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mlydon · 29-04-2020, 18:19

I’m in the market for a new alternator, and was considering the xt170. The alternator appears to be case grounded instead of isolated, as the existing at series is. Is this an issue? Boat is fiberglass, but why the change?

Matt

witzgall · 30-04-2020, 05:35

Chris from Balmar here. We introduced the XT as an upgrade to the AT-165 for a couple or reasons. #1 was cost, and with a careful re-design, we were able to lower the cost and simplify the assembly (which affects cost too). In this design, making it case ground is possible, and in fact we are in testing phase of case ground variants. It will cost a little more, and we are making it to fulfill requests from metal boat builders and some of our sellers in markets, Norway for instance, with alot of metal boats.

The XT is a better alternator that the AT-165 as it runs a bit cooler, and a bit more output. If you don't need isolated ground (Typically metal boats) then you should be fine. If you already have a seperate ground cable running to the alternator position, the best place to ground it is at one of the tapped holes in the upper adjustment arm ear.

To answer your question, no issue at all.

Chris

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlydon

I’m in the market for a new alternator, and was considering the xt170. The alternator appears to be case grounded instead of isolated, as the existing at series is. Is this an issue? Boat is fiberglass, but why the change?

Matt