External Regulator review

[Hoghead]

Time for an external regulator and I am wondering what else is recommended other than the Blamer (AR5?)as I had one fail at 300 hours. An anomaly maybe??
I also dislike the magnetic screwdriver programming!!

I also had an Ample Power a very long time ago but did not put enough hours on it to know

Application is a sailboat, Lehman 80, single alternator, with 6 x Trojan 105's + 2 x 8D on the bow thruster bank. Long motoring hours at times, and I run the engine to charge batteries as a last resort when the solar cannot keep up

Technology marches on so what is the flavour of the day?

As an aside 2 Echo chargers from Xantrex are used for the bow thruster batteries and I would like the regulator to handle the charging of these as well when the engine is on, with the Echo running when on shore power

[belizesailor]

Balmar has the largest market share and is, at least in my experience, quite reliable.

Next Step (Ample Power) is still a good product, but from a much smaller company with a much smaller market share.

Next Step will drive a paralleling solenoid so you could charge your auxilliary battery(s) that way. My start batteries are set up that way.

[a64pilot]

I have and like this one, it has worked well for me so far, a lot of reg for the price.
As I'm currently living with shore power, I like the force to float switch

Mark Grasser - DC Power Solutions

[wsmurdoch]

You might enjoy an older thread on failures of the Balmar regulators.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ure-64346.html

[offpist]

I have two Mastervolt Alpha Pro MB II, and very happy with them. Can be programmed just the way you want over Masterbus.

[GreenHeaven]

Originally Posted by offpist

I have two Mastervolt Alpha Pro MB II, and very happy with them. Can be programmed just the way you want over Masterbus.

Can you set USER DEFINED battery type?

This option is unavailable for in v2.36 masteradjust for me...

[offpist]

I changed all my gear to Victron, and Wakespeed WS500. So I dont have Mastervolt any more.

[bgallinger]

I've been using the Balmar MC-614 Multi-Stage Voltage Regulator for 7 or 8 eight years now and it functions perfectly. It's a bit clunky using the magnetic screwdriver to make adjustments, but I found that it was more pleasant to use by just turning on the starter key and not running the engine.