Alternators - Balmar v Driftgate v Sterling v Adverc??

[Richard10002]

What is it about a Balmar alternator that makes it "worth" more than say a driftgage 2000 alternator or an Adverc alternator. I'm probably looking at 12v 70A or 80A, given that I only have one pulley and belt.

and what is it about the Balmar system for management/regulating, which makes it better than the others:

The sterling web site makes it fairly clear how their systems work. The driftgate site is OK, but not as clear, and the Balmar and Adverc sites leave me in the dark.

 

[[2574]]

Richard,

I can offer my experiences with implementing a Balmar end to end system. I've no idea whether its better or worse than the compettitors - I took advice from Merlin in Poole who put the system together for me. I've been very pleased with the results.

I've the 120A Balmar alternator running on a single pulley on a 50hp Yanmar engine. It's a bolt for bolt swap out for the hitachi 50A standard alternator. I've the Balmar Maxcharge alternator controller. It offers slow start and ramp up functions on the alternator which reduces belt stress and avoids heavy loads whilst the engine is starting. Its a 2:1 alternator to engine pulley ratio and at about 2000 engine rpm I'm getting about 80A from the alternator. At 2500 engine rpm I'm over 100A. There is a 50% field reduction option on the alternator so if you are running with a lower power engine and you need all grunt to the prop you can wind back the alternator take.

Its a very clever regulator - voltage falls and rises between 14.2 and 13.1 depending on state of charge, period of charge, battery temperature and alternator temperature. It seems to offer all the functionality of a decent battery charger.

I employ the "50% to 80% charge by alternator" technique. Meaning that I don't bother using engine charging to replenish batteries which are out of bulk phase charging period. Otherwise the engine is turning to put maybe only 10A in - a nonsense. I rely on the Victron 70A charger to replenish through absorption and float back to 100%. I have gone for two 260AH AGM lifeline batteries - they have a high charge acceptance rate and a small "flash" 1600 CCA (60AH) engine start battery.

Split charging using VCR's. The only problem being that the engine start battery is charged to the regime of the domestic batteries. That doesn't worry me too much - the domestics are expensive whereas the engine start is cheap.

It does what it says on the tin.

Rob

 

[davidbains]

I think the short answer is the Balmar is a marine alternator designed for marine engines, should be powerful and reliable. The "Adverc" alternator is just a regular alternator which may not easily fit your marine engine without altering the stabilising bar as I had to, and the adjusting bolt lug on mine snapped off!!
It's also questionable how much extra charge the smart regulator really puts in, especially if you also have solar panels.
Next time I think I'll lash out on a Balmar alternator which I know will fit and hopefully not corrode, and then wait and see if I really need a smart regulator as well.

 

[srm]

I am running a Balmar 70 amp regulator on an elderly Yanmar 2GM20 into a 400ah battery bank. Have also fitted the Maxcharge regulator. The Balmar alternator was cheaper than a direct replacement of the Hitachi and has an internal regulator, but the Maxcharge regulator almost doubles the price!
I went for the external regulator after one season as amongst other things it can be programmed to delay the start of the charge. This makes cold weather starting a lot easier as the engine can warm up before the alternator comes on load. With the internal regulator the alternator was comming on load just as the engine was trying to fire!

Agree with the comments about Balmar in the other postings. Everything seems to work fine after 2 seasons and the unit appears more robust than the standard Hitachi. It has survived running with a broken ignition cable and a broken power line from alternator to Maxcharge at different times.

Had a Stirling regulator on the old Hitachi which seemed to do what it said. It reqires opening up the alternator to attach a sense wire though full instructions are given. (Mine came with the boat). Was advised that the Stirling regulator would not suit the Balmar alternator.

Hope these ramblings help.

Sean.

 

[pvb]

The Balmar advantage...

The Balmar advantage is that it can provide a true multi-stage charging regime, ie one in which a float voltage of around 13.5v (or less) can be achieved. The Driftgate/Adverc/Sterling alternator regulators don't offer this - their "float voltage" is just the alternator's normal output voltage (which could be as high as 14.4v). Depending on battery type and length of engine run, this need not necessarily be a problem.

I'm sure that Balmar alternators are well-made, but so are some of the alternatives. Both Driftgate and Adverc offer Prestolite Leece-Neville high-output alternators which are very robust. They're designed for use in buses, construction equipment, etc, and I'm sure that the conditions in a bus engine bay in say Florida are pretty hostile! Leece-Neville alternators usually have an adjustable-voltage regulator, which can help to provide a more sensible float voltage when used with a Driftgate/Adverc/Sterling regulator.

