Fitting Sterling Digital Pro alternator regulator to Volvo MD2020

[Ric]

Just about to fit a Sterling regulator to my MD2020. Anybody got any tips on fitting one to the Volvo (Valeo) alternator? Do I need to take the alternator off the engine to get at the bushes, or can it be done in-situ? Do the bushes take solder easily? Are they bronze or stainless? Any do's and don'ts appreciated.

 

[RichardS]

Just about to fit a Sterling regulator to my MD2020. Anybody got any tips on fitting one to the Volvo (Valeo) alternator? Do I need to take the alternator off the engine to get at the bushes, or can it be done in-situ? Do the bushes take solder easily? Are they bronze or stainless? Any do's and don'ts appreciated.

I haven't done it but I'd be very surprised if you can get the necessary access for soldering without removing the alternator.

Richard

 

[VicS]

Just about to fit a Sterling regulator to my MD2020. Anybody got any tips on fitting one to the Volvo (Valeo) alternator? Do I need to take the alternator off the engine to get at the bushes, or can it be done in-situ? Do the bushes take solder easily? Are they bronze or stainless? Any do's and don'ts appreciated.

I think you may find that the brush box/ regulator assembly can be removed from the alternator fairly simply. If the retaining screws are accessible then yes it will be possible without removing the whole alternator. Otherwise I'd say no.

 

[Heckler]

Just about to fit a Sterling regulator to my MD2020. Anybody got any tips on fitting one to the Volvo (Valeo) alternator? Do I need to take the alternator off the engine to get at the bushes, or can it be done in-situ? Do the bushes take solder easily? Are they bronze or stainless? Any do's and don'ts appreciated.

I did it on a 2030, I took the alternator off. It was easy to solder using a quite puny iron, I used my penknife to cut a small groove in the plastic for the wires to come out.
S

 

[Billjratt]

give us a pic of the alternator rear.
When soldering to the brush tag you may need good cleaning flux if the tag is SS, otherwise the supplied instructions are OK if you ignore the facetious comments.

 

[wiggy]

I did my 2020, the brushes are on the rear and you don't necessarily need to take the alternator off, however access is much easier if you do. Compared to doing the same job with the alternator on a 1GM10 (had to split alternator) it was a piece of cake, soldering with a puny soldering iron was no problem either.

 

[Ric]

OK, sounds simple enough. The only issue from the instructions I am having difficulty envisaging is where to fit the red wire. My boat has separate on/off master switches for engine and domestic batteries, so I presume it has a diode splitter. However, I don't know where this is, or what it looks like. Is it built into the alternator?

 

[ianj99]

OK, sounds simple enough. The only issue from the instructions I am having difficulty envisaging is where to fit the red wire. My boat has separate on/off master switches for engine and domestic batteries, so I presume it has a diode splitter. However, I don't know where this is, or what it looks like. Is it built into the alternator?

I connected the red sense wire direct to the domestic battery on my setup because the engine battery loses very little charge when starting and quickly charges up via a diode splitter. Whereas the domestic battery can take much longer so needs to be the one the alternator regulator is sensing.

(If you connect the wire via the battery master switch and forget to turn this on before starting, the regulator will shut down due to overvoltage.)