smart regulators

Johnjo

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Hi all
In the panels opinion would i be better off to buy ?
A Sterling Regulator priced at £94 or a Adverc priced at £240ish
I have two 90amp batterys one of which is dedicated to starting,
both are charged with a 35amp alternator through a 3 way switch,
the engine is only 12hp which is fitted in 27ft sail boat,
So like to keep the engine off as much as possible, Why would the price
between the two vary so much? is it a case of you get what you pay for?
or is one far superior to the other?
I have usual electronics on board, none of which put a big drain on the
batterys.Anyones experience with either would be apprieciated.
thanks very much.
mike
 

tr7v8

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Alternator is a bit low on output anway, recommendation is 30% of total battery capacity, 90+90=180/3= around 60 amps although if one is purely starting then it should just about be OK.
On chargers I went Sterling and I'd do the same on regs personally. IMHO.

Jim
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muchy_

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I fitted a Sterling reg about a month ago now. I have a 100 amp alternator and twin battery banks with a split charge diode. I now wish I had fitted one years ago. I am very impressed with it. The batteries charge a LOT faster and they last a LOT longer before they start to go flat again and all my cabin lights and electronics seem brighter. The only thing that no one warned me about is how hot the alternator gets, VERY hot in fact. This worried me at first so I phone Sterling up and the chap told me that this was normal and that it wont damage it. My only problem is that my split charge diode was only rated at 70amps which was fine without the reg but when I put it on it soon burned it out.
So make sure the rest of your circuit can handle it. Apart from that I'm very impressed and would recommend the Sterling anytime.
 

Johnjo

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Thanks for that.
thought about fitting a bigger alternator,but was concerned about
having enough power to drive it and the boat as well,only got 12hp.

mike
 

tr7v8

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Could be a problem, at 100% eff. 60 amps is 720 watts which is about 1HP, alternators run at around 70ish % eff. or about 1.2HP for 60amps.
Other problem will be finding belts to transmit the load, normal pulleys don't have enough wrap, so either bigger pulley (difficult) or twin belts PITA.

PS All alternator outputs quoted at low temp, once hot can halve output....

Jim
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halcyon

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Before you spend your money, check you need one.
The smart reg will compensate for volt drops in your charging system, i.e. from blocking diodes, small cable. long cable runs. Check the running voltage of your alternater, and the volt drop in your cabling.
If your alternator is regulating at 14.4 volt or there abouts you are only going to gain a small increase in capacity, plus you have to run the engine for longer to get this extra. If on the other hand your alternator regulates at 13.6 volt, you get around 40% more capacity with a smart reg.

Brian
 
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Can't be rude, or otherwise about the Stirling, but have had great service from Adverc, cannot recommend them too highly.

Good product and great people, (but don't let Trevor put you on his e-mail list for jokes).
 

dickh

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I have the TWC fitted which is the predecessor to the current Adverc, it seems to work well and have certainly had good service from Adverc when I had a problem recently(not Adverc related) - very friendly people to deal with - see their web site - lots of usefull information on it - www.adverc.com
I would recommend them; but have no experience of the Stirling.

dickh
I'd rather be sailing... :) /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
 

salamicollie

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Have an Adverc - fitted, would concur that 35A alternator is a bit short in oomph. I had this set up until the end of last season (engine size, alternator, battery bank) and the alternator was a little un happy if you let the batteries heavily discharge.

On a trip at night in October having run Radar, Nav lts and autopilot for much of the night, poor old thing tried to destroy its belt from the load (lots of runbber smoke - causing check of water pump etc until I noticed ther notch dug in the belt)

You could possibly fit a larger car alternator of say 50A or so providing your PTO can take the load (e.g. a yanmar YSE/YSB/YSM can provide about 1.5 hp at the PTO). I have ended up re-engining for other reasons.
 
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