Voltage Regulator

[sailorboy1]

I had a near hit lightning strike yesterday. Thought I got off with just a burned up DC fan, but no.

Ran engine and my voltage spiked. The sense wire fuse isn't blow, but the regulator, Balmar ARS-5, doesn't light up at all like it even comes on.

Does it make sense that the alternator in this case with a non operational regulator goes high voltage? Guess when it comes right down to it anything could happen because who knows what is going on inside the regulator circuitry.

[sailorboy1]

[QUOTE=sailorboy1;3426019
Does it make sense that the alternator in this case with a non operational regulator goes high voltage? [/QUOTE]

Guess it matter little if it makes "sense". The fact here is that with the regulator off it is sending full battery voltage to the alternator field and gave a pretty good flash when I pulled the wire under load off the regulator to stop.

[DefinitelyMe]

Yes that happened to us, though not from a lightning strike. Voltage was spiking sporadically as high as 16.5V. I figured the regulator had failed and it was just operating at max. output.

When it happened we had just left Raiatea, French Polynesia. Our short-term solution was to run a hair dryer through the inverter to dump power! Then I disconnected it until we scrounged a replacement from a junk yard in Rarotonga. Still using that one now, 4 years later. :-)

[sailorboy1]

I had a spare that was an older unit that worked, but had a faulty alternator temperature reading. I had even already pre-reprogrammed it last year for my FireFly batteries. Plus last year I added the alternator temp sensor and that appears to have fixed the problem it originally had. It still means a $250 spare part needing order.