Midnight

Thanks for the idea but would involve major surgery on the engine room to relocate the BETA panel. An easier solution still would be to stand with said "rump" on the other side of the hatch but I much prefer to steer with right hand.

wasn't sure if he mean't Mastervolt's explanation of my burn-outs So if there's no real problem with occasionally switching the ign off a warning isn't really required but I will install one for my own peace of mind.

It says in the installation guide "This can cause the alternator to go into full output, without an over-voltage indication by the green control lamp" - is that not the case or is there some other side effect? what does?

Thank you 'Keeping Up' - looks like a trip to Maplins for me. I can't pretend to understand the whys and wherefores but I'll certainly give it a go when I fit the new alternator and Adverc. Just one question, (forgive the ignorance) the diagram shows only 2 wires to the relay should there be four - two to make the connection and two to operate the switch? Cheers

Hi I either have a very annoying habit of accidentally turning off the ignition key with my ever-growing rump or my key occasionally switches itself off by whatever means. Regardless, when it happens the engine can run for hours without me noticing. So I was wondering if any electo-techies out there had a warning solution for such occurences. Since my Alternator issues (Mastervolt Alternator) (BTW Mastervolt UK suggested the cause of my regular burn-out was an oversized pulley which meant the alternator didn't spin fast enough on canals for the fan to keep it cool.) I decided to drop Mastervolt in favour of a larger and less expensive alternator (Rover 100amp £69) and an Adverc Battery Manager. Reading the Adverc installation guide I noticed they warn against turning off the ignition whilst the engine is running hence my need for some kind of warning system. There must me a way of rigging up something with relays which will energize a warning light (or buzzer) if the ignition is off when the engine is running. Any ideas (please no posts re the merits of a battery management system in the first place).

Amen

Midnight would rather have had helpful comments about his alternator problems from those who professed to being "more of a techy than Gibbo" but who just wanted to hijack the thread with opinionated rubbish and childish insults. But maybe this thread can now Rest in Peace.

Thank you for your very helpful contribution.

This thread is in a worse state than my "expensive Rubbish"

and your (sic) still here

neither can we mate bye bye

Cheers! Sound advice which I will follow. He's coming on Wednesday so I'll repport back here - although by then this thread could be over 50 pages long.

Wasn't thinking of Gibbo when I wrote that it was the mastervolt men who are involved in my specific problems. Gibbo and Arnot have been brilliant here and I appreciate all useful comments. Some users obviously just want to get their views across. Fine but I wish they would start their own thread to do that and not fill this one with irrelevant rantings which don't help me understand the problem I have right now.

Yes I sure have - I have managed to find the Mastervolt electrics chap who supplied the kit. He no longer works for Ampower but has agreed to come over to Ripon and check out the system for me. It's trying to work out who knows and who just wants to sell the latest 'expensive rubbish' BTW Z1100R I aint 'got lots of cash' and don't 'NEED a lot of high end electrical STUFF'. Thank you but your comments where about as helpful as a Mastervolt Diode.

Thanks for the thought but the MICC shows normal discharge (depending what's switched on) when the engine is stopped.

Must say Gibbo I appreciate all your input here. A couple of points 1/ The alternator is definitely faulty - now! Last time it failed it was suggested the cause was the red wire breaking off from the terminal. Ampower replaced one diode at a cost of around £200. If I remember right the charge rate was all over the place when it happened. 2/ I sometimes wonder if the pully Ampower had made for me is slightly too big. I had to increae the standard Beta belt size by about 15mm - I'm sure the mathmaticians here will be able to work out the gear raitio. Talking of belts will the polyvee belt I have cope OK with a big (150amps?) Leece Neville?

Thanks Arnot really appreciate that, but I'm back at Ripon now. Ironically I passed through Stone this trip although my batteries were charging up to 100% at the time. In fact because of the stop/starting I turned the Absorption period down a liitle.

