Paralelling two MC-614 alternator regulators ?

[Jd1]

Is it possible to parallel two MC-614 regulators and only actuate one or the other 'ignition' (brown) wire ? Has anyone tried it ? Heard of it ?

In actual practice it will be two different regulators but the concept is still the same. If I disable one regulator and enable the second, will the electronics on the turned off regulator effect the active regulator in any way.

Some things are pretty straight forward. Things such as power and ground can be paralleled without a second thought but what about things like stator in/out, field drive etc ? Can I have these paralleled between two regulators or will they interfere with each other (remembering that only one regulator at a time would be active)

Thoughts ?

The concept is to have a replacement regulator available that I could activate with a switched ignition lead.

[john61ct]

Why? Not like you're talking about the oxygen supply on a spacecraft!

You can survive fine without a working alt, just carry a spare?

[Jd1]

Because .....I have two regulators and would rather figure out now how to connect them up rather than in a stormy night where I am trying to stay off some rocks somewhere

[john61ct]

Don't you have a big House bank and a 1/2/Both switch? You should be able to run for days with no alt, long as non-essential loads are off.

In any case just rig a normal dual alt setup, and wire On/Off switches to each Field wire. Run either or both as you like.

[Jd1]

<sigh> Yes, I have a big house bank. Yes, I could run for days with that. No, I only have a single alternator as there isn't enough room to run two. While I appreciate the input, I would really rather get back to the original question .... which was 'can you run two mc-614's in parallel while only activating one or the other with the ignition wire'

[john61ct]

I thought I answered that, but now I don't understand.

You are asking if you can do something, but then saying you have no room to do that thing?

[bletso]

Originally Posted by Jd1

<sigh> Yes, I have a big house bank. Yes, I could run for days with that. No, I only have a single alternator as there isn't enough room to run two. While I appreciate the input, I would really rather get back to the original question .... which was 'can you run two mc-614's in parallel while only activating one or the other with the ignition wire'

Using ignition wire input activates that regulator. Its output is inactive with no 12VDC on that input.

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by john61ct

I thought I answered that, but now I don't understand.

You are asking if you can do something, but then saying you have no room to do that thing?

Sorry for not being clear. I am trying to set up two regulators for a single alternator. I have no room to run two alternators. So let's say I have two MC-614 regulators. I can run power and ground to both without question. Next I would run the brown wire from the ignition (switched 12V power) to a single pole double throw switch that lets me activate one regulator or the other regulator but never both at the same time. My question is if anyone has ever tried to parallel all the other wires from the regulators to the single alternator without switching them. Can the field wires be paralleled, can the stator wires be paralleled etc etc.
In operation, the switch installed above would select which regulator is active. Set the switch one way and regulator one controls the alternator and regulator two is switched off, set the switch the other way and regulator one is turned off and regulator two controls the show.
I hope that clarifies things.

[Frankly]

Considering the field output of the 614 is some type of solid state device that is non known to us mortals I think I would use a SPDT toggle switch with the common connected to the alternator field. As far as the power/sense/on/off wiring you could do that with an ATO fuse block with no fuses.

Assuming that you have not mounted that 614 in the engine compartment (in that case move it to a cooler location), I would find something else to worry about. In a lot of years i have rebuilt a couple of Balmar alternators (worn brushes) but my 612 is still doing fine (there is a spare on board).

[Viking Sailor]

Jd1,

It is not a good idea as there are failure modes that could effect the operation of the backup regulator. An example would be the field wire shorting to ground or 12 volts.

You could could use a switch with more contacts or a plug swap setup.

[wrwakefield]

Your idea is interesting.

I took the simplistic route by mounting the back-up regulator next to the primary reg. [Single alternator with Balmar MC 614 regulators]

When the primare regulator fails, I will pull the wires off one-by-one and connect them to the same terminal on the back-up reg. [It only takes a minute... This happened 3 years ago...]

I also pre-programmed the back-up reg [and adjust it if the primary reg programming is adjusted] so it will be plug-and-play.

Since I run the tachometers off the alternator regulator, they serve as noticible tattle-tales if the regulator malfunctions... [Along with volt meter, etc.]

I also have a new spare alternator which will be manually installed when the time comes. I don't see the back-up regulator as being much different [as long as it's programming is kept current...]

Let us know what you work out for your needs.

Cheers! Bill

[Jd1]

I did not want to clutter up my fairly basic question with details but the two regulators are in fact quite different. I agree that mounting identical regulators side by side is a great way to go for two identical regulators. Unfortunately my two regulators are quite different as is the way they are connected. Although it is fairly simple to change connections now, it will be quite different six months from now when I would do a lot of head scratching if I was faced with the need to switch regulators. This was the primary thought when I was thinking about this.
As Viking Sailor said though, it might not be a good idea (thank you) to do this so I will have to come up with a better or less error prone way to flip between the two regulators. Maybe detailed documentation placed right next to the units that explains how to switch ....

[Viking Sailor]

Just wire the socket so that when you plug-in either regulator you get the correct connections to the alternator, power, etc.

[David M]

Wire them in parallel with an A-Off-B switch on the power IN wire

You still want a spare alternator if all you have is one DC source. Alternators themselves do fail. So you might as well not bother given you already have a spare alternator which normally have internal regulators.

[Ostinato]

Which alternator are you running with the regulators? If it is the Series 6 that has a built in back up regulator that can be toggled switched over to. Otherwise I would mount the two regs side by side and simply switch the harness over. That doesn't take long.

I doubt you would screw the two regs to prewire but I have seen them go screwy and mess up an alternator so I would call Balmar and ask.