[C38] Universal 5424 Charging problems

[Rich West]

If you have a manual "stop" cable, then I would think it's an unrelated
problem.  If it's an electrical switch to kill the engine, then it would
really look to me like a wiring harness problem as someone here suggested.

Rich, Legacy, #360




-----Original Message-----
From: Listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
[mailto:Listserve-bounces at catalina38.org]On Behalf Of Rob Cornelsen
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 11:15 AM
To: tdtron at earthlink.net; Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Universal 5424 Charging problems


Tom,

I have another and previously thought to be unrelated
problem that the engine will not stop running.  I
thought this was a sign that it was sucking its own
oil and I have had to use the compression release to
stop it.  Is this actually an electrical problem?

Rob

--- "Tom T." <tdtron at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hello Russ,
>
> I have not heard of a marine alternator having a
> higher charging rate than
> a similar automotive unit but that is an interesting
> thought though.  Any
> alternator that is regulated above about 13.8 volts
> will percolate the
> battery causing loss of electrolyte.  Overcharging
> will shorten the battery
> life, especially if the electrolyte gets below the
> top of the plates.
>
> I think overcharging is more of a problem than
> undercharging.  A battery
> charged with a "float" charger will charge almost to
> full charge but the
> battery will last much longer and with almost no
> maintenance.  Some float
> chargers will charge to maximum charge but they just
> won't do it as fast as
> a charger having a slightly higher output voltage.
>
> The alternator does need to be voltage matched to
> the specific type of
> battery for optimum charging and most quality "smart
> chargers" allow the
> charging voltage to be adjusted to the type of
> battery being charged.
> Unless you bypass the built in charger in the
> alternator and substitute it
> with a remote alternator regulator, I would just
> live with the built in
> regulator on the alternator if the output is
> anywhere near 13.8 volts.
> When is the last time you heard of anyone
> overcharging or undercharging the
> battery in their car by driving?
>
> I think the more critical charger is the shore
> charger because that charger
> will be on-line most of the time. Overcharging at
> the dock on an unattended
> boat can cause more battery damage than running your
> engine when you use
> the boat occasionally, even if the alternator
> regulator has a high output
> voltage.  Anyway, that's my two cents.
>
> Tom Troncalli
> The Renata #95
> St. Pete, Fla
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Duff, Russ (R.W.) <rduff at visteon.com>
> > To: tdtron at earthlink.net <tdtron at earthlink.net>;
> Catalina 38 Listserve
> <Listserve at catalina38.org>
> > Date: 10/10/2005 7:40:11 AM
> > Subject: RE: [C38] Universal 5424 Charging
> problems
> >
> > I thought marine alternators had a higher output
> voltage than automotive
> > models to fully charge deep cycle batteries?
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Russ Duff
> > Catalina 38, Hull #112
> > "AVANTURA"
> > Lake Erie
> > Grosse Ile, Michigan
> > RDUFF AT VISTEON DOT COM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
> > [mailto:Listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On
> Behalf Of Tom T.
> > Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2005 7:50 PM
> > To: Catalina 38 Listserve
> > Subject: Re: [C38] Universal 5424 Charging
> problems
> >
> >
> > Rob,
> >
> > I don't have the specs on the original alternator
> with me because my boat
> is
> > about 500 miles from me and my alternator notes
> are on the boat.
> >
> > Before you give up on your original alternator,
> first check to see if the
> > electrical power is even getting to your battery.
> The original wiring
> > called for the alternator to feed the cockpit
> engine control harness
> through
> > a couple of wiring plugs in the harness, through a
> direct feed amp meter,
> > and back through the same harness and plugs and
> finally to the battery
> bank.
> >
> > With the original harness, any of the in-line
> harness plugs could corrode
> > and even the amp meter itself could corrode making
> an open or high
> > resistance circuit.  Because of the long harness
> length, the original
> > harness would lose alternator power even if all
> wiring plugs and amp meter
> > were perfect which is seldom the case.
> >
> > An upgrade to the original system, if you have not
> done so yet, is to run
> > the alternator output feed directly to the battery
> bank and either convert
> > the amp meter on the engine control panel to a
> voltmeter or a shunt
> operated
> > amp meter which doesn't require the entire output
> of the alternator to
> feed
> > through it on the long distance to the control
> panel and back.  I prefer
> the
> > voltmeter because it tells the state of charge.
> If a battery shorts, an
> amp
> > meter will give a false sense of security because
> it may show a high rate
> of
> > charge when all you are doing is cooking a shorted
> battery which will not
> > take a charge.  Neither the modern shunt type
> ampmeter or voltmeter take
> any
> > significant amperage back to the cockpit panel
> making both a much safer
> and
> > more reliable solution.
> >
> > An easy way to check if the above original harness
> is your problem is to
> > remove the wire on the alternator output terminal
> and make a heavy 10 Ga
> or
> > larger wire to replace it.  With the new wire go
> directly from the output
> > terminal to the battery bank.  If your battery
> bank charges with the new
> > jumper cable, you are a prime candidate for the
> upgrade harness and meter
> > solution.
> >
> > I'm sure I can find a copy of the upgrade
> information that was posted in
> > Mainsheet if you need to make the upgrade.
> >
> > If this jumper feed cable doesn't correct your
> charging problems, you have
> > another charging system you can use.  You can
> charge your new alternator
> on
> > Vi$a, Ma$tercard, etc.
> >
> > Your original 5424 alternator was probably a
> Motorola with the Japanese
> > mount dimensions and there are many alternators
> that will fit without
> paying
> > the ransom price of the Universal replacement as
> Mark and others
> > have correctly reported.   The only problem is
> that the new alternator
> > needs to have a tachometer pickup coil so it will
> have to be from a diesel
> > application.
> >
> > Tom Troncalli
> > The Renata #95
> > St. Pete, Fla
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > [Original Message]
> > > From: empty <empty1 at ntlworld.com>
> > > To: Catalina 38 Listserve
> <Listserve at catalina38.org>
>
=== message truncated ===>
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