Yanmar 2qm15 alternator upgrade

[Jack Long]

Shit everybody!

I meant "alternator" not "battery".

I learned my deep cycle lesson already! I could even talk to Gord without making him cry (if I wanted to).

[Ex-Calif]

So you want to use a car alternator for your boat?

IMHO they are the same part with a different part number. We replaced ours with using an alternator cross referencing table I found on the internet.

You may hear about "marinized" stuff. Basically as I understand it, it may have ruggedized, more waterproof connections. It may not...(cynic mode)

For your purposes I wouldn't hesitate to use a "car" alternator as long as it was in the cross reference list. I wouldn't bodge a totally incompatible alternator on unless I knew what I was doing.

We didn't save much. Our issue was one of rapid availability.

[Jack Long]

I don't know that I want to- I just want to get a sense of how broad a search to make...

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

... For your purposes I wouldn't hesitate to use a "car" alternator as long as it was in the cross reference list. I wouldn't bodge a totally incompatible alternator on unless I knew what I was doing...

Dan:
Do you recall where you found the cross-reference?

Prestolite (Leece Neeville) have an Alternator cross-reference guide at:
http://www.prestolite.com/literature..._Guide_alt.pdf

[Ex-Calif]

I don't know if this is helpful but I took all these numbers with me when I visited the alternator shop.

VOLVO-PENTA AD290 THRU AQ290A ALTERNATOR

[Jack Long]

I've had two deals to buy 8amp alternators on eBay go wonky for one reason or another and now I don't have time to get something shipped before I go.

I was doing some reading on the car alternator front and some stuff talked about how they are fundamentally different from marine units in how they charge? But it read a little like marketing scare tactics to make people buy the 800 dollar Balmer kit.

Thoughts?

[Jack Long]

Scotty- sorry I did not get back to you sooner. Thank you for the generous offer but I think at this late stage in the game I had better get my grubby paws on something local.

All,

After both eBay situations fell through (a hundred dollars to ship an alternator from Canada? Psshh!) and being totally appalled at the 800$ price tag on the 55amp Balmer kit I decided to try the auto parts store route.

I visited Napa, Kragen, Winchester Auto Parts, and Pep Boys before I found an employee willing to put forth any mystery solving effort. A guy at Pep Boys got into the challenge and spent an hour or so pouring over books with me and pulling boxes off shelfs. The Napa guy was a dick and did not want to help. The girls at Kragen were nice and wanted to help but simply had no clue. They offered to let me look in thier books- which I did for a bit before deciding it was not the right path.

Anyway, Pep Boys guy found me an alternator that was 50amp and looked like it would work. I wasn't excited about it only being 50amp though but it was tough to argue with the 50 dollar price tag (75 since I didn't give them a core). It bugged me all night though because I will be leaving without solar panels and with a 50amp and a fridge I am looking at 2+ hours a day of motor run time.

This morning I started calling alternator/starter shops. I basically went through the yahoo yellow pages for my area and started calling anything with "auto electric" in the name. I did not do this right away because I felt there would be some dark juju about it- somehow it seemed like it would be complicated or expensive or otherwise hard.

I started pretty early and got some answering machines and a place that specialized in stereos. Then I dialed a place- and this is a true story- and a guy with a thick middle eastern accent answered, "Hello?" in a gruff voice. "Do you guys do alternators and starters?" I asked. "Call this number (insert number) CLICK!" and he hung up. Feeling a bit like a spy I dialed the number before it slipped from my memory. It was, in fact, an alternator shop. I guess the listing is wrong and he gets people calling all the time- but it was still funny.

The shop said they could do anything and do it within a day and to come in. I was ushered into the back where the master alternator guy- an old asian fellow- looked at my hitachi. He nodded as I told him my situation, measured the case, and went into the back room at a brisk walk. He came out with an alternator- compared it to mine- decided it was wrong- and in heavily accented and broken english asked me why I needed a higher output unit. I explained- he nodded- and ran back to the back room.

Again he returned with a unit- compared- decided it was not right- and asked me more questions. He nodded gravely and returned to the back. This time slower. The process repeated four or five times- each time he walked slower and slower and I got more and more nervous.

Eventually he stated, "This one is hard! I build you a new one. All new parts. 100amp. See this? (he holds up something that looks like a screen) This makes it marine. I put this in it for you. One hundred eighty nine dollars. I have it by five PM."

I explained I would be out of town in the evening but that I would come back the next morning. So, we will see what happens.

100 is bigger than seems ideal but I think it will be okay. I think the Balmer site said that you lose about 1horsepower for every 25amps. So, my 14hp will run like a 10. I can deal with that.

[Whimsical]

Originally Posted by Jack Long

100 is bigger than seems ideal but I think it will be okay. I think the Balmer site said that you lose about 1horsepower for every 25amps. So, my 14hp will run like a 10. I can deal with that.

It will only run like a ten while it is pulling large amps. Once the batts are charged the alternator puts on only a small load. You can always put on a field diconnect switch to turn off the alternator when required. Mike

[Jack Long]

Oh that is great news!

Thanks Mike!

[scotty]

congrats on getting it done, yes the shop near me said they would build me one if they did not have it. the shop always dips their windings on everything they build, that way they said it cuts down on return, as they offer 2 years on custom alts. they do alot of custom work for hot rodders including chrome and gold plating