Sterling advanced regulator help

Sorry "float mode" is when the timer goes off, the battery is assumed fully charged, and the voltage drops to maintain this. Yes the sense wire is in place, the timer switched-off after 1 hour and the voltage dropped from 14.8 on the battery to about 14.2V. It is possible I suppose that the Sterling unit needed more time to adjust this lower, but I switched the engine off at that point. It could be of course that the older analogue unit did what you say, and the new digital one doesn't!!
 
As I'm not in the UK it is more difficult for me to call the UK. Are you brave enough to call Charles Sterling to ask? If so, could you ask and also see if the situation is the same with the analogue and the digital?
 
Lemain, just spoke with Sterling. No, the unit doesn't reduce the voltage below that of the inbuilt regulator...neither did the older analogue version. The logic is that the alternator regulator was originally specd. to do the job of holding a float charge at an appropriate voltage, so why go lower?

That's what the man said anyway...
 
Thanks for letting me know. I've got that completely wrong. That makes it a useless piece of junk - how can they possibly call it an advanced regulator if it doesn't maintain the correct float voltage? Everyone knows that most automotive regulators float at 14.6V or so, and surely Sterling isn't saying that's an appropriate voltage for float in all temperatures?

I need to find an alternative and quickly, or design my own.

Does anyone know if any of the others work? Adverc?

Bugger. Maybe I'll have to open a new thread. Many, many thanks for getting this sorted out and my sincere apologies to others whom I have mislead about this in the past. I could have sworn that the man said it cut back the voltage, but obviously I am mistaken.
 
Actually he did mention something about if I had split diodes (which I don't)...and that was a little different. I guess then the voltage drop across these would do the job of dropping the battery voltage and the Sterling unit could take over and supply a more appropriate float value?? It makes sense doesn't it...and maybe this is a way around the issue? So perhaps the claim IS TRUE in some circumstances and those of us that have got rid of diodes need to put them back!! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Jonny - Lemain might be better placed to advise on the pros and cons of analogue vs. digital. I think on their website it mentions that digital offers more control possibilities, but I don't really know.
 
Good grief, the man is an idiot. You don't fit a regulator in the control winding only to do the control in the output. I suspect that Sterling's knowledge of yachting is very out of date and confined to 1970s mucking about in boats at the weekend. I shall never, ever, buy a Sterling product - even a badged one -again. Indeed, late last year a friend of mine bought a badged Sterling combi charger and found that Mr Sterling had changed the user programmability restricting choices to those that Mr Sterling thought you needed. That man is truly ignorant.

Jonny, I don't know the difference between their analogue and digital. But given that the most fundamental part of the control is the long term voltage setting and given that neither the analogue nor the digital do this, who cares what the other differences are? These products are not suitable for use where you are going to run the engine for long periods unless the alternator regulator is of an early design that has a low output voltage (some older ones do, but modern ones don't).
 
Jonny, let me comment here as I've been going through my system measuring and eliminating voltage drops. The regulator on the alternator seems to be set at 14.3V, but with wiring, switch and connector resistances the battery sees a max of 14.2V. In fact before I updated the system the battery was only seeing 13.9V at best...and this is without a diode splitter. So it depends where you measure the voltage, but I suspect yours will be somewhere in the same range at the battery with the Sterling unit on "float". In fact that's what their manual says "around 14V". I think I'm OK with that, but if Lemain has a 14.6V regulator and a super-low-loss circuit, then his could be on float at a much higher value...hence the problem.
 
[ QUOTE ]
So it depends where you measure the voltage, but I suspect yours will be somewhere in the same range at the battery with the Sterling unit on "float". In fact that's what their manual says "around 14V". I think I'm OK with that, but if Lemain has a 14.6V regulator and a super-low-loss circuit, then his could be on float at a much higher value...hence the problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Bosch spec is for 14.5 +/- 0.3V so your standard regulator might be anywhere from 14.2V to 14.8V. I don't know about 'super-low-loss' - I just use decent alternator cable but the real problem is not when the alternator is providing full output, it is when the battery is fully charged and you are gassing away at 5A or so, at 14.5V. Even a very high resistance cable won't help there. Diodes will, but if you go down that path you will never get a full output from the alternator which makes having an 'advanced' alternator less attractive /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Lt's not kid ourselves, there is nothing 'advanced' about the Sterling spec. The Sterling is nothing more than a fudge to put a bit of extra charge into the batteries. You could do the same thing with a switch and a resistor.
 
Wow...lots of replies on your other post!!

Just one question: it seems to me the real problem here is the Bosch regulator. Is it car unit or marine? 14.6V seems very high for a marine unit, unless Bosch assumes that it'll be used with diode splitters. I think I'd be castigating them more than Sterling /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Well, Bosch are one of the biggest suppliers to the marine engine manufacturers - mine is Yanmar and they are one of the leaders. I think you'll find that all modern alternators charge up at 14.3V and above. Not everyone realises just how high they are charging as not everyone leaves a digital voltmeter connected all the time, and you only know about battery damage when it happens - too late to diagnose the fault.

For many people this is just not a problem and for the average yacht on a mooring without shore power and no solar, who only motors an hour or so, sails, and motors an hour or so back, this is never going to be an issue. Nor is it a problem for powerful MoBos who tend to dash for six hours or so.
 
14.3V seems quite common in modern units, but from my experience by the time this goes through all the usual wiring, connectors and isolator switches, the system loses about 0.4V. This is probably why most people don't have a problem. Add diodes to that and then you're down to 13.3V. Actually that's when the Sterling regulator might start "controlling" the float voltage...it just can't do at 14V+. It's hard to believe that the Bosch spec. is a reality...those sort of tolerances belong in the dark ages!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top