12.43 volts about 18amps at 1400rpm On the Friday morning the MICC said the batteries were 26% The charge rate stayed in bulk for some of the 12 hour cruise, except when the ignition was accidently switched off for some unknown time. charge 12.43 Volts Saturday morning MICC said batteries 30% charge 12.43 Volts for another 10 hours Sunday morning MICC said 30% charge in bulk 12.43 volts rising to 12.9volts by 4pm (11 hour day) Thinking about it now I stopped at White Bear Marina and left the batteries on charge via the Mastervolt charger. When I got back the following Thursday the MICC still said 30% (Could it be the batteries are at fault?). Fridays cruise of about 12 hours took the batteries up to 60% (according to MICC) I looked at the charge rate and it had risen to around 12.9volts and about 28amps at 1600rpm. The following day was when the alternator REG ON fuse blew 3 times then it stopped charging altogether and I could smell smouldering wire which seemed to be coming from the alternator. The wire from alternator to the insulated block stud is quite heavy (guessing 15mm - 20mm) as is the earth wire to the block. The wire from the block stud to the batteries is a bit heavier still. The brown REG ON wire (with 2amp fuse) is about 6mm connected to the block stud and switched by a relay to keep it as short as possible. Some people here suggest I have too many batteries for this alternator but I had the same problems when I only had two batteries. I only bought the Mastervolt alternator cos I wanted to fit a battery manager. Beta told me the engine wasn't wired for one. My supplier told me the Cicce (?) alternator fiited as standard couldn't cope and suggested the Alpha-pro was the dog's bollocks. Not being very up on electronics I didn't know alternators had a battery capacity, least I've never seen anything in the books I have to suugest any relationship between battery amp hours and alternator output amps. My old mate Jim had a Lucas 50amp alternator charging an 80amp start battery and 3 110ah leisure batteries for years without a hitch. He did fit a Sterling battery manager but soon after his boat sank - no connection :-)

I installed the Mastervolt kit (charger, alternator, MICC invertor) 5 years ago when fitting out the boat. I initially installed two new 270AH Elecsols, Two summer cruises ago I thought the problem might be the batteries so I changed them for three 260AH Squadron gels. The worry is I now have is two Mastervolt specialists from two different Mastervolt supply companies (both well regarded and well known) telling me the same thing i.e. The charge rate shouldn't stay in bulk for more than a couple of hours before going into Absorption. To clarify. when the batteries are around 70% the charge stage is Absorption when they drop below that, the charge stage is bulk but it's normal for the bulk light (1 light on the Alpa-pro) to stay on for hours and hours. In this year's example the charge stage was in bulk for 3 days (36 hours) before the alternatior burnt out again. The MICC showed the batteries being charged at around 12.43 volts and about 15amps during those 3 days.

H'mmmmm he was an electrical specialist from Mastervolt.

I was talking to someone today and happened to mention my alternator staying on Bulk for hours even days. He told me that wasn't how it should be and said I should suspect either dodgy wiring setup or a faulty Alpha-pro. The wiring looks as it should be so I am going to get the Alph-pro checked. It's been like that since I installed it 5 years ago. If it is faulty I think I could make a claim under the sale of goods act (not fit for purpose?). Anyone done this?

OK I understand that now. Yes I think I will look at the Sterling as an alternative regulator and a larger alternator Maybe Leece-Neville. I also spotted Adverc offer some alternator/battery management packages but I will check to see if the Adverc has temp sensing.

Thanks Gibbo. Whilst it would be the cheaper option, I've pretty much lost faith in Mastervolt and have been told that the 95amp Alt isn't up to the job of charging my three 240AH batteries. The system I have has the Alpha Pro and battery temperature sensors. Interestingly, you mentioned over voltage can happen if the output of the alternator becomes disconnected from the batteries. One day towards the end of our holiday, after my better half had been at the tiller for about 11 hours (Huddersfield canal retreat) I noticed that she had inadvertantly turned the ignition key off (large bum syndrome) Whilst this would have killed the live feed to the Alternator, could it have caused the burn-out 3 days later?

Thanks Guys The engine is in a trad back with a lot of space above (was thinking of lowering the floor) but the alternator always runs very hot. I also believe it's 'not fit for purpose' but was supplied as part of a Mastervolt package (charger, invertor, MICC and Alternator, and original Elecsol batteries) by Ampower Services who seem to know what they are about. Certainly I will not send it back again for more expensive repairs so will replace it with something up to the job. I will investigate the 5C and CEN alternators and battery management. Any thoughts on the Adverc? Cheers

Hi My Mastervolt alternator just failed for the second time in 5 holiday cruises. It's done less than 1800 hours so there's obviously something wrong with my set up. Beta 43 3 x 240ah gel batteries (previously 2 x 250ah Elecsols) Alpha Pro 95amp alternator and 3 stage regulator Just after the warranty expired (2 years and a month) it burned out a diode and cost me £200 to repair. Then this year, mid holiday it just didn't seem to charge the batteries very well, then it had a good day taking the batteries from 30% to 60% in 12 hours before blowing a fuse the following day. The day after it just stopped working altogether although it didn't blow the fuse this time. Can anyone help?