Sterling Alternator Regulator

[redhot]

Can anyone help.
Last weekend I bought a Sterling Alternator Regulator, the all singing all dancing one with temperature probes on it for batteries and alternator.
I wired it up as below, but when I pull the White wire out, the voltage to the batteries doesn't change, it's like it makes no difference. I am still getting 13.8 volts at the starting battery and 13.5 volts at the domestic bank (3x110AH).
It is wired :-
Red - Domestic Battery Positive
Black / White - Domestic Battery Negative
White - Wire that had to be soldered to alternator brushes (done by Reading Marine)
Brown - Alternator D+ or main live feed (makes no difference)
Black x2 - Alternator body, which is earthed.
Yellow - Ignition Live.

There may be another one but I can't remember and I have left the instructions at home.
Basically, I have wired it up as per instructions and it doesn't appear to work..

Any Ideas?
Thanks
Mike.

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[jfkal]

What kind of Amps are you getting? Sounds like your battery sensor is on the starter battery (13.8V) the house seems to be somewhat further away (voltage drop). You should get the full alternator rated Amps. If not then indeed something is wrongly wired up. What are the LED's showing?

Mine comes up slowly from nowhere all the way up to 14.4 V once fully charged it falls back to 13.8 V.

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[kds]

Don't be shy - if you only bought it last week - phone Sterling.

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Don't be shy - if you only bought it last week - phone Sterling. <<<

If you can take the patronising git on the other end of the line /forums/images/icons/frown.gif

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[Paul_H]

Has he got a new job then? I thought he worked at our local chundelry.

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[CraigBradley]

I've just wired mine in last weekend after a lenghty e-mail exchange with Sterling (which was little help) and now have MarinaPower going to my boat to check it over. Your wiring sounds right. I've done the same and getting 14.6V but with a red LED on inside the regulator. I'll let you know the outcome after Dave has had a good look.

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[Heckler]

phone em

charles himself regularly picks up the phone, the engineer who i spoke to couldnt do enough for me,
stu

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[Heckler]

also 13.8 sounds suspiciously like the std alternator output, have your solderers given you the right brush to connect to?
stu

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[redhot]

Reading Marine themselves did the connections in the alternator for me.
They connect two wires and said one will put out 14v. and the other somewhere between 2 and 12v.
When I checked them, I had one at 14v. and one at 9.5 ish.
As stated in the instructions, I used the 9.5 v wire.

I am really getting fed up now, I run a 12v. "domestic size" fridge and I need my batteries to be charged.

Thanks
Mike.

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[simonbertie]

We had no end of problems with our installation.Telephone advice from sterling didnt help so i took the alternator and unit back to them personally (from Scotland)They said my alt (regulator)was knackered so i purchased a new one from them part ex. £100.Strange but it was working fine seconds before removal.
I fitted the new alt and box as per instructions and it didnt work.This time cos the internal switches had been set for a different alt. Even tho. i asked them at the factory to set it accordingly during my visit.So off the alt and box went via the post this time back to the factory.The alt regulator had blown i was informed that would be £15 to fix. (strange that they couldnt do that in the 1st place with my identical original!!!)
I got the whole lot back put it in place and it worked, a whole bloody week!
I tore it out and chuked it. The whole disaster cost a fortune, bloody hundreds!
i'll get an adverc one day.
Anyway,to your problem,to get the box to start it has to be 'excited 'by the alternator light (red ignition) switch. Or any momentary +.
Hope this cathartic message helps.
Buy a wind gen and forget about power worries

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[Cantata]

I guess I may get a torrent of comments from your other correspondents, but anyway....I fitted a Sterling a few months ago and it works brilliantly, doing exactly what it says on the box. Charles was helpful on e-mail when I was discussing my battery switching arrangements beforehand, but I think his customer-focus span can be a little short....
Can only suggest you double-check you've wired up correctly, and check out what the LEDs in the unit are showing. If you're sure it still ain't working then send it back....
Good luck.

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[markdj]

The wiring IS complicated but I would suggest first getting the Stirling Power Panel and get it working before fitting the alternators; this way you can see the voltage and amps coming off each engine.

Since fitting our advanced regulators and splitter diodes, the charging has become alot more efficient and the batteries charge ALOT quicker than without the advanced regulators. With the Power panel you can also monitor your Amp hour usage and see how your batteries are. We have 3 sets of 110 Amp hour which gives 330 Amp hours or 165 real world Amp hours from our batteries. Normal battires are 50% charged at 12/24 volts so if the amp hour usage is less when the voltage reaches 12.0 or 24.0 volts then you know you need to check the batteries.

Also, with the faster charging you need to check the batteries for water regularly. Check out this website for a great deal of info on battery maintenance etc.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.batteryfaq.org>http://www.batteryfaq.org</A>

MarkDJ

Charles is very helpful though the other guy is Very patronising.

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[redhot]

Ok, I have spoken to Sterling and Reading Marine (the place I bought it from) and it appears that the sterling regulator will only work once the alternator regulator steps in. It then says hold on, these batteries aren't charged so keep working mr. alternator.
This being the case and my batteries only having 11.7 volts left in them, the Sterling is doing nothing, because the alternator is flat out and the internal regulator is not...regulating yet.
The reason that I only get 12.7ish volts (although this does increase slowly) when my engine is running is that the batteries are "absorbing" the voltage and then giving me a "false" reading.
This is why after a night in a marina with the mains charger charging the batteries, when I pulled the white wire off, the engine speed increased and when I put it back on the engine speed decreased, because the alternator regulator thought the batteries were fully charged, but the Sterling disagreed and overrid the it.

I hope this is correct and helps some other poor sod who like me, thought the Sterling was a booster.

Thanks
Mike.

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