[C38] Alternator and charging
Steve Smolinske
SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com
Tue Jul 7 13:52:19 EDT 2009
Max I do run it from the alternator to the starter, and then from the
starter to the battery switch.
________________________________
From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
[mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of Max Soto
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 10:52 AM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Alternator and charging
HI Steve,
Now it makes sense. I thought you run the wire from the alt directly to
the starter, and I was thinking how you were using the new switch, but
if you have it directly hooked up to a battery bank it should be working
great.
I have almost the same setup but the alt wire runs directly to the house
bank. I was going to use the same ACR, but since I have different
battery technologies I went for the echo charge(just 15 amps, but enough
for a starting battery)..
I agree with you that the charging system has never worked as good as
with this setup.
Max
2009/7/6 Steve Smolinske <SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com>
Max,
ACR stands for Automatic Charging Relay, it combines the two
banks during charging and isolates during discharge. Mine is hooked up
so that when the engine starts it goes to the start bank first and then
after 30 seconds connects the two banks so the voltage equalizes and
then charges both.
http://bluesea.com/category/2/productline/overview/386
On the bluse sea switch
http://bluesea.com/files/resources/instructions/6011_web_version.pdf it
isolates the two banks except when you need to combine for emergencies.
Rather than choices for which bank to use the old 1, 2 or 1&2 it only
has on and combine. In the on position both banks are providing power
one to house one to start but are never combined unless you choose the
combine option. To charge all you do is select on and start the engine.
Steve
<http://bluesea.com/category/2/productline/overview/386>
________________________________
From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org on behalf of Max Soto
Sent: Mon 7/6/2009 5:14 PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Alternator and charging
Hi Steve,
Just a couple of questions:
What's that ACR is this some kind of isolator or charging
relay???
I have this switch on Estancia, but in my case the current from
the alternator runs directly to the house battery bank, and a Xantrex
Echo Charger tranfers current from this bank to the starting battery.
How do you charge the second battery bank??? You have to use the
Blue Seas switch on "emergency start" to charge both banks at the same
time??
Regards,
Max
2009/7/6 Steve Smolinske <SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com>
Conclusion for everyone on this item, I took Tom's
advice and what a difference in the system. I ended up having the
alternator and starter tested and rebuilt ($125) new brushes, regulator
and contacts. When hooking it back up I ran current from the alternator
directly to the starter then on to the battery switch. The wires that
use to lead the current up to the ampmeter and then back to the starter
(red and orange #10) one was abandonded and the other powers the new
voltmeter with an inline fuse. I also replaced the battery switch with
Blue Seas newer switch that completly isolates the house and start banks
with the exception of emergency combine, just one choice on or off for
normal operation, no more 1, 2 or 1&2 to confuse the admiral. It also
turns out that the problem most likely was an incorrectly installed ACR,
there are two important small wires that allow the ACR to sense both
banks. Even though the ACR wiring was probably the culprit it is a nice
feeling after tearing things apart to realize that all that current from
the alternator is no longer going through two undersized wires and a
suspect wire harness but instead is being carried by a battery cable to
the batteries.
Steve
Peregrine #312
Seattle
________________________________
From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org on behalf of Tom
T.
Sent: Mon 6/29/2009 3:27 PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Alternator and charging
Hello Steve,
You are correct. The 30 amp fuse in your charging
circuit is too small to carry the load if the batteries are discharged
or you are running other high load applications. I expect they may be
using a small fuse to try to reduce the maximum load on the wiring
harness which has been a problem in the past.
To carry a high amperage load to your engine control
panel is not only a lot of electrical loss but it can be dangerous if
your harness connections are corroded. There have been many original
engine control harnesses burned up because of the high load on the amp
meter wires in that harness.
The amp meter isn't needed anyway. You can have an amp
meter showing a lot of amps but if your battery bank is shorted, you
will only be creating heat on the harness and load on your engine but a
shorted battery will never charge with the amp meter giving you a false
sense of security. A volt meter gives a better idea of your charging
and battery conditions.
A more practical solution to the amp meter is to replace
the original amp meter with a marine grade volt meter. To do this, you
run the output of the alternator directly to your battery banks and use
the original wires to the amp meter to feed a new volt meter. You can
run the feed to the volt meter from the positive side of the starter
solenoid since it is very close to the alternator making a very easy
conversion.
The volt meter conversion is a very good and highly
recommended upgrade. It will make your boat safer and your alternator
will perform better because more output will go to the battery bank
instead of wasted in heat loss in the harness and possible faulty
connectors.
Fuse the wire that you run from the solenoid to the new
volt meter. There will be very little current on that wire now so even
a small fuse like 5 amps will do fine. The fuse should be very close to
the alternator for safety.
It has been a long time since I made this modification on
my boat but I believe the harness wire used for the volt meter
conversion is an orange wire. I wrote an article for Mainsheet several
years ago about this conversion but I don't remember what year or month
it was but I'm sure I can find a draft copy in my archives if you need
it, just let me know and I'll look for it.
Good luck,
Tom Troncalli
Renata (Hull #95)
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Smolinske
<mailto:SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com>
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
<mailto:listserve at catalina38.org>
Sent: 6/29/2009 4:35:25 PM
Subject: [C38] Alternator and charging
Tom T, I'm hoping you can add some insight on
this. I suspected my system wasn't charging so I took the alternator
and starter off and had them both tested, they are fine, and since there
off I took the precaution to have the regulator, brushes and contacts
replaced. Going over the wiring diagram for the M30 They call out #10
wire with a 30 amp fuse inline from the amp meter to the Starter
Solenoid. Knowing that a regulator varies charge based on battery
condition/charge and rpm isn't a 30 amp fuse undersized, and why a fuse
anyway, shouldn't the wire be sized correctly to handle the highest load
the system would see.
Steve Smolinske
President
4M Company, Inc.
15660 Nelson Place South
Seattle, WA 98188
425-227-4500
www.rainierrubber.com
<http://www.rainierrubber.com/>
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Max Soto
C38 #198 ESTANCIA
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