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No-one local was offering to do it for me both beta and Iskra said the 'dumb' brush box was obsolete and didn't fancy butchering the alternator to get the wiring in. I've got the Mastervolt alternator now so I'll have to find a bracket that works with that. Thanks

Long story and did weigh that up but they no longer make the brush box for external regulation and as the rest of the system is Mastervolt it integrates better and in-built temperature compensation etc. Checked the measurements a number of times but it was out by just a few mm

Hi all, Does anyone know who could make a bottom alternator bracket to allow a Mastervolt 12/130 alternator to fit into a Beta 43? I'm replacing the existing standard 175amp alternator to something smarter with the Alpha Pro to allow better control of charging with Lithium but even with lots of measurements before I know find that the fan of the alternator just strikes the bottom alternator bracket! Ideally looking for someone who can easily template a new bracket if not a standard part. I'm based around Chester / Nantwich Thanks all!

Back to stage 1! After much looking I found the part which allow the regulator to be changed to allow external regulation but now find that its been discontinued and this has been confirmed by Mahle... So options are to see if someone with expertise can modify the internal regulation of the alternator to allow the connection of the Alpha Pro external regulator or look for a whole new alternator which is compatible. Any advice?

Luckily some further digging in the internet has found someone who has changed the same type alternator from internal to external regulation. http://bennersadrift.blogspot.com/2011/04/modding-iskra-100-amp-alternator.html?m=1 So I just need to find the replacement dumb brush holder so if Sir Nibble has the part number I will be very greatfull.

I guess the other (more expensive) option would be to replace the alternator all together with a Bosch compatible one which the Alpha Pro has the connection cables. I see that there is a brand called Bosch Marine and they seem to do a 120amp version which I read is a direct swap for the standard Beta 43 domestic alternator although I can't find any specs for the Bosch Marine ones. So any advice on comparable alternators would be appreciated. Thanks,

Thanks all. The thought is that when charging Lifepo4 I can stop the charge from the alternator, by the Alpha Pro controlling the field, when the Mastervolt Mastershunt detects a defined voltage or SOC level so not to over charge them. The alternator would then kick in again once the battery voltage has dropped or SOC is lower. The Alpha Pro would also monitor the temperature of the alternator and throttle it back it is starts to get too hot. So I am guessing that I need the Alpha Pro to control the alternator and the field.

Wow. Thank you both really helpful. Many thanks.

Hi all, I'm planning to fit a Lifepo4 system and need to control my alternator better, the rest of the system is Mastervolt so I'm planning to fit one of their Alpha Pro III external regulators and this is where I've become a bit flumuxed. We have a standard 175amp Iskra IA1196 domestic alternator on our Beta 43. It doesn't seem to have any terminals for field control so does this mean taking it apart to rewire to allow the connection to the Alpha Pro? If it does, are there any instructions anywhere or someone who could do it for me. Thanks in advance. Duncan

Yep that as well and stayed steady for a longer period before dropping. Thanks Frank and be good to know the details to get the old one refurbished and maybe then keep as spare or sell on. D

Just to update: I've swapped over the alternator for a new one from Beta and charging much better now and voltage has gone from 13.6 to 14.4 while charging. The alternator was pretty covered in black carbon brush particles so looked like it was pretty worn. Now what to do with the old one? I'll probably look to get it refurbished and then see it on. Thanks all for the help. D

Be good to know the detail as not staying around the SE long as once I've sorted out a few things I'm heading to the midlands and north so may work.

Very interesting about the travel power as its Beta 43 with a well insulated engine so actually does not make that much noise when running so might be a good option. It is a retro fit by a boat yard or direct from Beta? Any recommendations of people to fit in Southern GU? D

I'm looking to take the plunge and install a cocooned marine generator for my boat to easy supply during winter periods without having to run the engine and also allow powering of heavy duty items such as washing machine. The boat I own used to have a Whisper 3.5kW but was removed by previous owner although a fair amount of connections and infrastructure are still there. Does anyone have any recommendation for small generators and also any suppliers/installers? Thanks in advance.

Thanks all, really helpful to confirm my suspicions. New alternator will be ordered tomorrow. Btw.. I don't know if there are usually always the same belts with a Beta 43 and 175amp alternator but having trouble finding a decent place to get a spare. Looking at the current one it's coded as 6PK1170 So any advice on stockists would be welcome. Thanks again all. I'll update once new one fitted. Duncan

Beta are quoting £278+VAT for the like replacement (14V 175A IA1196 ALTERNATOR 11.203.340541). Although I will be checking with them if its regulated to 14v or as some other people have mentioned in previous posts to 14.6v As I'm betting on this being the problem if in the end it doesn't turn out to be that I can just return it for a refund minus postage.

Thanks and have been searching for repair around Watford but not finding anyone so might buy new as can't do without it for too long and get old one repaired to sell on.

Thanks all, It does seem that the starter alternator does the starter battery and the bow thruster battery and they are separated by a split charge relay. The domestic 175amp alternator just does the domestic batteries via a Mastervolt Shunt and Distribution 500 unit. The voltage gauges on the interment panel quickly jump to 14.5v on the starter and bow thruster when I turn on the engine but the domestic only goes up to about 13.5v. For example - The battery voltage this morning was 12.27 and I've now run the engine for 6 hours and only reached a voltage of 13.6(ish) and currently putting in about 18amps and slowly decreasing. As the batteries are gel and sealed there is nothing I can do with those to maintain them so at the moment I'm concluding its the alternator so probably going to look at a replacement one from Beta. unless anyone else has any bright ideas Thanks all.

Nah I'm in a shaded location at the moment so only been getting a max of 14amps out of the solar and then usual load is about 8amps so only a input of 6amps to the batteries and I'm probably only getting 14 amps for a few hours as the sun passes over. Most of the time I'm getting 3-4 amps going into the battery. (Must move to a less shaded position) I'll put that on my to-do list as well.

That's one I've still got to measure to see what I'm getting out of the starter battery alternator. On the instrument panels the starter and bow are looking like 14+ volts while the domestic is always 13ish volts when charging via the alternators. I've not investigated everything in massive detail but I believe there is a split charge relay next to the starter battery but I'm not sure if this is for the domestics and starter or the starter and bow thruster or a combination of all of these! If it is that the starter alternator only charges the starter battery and bow thruster this is the reason why the voltage is much higher on these as opposed to the domestic batteries which are only charged by the 175amp alternator. As for soc I've mentioned this in my last post which is a mixture of the Mastershunt calculations and also battery voltage.

Measuring voltage with a multimeter, although not recently calibrated it seems pretty correct and also verified by the voltage reading on the Mastershunt of what is going into the batteries. The soc is via the Mastershunt calculations. I know where can be pretty inaccurate at best so also looking at battery voltage once the surface charge has worn off. Thanks!

Also don't know if this is normal or as a result of the same problem... When running the engine to charge the batteries if the 240v fridge kicks in and as the compressor starts the engine has a 1-2 second 'dip' where you hear the revs go down as load increases but then goes back to normal.

The current starts off at about 45amps and then starts decreasing as the charge takes. Never seen anything higher than about 60amps for a few seconds before it starts decreasing.

Thanks Alan, Just what I've read is that this type of alternator which comes as standard with Beta 43 is usually around 14v+, so you are saying it might have been downgraded? I'll have a look at the back of the unit.

The batteries are about 18months old and believe to be pretty good state and been mostly on shore charge via a Mastervolt Combi 12/2500 charger. I'm not aware of a separate alternator controller. Thanks