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Old 17-05-2016, 20:32   #1
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Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Hi - Just noticed a new behavior with our alternator and house batteries. When the house bank is run down 40%-50% and running our Yanmar 3GM 27HP engine, the engine pulses due to the alternator load at 2 second intervals. I notice the alternator putting out 50+ amps for 2 seconds, then pauses for a few seconds, then repeats. This goes on for about an hour before the charging calms down.

My suspicion is the batteries can't take the 50+ amps, so the regulator circuit shuts down. After 2 seconds, the regulator lets 50+ amps to the battery and it shuts down again.

The house is 3 27 AGMs, for 300 amp-hours, about 5 years old. The alternator is 70 amp alternator controlled by Xantrex 3-stage regulator.

This is a new behavior. I don't believe any wiring has changed. The only thing I can think of is the batteries are going bad or there's something wrong with the regulator.

Any thoughts? As usual, I appreciate your advice,
Don
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Old 17-05-2016, 22:06   #2
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

my first guess is the alt feeds the engine battery, and you have an have an ACR device to the house bank that is cycling on and off. this is a problem with a large house bank that is discharged.

if this is not the case, then sounds like an alt or regulator issue.

no way it's normal. bad batteries would not cause this.

you need to trace all the alt and battery wiring and figure out how everything works
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Old 17-05-2016, 22:21   #3
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Smac - alternator charges house. No combiner or relay between house and start. The Heart 1000 charger/inverter has an echo charge, but I believe this is only in-use when on shore power. Agree it is not normal. I'll dig into the wiring to see if anything missing or loose. Thanks!
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Old 17-05-2016, 22:25   #4
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

so how do you charge both batterys from engine? do you manually put a battery switch to 1+2 ?
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Old 17-05-2016, 22:36   #5
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

If you have a way to isolate each of the batteries, you might check to see if one is at an odd voltage. Also feel when they are charging to see if one is warmer than the others.

IMHO, 5 year old batteries are very old, and while AGM batteries last better than regular deep discharge batteries, I would think that any failure might be there. A single bad cell could cause this.

You used to be able to charge the batteries without the pulsing, probably without the 50 amp bursts. They probably had a higher back voltage. But then they finally charge. Huh.

Well, I would still look at the batteries. In the old days, you could check the specific gravity of each cell. Now you have to look at the voltages of each cell. But you can probably only check the total battery voltage.

Check it when fully charged, check out when discharged. Oh yeah, you are remaking something out. Letting it run like that will probably burn out your alternator or worse.
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Old 17-05-2016, 23:44   #6
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Could the belt be loose? If this happens when the batteries are drained then the alternator is at peak output and maximum load on the belt. You say it settles down after charging for a while, when batteries are not accepting full alternator output and less load on the belt. The belt tension may be right on the edge of tight enough but slipping under max load?
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Old 18-05-2016, 04:44   #7
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Check the connections of the red wire from the regulator to the battery +. I'll bet something is loose or corroded.

I have a similar set-up: Yanmar 3HM35F, 105A CS-130 alternator, Xantrex XAR regulator, 3-group 31 batteries for the house and a group 24 spiral for the engine, Xantrex Echo charge. I have had the issue twice.

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Old 18-05-2016, 04:50   #8
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Sounds like a bad regulator neg, reg B+, reg field connection or temp sensor, if installed... If all those check out reg could be bad.

Remove, clean and re-terminate all regulator & battery/alt connections...
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Old 18-05-2016, 06:22   #9
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Thanks for all the input - I will work through the connections, belt tension, etc. I'll have to run down the house bank to check voltages, heat, etc.

As far as charging the start battery - I have an A/B/Both switch that I could use to charge the start battery. It doesn't take much to start the Yanmar and I've never had to switch over. I like the simplicity of this setup.
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Old 18-05-2016, 10:19   #10
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Here's a couple of recommendations. You may have a bad regulator from the alternator, but this would be a last resort swapout. Check all your wires to the batteries and the battery bank. Sometimes a corroded connection creates enough of the voltage drop that the alternator thinks the batteries are charged which is why it turns off and then turns back on again after stops producing current because it sees the nominal battery voltage is lower and turned itself back on again. We've also seen a loose alternator belt cause a similar problem.

You may be also right regarding your battery bank. It's possible that one of the batteries has gone bad. That will require a little bit more troubleshooting. Recheck all of your wires as a starting point.
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Old 18-05-2016, 10:55   #11
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Either flat spot/coil damage or bad capacitor in the alternator
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Old 18-05-2016, 17:04   #12
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

A quick update - there was some minor corrosion on all the positive ring terminals. I cleaned and reconnected. The alternator belt was a little loose, but I don't think this was the problem. Also tightened. I have to discharge the house bank to retest - hopefully this weekend

Thanks for all the suggestions.
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Old 19-05-2016, 00:53   #13
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthernPride View Post
Either flat spot/coil damage or bad capacitor in the alternator
Which capacitor would this be?

My Balmar charger has a small engine mode for exactly this reason, it halves the output current when switched. Might be worth checking the Xantrex.
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Old 19-05-2016, 03:41   #14
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, eMarineSystems.
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Old 19-05-2016, 04:11   #15
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Re: Alternator charge pulses 50 Amps

Given that the regulator is a Xantrex, and Xantrex is know for producing just crap product quality... Don't rule out that the regulator has died! check the simple (inexpensive) stuff first.
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