Westerbeke 30B alternator upgrade site effect

[mroc]

Dear Fellow Sailors,
I went through a successful DIY upgrade of my original limping charging system and enjoy healthy charging with brand new Balmar alternator that is regulated by external M618 regulator. I followed Marine-how-to precious guidance on the web and got a great support over the telephone from Balmar people.
All worked so well that I quickly ordered spare regulator and alternator.
But....
1. The engine control panel is now slow to shut down the alarm (oil low pressure light and the horn). It takes say 20 to 30 seconds to get silence and no red warning light.
2. During this time, the rotameter does not show any RPM even though the engine runs OK and reacts to the throttle.
3. Worried about the oil pressure, I tested it (perfect as per spec), and installed another oil pressure switch and a green OK light on the panel.
4. This weird thing used to happen during start up, so no way the temperature was a problem, but I have an independent temperature switch now and a high warning light anyway, so I know the coolant temperature is OK.

Since the basic parameters are OK, I did not think much of it, but recently, the alarms do happen occasionally when the engine is hot and running say 2000 to 2500 rpm and last a bit longer say up to a minute. Note that both oil pressure and temperature are monitored independently and are fine during these alarms.

My thoughts are that the old panel (2001) somehow does not like new hi-tech regulator and makes some unnecessary noises occasionally. Why? Old wiring perhaps? It bits me. The hookup was carefully reviewed by Balmar guys including the engine electrical schematic.

Should I try to get to the bottom of it or just ignore it. Needless to say it is unnerving to me and the Admiral panics easy, so I need to act as she is a great crew member.
Anybody had similar symptoms after the upgrade like this?
Thanks in advance.

[FPNC]

How do you have the cables connected between the alternator, starter and the batteries?

[davil]

weird is an appropriate term!!

have the same engine

you mentioned a good support from Balmar

have you tried to talk with them ?

assume you didn't touch anything on the panel wiring?
the panel wiring harness is finicky.

I changed preheat solenoid, new fuel pump and prefilter, have to reconnect all the wiring (part of a harness) and somehow messed up the wiring back, eventually to my embarrassment have to call an electrician who fixed it in 10 minutes

[Statistical]

2. During this time, the rotameter does not show any RPM even though the engine runs OK and reacts to the throttle.

This looks like the panel is getting rpm from the alternator (which is common) and not a pickup on the engine itself. Maybe the balmar is (mis)configured to not create rpm pulses when it isn't loaded? I know many external alternaors will intentionally delay producing the field and thus create no power and no load on the engine for 30 seconds or so to avoid bogging the engine down until it is up to operating rpm and temp. However they do normally produce tachometer pulses.

Did you change the stock wiring harness at all? If so exactly what changes did you make?

[mroc]

Thanks for your responses. This forum is a treasure.

FPNC
I followed Marine-How-To schematic. I created a charging bus where all sources (alternator, charger, solar, wind) meet and the charge goes to house bank. The house bank is connected with engine battery via ARC that separates the systems when the voltage drops below 12.9V.
The starter connection is factory original (added a 300A fuse) and there is a house bus where all the users are connected.
I no longer have a negative disconnect switch but repurposed it to be emergency tie of the battery banks.

Davil,
I did not touch the engine panel and I didn’t talk to Balmar. It’s a good idea to try to pick their brains as ALL guys I spoke with were really competent and helpful. But I suspect it is not the Balmar issue as I am encountering some other weirdos from the engine wiring. For example I had a temperature light on and off for no reason (happened at startup, checked temperature with infrared gun). I replaced the temperature sensor that didn’t help and ended up wiring a separate high temperature warning light.
I would gladly get an electrician, but where I am it takes forever to get a pro and by the time he shows up, I usually solve the problem.

Statistical,
Yes, the time delay to load was my first thought, but it is just 10 seconds in my case and tachometer appears to be stack at zero for much longer. In addition the zero tachometer and a buzzer alarm with oil pressure red light now happens during motoring. The Balmar regulator has a wire that sends pulses to tachometer. It has been connected as per Balmar schematic and seems to be working fine but for some reasons idling rpm is around 1100 v/s 800 before the conversion.
I may be a good idea to bite the bullet and replace the entire engine wire harness. If I can find an electrician that would tackle it.

Thanks again to all!

[FPNC]

Something that you might look at:

The panel would typically be fed power from the cranking battery. The alternator is also typically connected to the cranking battery. This means that the panel is only receiving and using power from a single source, that being the alternator /cranking battery system.

When you separate the alternator from the cranking battery, the panel is now receiving some voltage from the alternator and some from the cranking battery. In other words it is possible that you could have two competing voltage sources meeting at the panel. Gauges and warning light circuits don't like this.

I would make sure that the panel is only being fed from one voltage source.

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by mroc

Statistical,
Yes, the time delay to load was my first thought, but it is just 10 seconds in my case and tachometer appears to be stack at zero for much longer. In addition the zero tachometer and a buzzer alarm with oil pressure red light now happens during motoring. The Balmar regulator has a wire that sends pulses to tachometer. It has been connected as per Balmar schematic and seems to be working fine but for some reasons idling rpm is around 1100 v/s 800 before the conversion.
I may be a good idea to bite the bullet and replace the entire engine wire harness. If I can find an electrician that would tackle it.

Thanks again to all!

I would replace the wiring harness as an absolute last resort. It is an expensive part and a time consuming job.

As for the tachometer showing incorrect rpm if the size of the pulleys changed or the new alternator has more poles that is pretty common. It could be the new setup is producing more pulses per rotation of the engine and thus tachometer is seeing that as more rpms.

If you remove the tachometer from the panel (or remove the panel to get to back of tachometer) there is usually an adjustment screw. Even with new wiring harness you likely will need to do this.

Buy a cheapo laser tachometer like this one for $25.

https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-20713A-.../dp/B000I5LDVC

Stick a reflective sticky on the crankshaft. Measure the rpm. Adjust the tachometer to meet. This is a good tool to have to verify things like idle speed.

[stormalong]

Many alternator regulators do not start up right away to give the engine a chance to get oil flowing and warmup a tiny bit before throwing a big load onto it.

Check with Balmar.