The Leece-Neville alternators also have a good output at low revs, although not as impressive as the Balmar. For charging whilst motoring or motor-sailing, this is less important.

I fitted a Leece-Neville 90A alternator 7 years ago, with an Adverc regulator, and it works well. If I had to replace it, I'd be tempted to spend the 25% extra and get a Balmar system, simply for the better charging regime.

 

[samwise]

I guess it all comes down to how much money you have or want to spend. Before ourt big trip we opted for an Adverc charging system, but we used the standard alternator fitted to our Volvo 2002 ( suitablty modified and overhauled) and thus far it has worked fine. It would be nice to be able to opt for all the top kit, but if you are not in that privileged position you go for the best option within budget. As is often stated in the forum, it depends on the type of sailing you intend to do. Long term cruising, Atlantic crossings etc would justify ( and require) a bigger investment.

 

[winckyst]

Hello,
On my boat, Moody 44 1995, engine: Volvo Penta MD22L(1994) s/n 5100682991.
The alternator is original Valeo 60Amp/14V A13N234 (2541451).
We installed the Balamar 621-100 alternator with the Balamr ARS-5 regulator +ProIsoCharge 12V 250Amp+Victorn BMW600S display.
I asked you few weeks ago about the connection between the ARS-5 H and the ProIso:
"Sense-connection for the remote sense wire from an advance alternator Regulator or battery sensed alternator, if equipped."

From your answers, as attached in this mail, I understood I should connect the RED wire (No. 2 in the harness –Ford style plug) to the Sense connection on the ProIso.

For the moment, the RED wire is connected to the alternator's POSITIVE output post (as the standard installation recommend).

During night sail, when engine run, and all my Nav instruments and lights are on +refrigerator on, I noticed (from the DC Volts/Amp Victron Display) that while the ARS-5 is on Bulk or Absorption stages, the reading is positive Amp all the time (means that alternator produce more Amp then the consumption).
But once the ARS-5 is in the Float stage, I get negative reading in the display which means I use more than the alternator output, although the engine still run….
In that case, service batteries went down to 12.35V and this was not good.

From that case, I can only assume that the ARS-5 got wrong values because it gets the reading from the engine battery (which is all the time 100% full) and not from the service batteries were draining fast, down below 12.5v…..

(During day time, I never had this issue because the solar panels "push in" about 10 amp/hr)

Please your advice for the right connection between the ARS-5 and the ProIso.
Or please confirm that I should take the RED wire from the ARS-5 and connect it to the "Sense Connection" o n the ProIso.
I reconnected the "red wire sense" to the output terminal on the ProIso but I got the same fault after about 1.5 hours of engine use.
Once the ARS-5 shows "FLOAT", I got a negative reading and not more than 12.5v of charging. This would indicate to me that the system is discharging.
I shut off the engine, after 5min I turned it on again and than for a few minutes , I got 0 (zero) volts output from alternator.
At this moment we decided to go back to harbor, and for the next 2 hours of engine use the ARS-5 readouts showed:
-b- ,
bv-13.2,
cv-13.8,
b1-46c,
Al-92-100c,
Fe-071-100,
sp-46c,
slp-060,
Hr.28.4,
fba-065,
ffl-065,
I had an error code showing of E-22.

Whilst we were motoring back the display was showing that we were bulk charging, the ARS-5 didn't move to the next stages of (A and F) . For information, prior to departing our berth we had been connected to mains supply with our solar panels working also, therefore the batteries should have been full and I believed them to be so.

I could smell the alternator, and there was a bit of light oil on the bottom of it. I think that the alternator may be running hot.

Belt is looking good (no black powder) good tension (+/-10mm deflection).

Back in harbor, we ran the tests as shoiwn on page 13 of the instruction manual. The Voltage regulator ARS-5 testing, showed those values:
Ignition off: Red wire13.1v (equal to battery), Blue 0, Brown 0.
Ignition on: Red wire 13.1v (equal to battery), Blue 12.3v (should be 4-11v), Brown 13.1v.
Ignition on+ engine run on Idle: Red wire -12.8, Blue 12.3v (should be 4-11v), Brown 14.1v (should be equal to battery)

I would appreciate your urgent advice as I am stuck for a solution. Also, would you please check for some Spanish technical support that I could contact to try to sort this out.

