balmar high output aternators?

[duetto]

hi,

has anyone installed/had installed a balmar alternator? i'm thinking of doing it and was wondering: a) how complicated was it b) is there a noticeable performance hit on that engine? we have 75's.

[Gadzooks!]

I don't know what is standard now, but when we bought in 2003, 60 amp alternators were standard. I had the Yanmar rep in Whitby upgrade ours to 80 amp. We have a 650 amp-hour golfcart battery house bank, and I thought the 60 amp charging sounded marginal. The 80s were the highest available thru Yanmar, and were a direct substitute with no modifications needed. If I had wanted, say, 105s, it might have required a dual belt, different pulley, etc, etc.

After delivery, I installed Xantrex "smart" regulators for faster charging. This required that the alternators be opened, and the field winding brought outside the case for connection to the external regulator. $75 at an auto electrics shop.

Operation so far has been good. We have no genset, so at anchor are totally dependent on the battery bank. We can sit at anchor a couple nights then recover most of the discharge in a couple hours' run time. Essentiall full recharge take perhaps 4-5 hours runtime. I've seen recharge rates as high as 130 amps at startup, but it settles back to 80-90 amps after a few minutes. We have a Link 10 battery monitor which is very valuable in keeping track of the battery condition.

[Gadzooks!]

You might want to check this out - from a friend of mine:

"Company is http://www.hehrpowersystems.com . Googling "powerline alternators" gives that and other potentially interesting discussions of alternator upgrades. Pulling 150 amps requires a double belt, or 8 groove pulley. I assume Hehr would advise the correct model (mounting lugs)..."

I am told (reliability unknown) that the exact same alternator as Balmar is available there for a lesser price.

[duetto]

wally,

what kind of batteries do you have that give you 630 ah? we have exide 3600 which give a total of 380 ah.

[Gadzooks!]

The batteries are POW-R-SURGE model PS2200 6volt golfcart batteries rated at 225ah. They measure 10" long by 7" wide by 11" high (approximately) to the tops of the terminals. They are made by the US Battery Mfg Co of Corona, CA, and Augusta, GA.

They were supplied and installed by PDQ. There are six of them, three series-connected pairs in parallel. The ends of the battery bank extend under the deck fore and aft beyond the edges of the hatch, so you cannot look directlly down into the cells at either end of the bank. I add water using a turkey baster and, for the end cells, use a small mirror to look down inside - works well.

[Cat Tales]

For what it's worth, Trojan Battery's T-145 is also a 6 volt & approx. the same size, but will provide 260ah.