional...
-Maine Sail
https://www.marinehowto.com/