Lastly, I see that there may be two options available, one to bypass the regulator and connect the Balmar alternator directly to the battery banks, the second to replace the alternator with the original direct to the battery banks. Would you advise that it would be a first option just to bypass the ARS-5 regulator and use only the Balmar 621-100 with its internal regulator?

 

[prv]

I asked you few weeks ago about the connection between the ARS-5 H and the ProIso:
"Sense-connection for the remote sense wire from an advance alternator Regulator or battery sensed alternator, if equipped."

From your answers, as attached in this mail, I understood I should connect the RED wire

I don't know who you thought you contacted, or who you think you're talking to now, but you haven't posted any previous questions about alternators under this username.

Pete

 

[FullCircle]

Ricchard,
I swapped my standard Yanmar 60a alternator for a Hitachi LR-03C 80a single pulley on 3YM30 engine. I have now added the (expensive) Sterling 130a alternator to battery controller which also adds my battery charger, wind generator and solar inputs too. It means you can run a completely unmodified alternator, and does what it says it does. Can be configured for different battery technologies and compensates output between starter and domestics like a VSR.
Has a myriad of little LEDs to tell you what's going on.Reality: If they are all green it's working.
This is the final incarnation of my system.

 

[TQA]

I have a Balmar 100 amp alternator plus regulator fitted to my Perkins 154. It has now been running for 5 years. I am pleased with it and if it failed would replace it with same. The only thing that I would change would be the single narrow V belt. Either a twin belt system or one of the modern multigroove belts.

 

[sailinglegend420]

What is it about a Balmar alternator that makes it "worth" more than say a .......

Any "marine" alternator will be more expensive because it should be "Hot Rated" - so a 100 amp alternator should be capable of giving nearly 100 amps. An automotive alternator may only give 60 amps when hot. They are designed to recharge small starter batteries and not heavily depleted Deep Cycle batteries.

A more expensive alternator will have to better engineered - maybe two cooling fans - better high temperature diodes - etc., etc..

My new Balmar Alternator has a built-in regulator which charges up to 14 volts and is wired via a three way switch so I can use it if/when the external Balmar regulator fails. I also use it when leaving port if I know the batteries are fully charged and I don't want the external regulator to pump in 14.6 volts. I can also turn off both regulators in the mid position, and then back on again. This resets the regulator and gets it out of "float" mode and back into boost mode if your batteries aren't fully charged when the regulator "thinks" they are.
The Balmar regulators are fully programmable which allows a boost voltage of say 14.6 volts - hold this for say an hour - then drop down to an absorption voltage of 14.2 which is below the gassing voltage. My ARS-5 didn't advertise this feature in my product literature but I discovered from Balmar it does have this advanced programming feature. This information is in their newer downloadable manual. The much more expensive Maxcharge seemed to be the only one that could do this!!!! The Maxcharge does have the extra power handling for regulating two alternators - with an extra piece of kit.

All regulators (Solar/Shore) should be fully adjustable, not only for your battery type but the length of time YOU want them to stay in absorption mode, or how long they stay in float before going back to absorption when extra loads come on. This helps to get around the "Charging Gotcha" - you think the batteries are fully charged because the regulator has dropped to "Float".

 

[pvb]

Any "marine" alternator will be more expensive because it should be "Hot Rated" - so a 100 amp alternator should be capable of giving nearly 100 amps. An automotive alternator may only give 60 amps when hot. They are designed to recharge small starter batteries and not heavily depleted Deep Cycle batteries.

A more expensive alternator will have to better engineered - maybe two cooling fans - better high temperature diodes - etc., etc..

Leaving aside the fact that you're responding to a 6 year old post, it's worth noting that Balmar don't make alternators, they buy them from companies like Prestolite. Automotive alternators by Prestolite/Leece Neville are built for challenging conditions encountered by power-hungry trucks and buses in hot climates, and have excellent high temperature performance.

The external regulators from Balmar are excellent products.

 

[Richard10002]

Leaving aside the fact that you're responding to a 6 year old post, it's worth noting that Balmar don't make alternators, they buy them from companies like Prestolite. Automotive alternators by Prestolite/Leece Neville are built for challenging conditions encountered by power-hungry trucks and buses in hot climates, and have excellent high temperature performance.

The external regulators from Balmar are excellent products.

Crickey! I'm on a different boat now - still concerned about power, charging, and batteries