Is a 100 amp Alternator Too Large ?

[YOGAO]

Originally Posted by John A

So everyone's right depending on their situation.

Truer words were never written!

[Highlander40]

The poly-V belts are ribbed for a more pleasurable ownership experience.

[phantomracer]

[QUOTE=richardhula;574721]............Regarding drain on engine power - this will only be at maximum when alternator is producing max amps. QUOTE]

Yup. I can feel the power increase after the balmar regulator gets to the last stage after getting the batteries charged. During bulk load, you can feel the drag.

It is a noticable amount of power...though not enough of parasitic drag that is interferes with normal operation.

Tip of the day... if you have a balmar alternator/regulator. you should pick up a backup regulator. Balmar has one that plugs into the balmar plug in case your regulator dies. Pretty cheap (maybe $50-60). Good alternative to carrying a full size (and expensive) reguator.

Our regulator died, after about 40 hours of use (but balmar did not replace it, as it was over the warranty period). When we were at a boat show, the Balmar rep showed me a backup regulator he suggested to carry as a spare...and gave me one after he saw how agitated I was that they didn't replace my regulator under warranty especially with so few hours on it.

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by John A

So the short term answer is that with an older engine, improperly matched pullys, or pullys that are not aligned correctly, and older fanbelts in use, your experience with this topic may vary.

If you do an add-on of a 100 amp to a Perkins 4-108 manufactured in 1977, different considerations must be taken, than with a new engine..

So everyone's right depending on their situation.

yup.

Got to make sure the belt matches the pully. You can not use a automotive belt on a Yanmar, as the v shape is different (Metric??). At the Mack Boring class, larry showed us the profile difference of the belts...and why to get the Yanmar part (or equivilent) and not a automotive belt. (Same deal with oil filters - metric threads and far thicker metal case)

Not sure if this translates to other motors, but got to be careful with the Yanmar. The previous owner had a heck of a time finding a belt for the Balmar that fit on the Yanmar pulley. Thank goodness he bought and supplied me with a spare!!

[Tripod]

We run a 100A Balmar with a Balmar smart regulator on a Perkins M65 with a single Gates notched belt charging 4 T-105s and a single 875 CCA group 24 starting battery (combined with a Blue Sea 7610 Automatic Charging Relay). PO apparently used the cheapest belts he could find. When we acquired Adagio two years ago he mentioned that the alternator “ran hot and ate belts”. Soon after closing, I cleaned the massive amounts of belt dust out of the engine room, put on a proper belt at the right tension and bingo, no more dust and no more busted belts. More recently, while motoring one of our grandchildren got curious about what that big round switch did and gave me an opportunity to re-build the alternator. When I opened it up I found the stator and rotor completely caked with belt dust (not unexpected). After replacing the fried diodes I gave it a good cleaning and replaced the bearings & brushes. Now it runs like new. Bottom line . . . proper belt + proper tension + proper alignment = happy high-amp alternator.