Water cooled Alternator

[Mike Adams]

I think I will go with a lower powered 2nd alternator on the poly belt. I think the limited domestic battery bank (200Ah) will not charge at a very high rate unless I turn up the charge voltage. So with a 90A main alternator that cuts in around 900rpm and a 40A second alternator giving out near its maximum at tick over I think it might work. That means the load on the polyvee belt will be only about 600w and not upset the engine or put too much load on the crankshaft pulley. I might have to make up a spring loaded idler/tensioner to get enough wrap. Need to do some machining tonight to make the alternator pulley.

Thanks for very helpful comments.

[IanD]

16 minutes ago, Mike Adams said:

I think I will go with a lower powered 2nd alternator on the poly belt. I think the limited domestic battery bank (200Ah) will not charge at a very high rate unless I turn up the charge voltage. So with a 90A main alternator that cuts in around 900rpm and a 40A second alternator giving out near its maximum at tick over I think it might work. That means the load on the polyvee belt will be only about 600w and not upset the engine or put too much load on the crankshaft pulley. I might have to make up a spring loaded idler/tensioner to get enough wrap. Need to do some machining tonight to make the alternator pulley.

Thanks for very helpful comments.

I hope your battery bank is LiFePO4, a 200Ah lead-acid bank will be not be happy charging at 2/3C...

 

Be very careful with a spring loaded idler/tensioner, there's a risk that if you suddenly slam the throttle shut or get something round the prop the alternator inertia puts the belt tension the wrong way (high on the idler side), the tensioner pulls back and the belt comes off. Normally tensioning is just done by moving the alternator, like with no idler.

 

Also those alternators are not very high current or load, you might not need a polyvee at all (but if you've got one it's safer and longer-lasting, if harder to find an off-the-shelf replacement)

Edited October 26, 2020 by IanD

[DanKim]

On 26/10/2020 at 19:28, IanD said:

I hope your battery bank is LiFePO4, a 200Ah lead-acid bank will be not be happy charging at 2/3C...

 

Be very careful with a spring loaded idler/tensioner, there's a risk that if you suddenly slam the throttle shut or get something round the prop the alternator inertia puts the belt tension the wrong way (high on the idler side), the tensioner pulls back and the belt comes off. Normally tensioning is just done by moving the alternator, like with no idler.

 

Also those alternators are not very high current or load, you might not need a polyvee at all (but if you've got one it's safer and longer-lasting, if harder to find an off-the-shelf replacement)

Hi everybody

I find on this forum that you have find the Renault / Range Rover alternator as possible to up grade your alternator. I am not a talker, I have done it in my sailing yacht and also my brothers sailing yacht since three years ago. Running for the four season now. I have 10 year old ship with at Yanmar 54 hp and my brothers ship are 5 years old and equipped with at Yanmar 104 hp. The alternator have its own cooling system with at Bosch brush less water pump and a heat exchanger see water cooled in line with the impeller for the cooling to the motor.
I have 540Ah LiFePo and my brother 1400Ah LiFePo. The temperature of the alternator are 1 degree Celsius warmer then the seawater.  My brother have two alternators. The original Hitachi of 125Amp runs burning hot. Its not a nice smell from this one. They are not made for charging LiFe. I will replace that one this winter to the water cooled. My alternator charge in the beginning about 200Amp and after some minutes go down to 130Amp. I have change the ratio to the alternator by +77%. When idling at 650rpm it charge 95Amp and at 800 rpm it charge 130Amp.
All regulators are made for lead acid (Ballmar have one for LiFe but I am not impressed of that one!). A friend have mounted the water cooled 190Amp alternator for VW Toureg and it works also great. He have a separately regulator and he use to charge 200Amp. He also have LiFe

I hope I have filled in a lot of doubts and questions about those alternators.

Sailing regards from Stockholm

[nicknorman]

Very neat. Certainly solves the problem! Does it run on raw sea water, or via a heat exchanger? Raw water on canal boats can be problematic due to the silt, weed and other debris.

[DanKim]

14 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Very neat. Certainly solves the problem! Does it run on raw sea water, or via a heat exchanger? Raw water on canal boats can be problematic due to the silt, weed and other debris.

Thnx Nick

It runs on its own internal cooling system only for the alternator throw a seawater heat exchanger DC 60 from Bowman in Birmingham 🙂
https://ej-bowman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/DC-Oil-Cooler-Issue-K-English.pdf
The water to the heat exchanger are coming throw a seawater filter. The source are the inlet for cooling the engine.
Alternator have an efficiency of only 50%. (I have measured this value in a test bench) By 150Amp it’s a heating element of about 2000 Watt distributed by a build in fan.
The heat are the biggest problem to get out more amp from the alternator. Build in regulator reduce the amp by the heat. By mistake a run out of cooling, then the alternator reduce down to 15Amp, the surface temp was 50 degree C. 
If you only travel in channels with sweat water and you can get water throw a filter then you probably do not need a heat exchanger. If you do not have a seawater cooling for your engine cause weed etc. then you can use a heat radiator from a car with a fan instead.
Everything started up by a friend rebuild his Volvo Penta by purchasing a used alternator from a scrap Renault for only 40£ 5 years ago.

[svRuby]

On 28/09/2022 at 07:32, DanKim said:

Hi everybody

I find on this forum that you have find the Renault / Range Rover alternator as possible to up grade your alternator. I am not a talker, I have done it in my sailing yacht and also my brothers sailing yacht since three years ago. Running for the four season now. I have 10 year old ship with at Yanmar 54 hp and my brothers ship are 5 years old and equipped with at Yanmar 104 hp. The alternator have its own cooling system with at Bosch brush less water pump and a heat exchanger see water cooled in line with the impeller for the cooling to the motor.
I have 540Ah LiFePo and my brother 1400Ah LiFePo. The temperature of the alternator are 1 degree Celsius warmer then the seawater.  My brother have two alternators. The original Hitachi of 125Amp runs burning hot. Its not a nice smell from this one. They are not made for charging LiFe. I will replace that one this winter to the water cooled. My alternator charge in the beginning about 200Amp and after some minutes go down to 130Amp. I have change the ratio to the alternator by +77%. When idling at 650rpm it charge 95Amp and at 800 rpm it charge 130Amp.
All regulators are made for lead acid (Ballmar have one for LiFe but I am not impressed of that one!). A friend have mounted the water cooled 190Amp alternator for VW Toureg and it works also great. He have a separately regulator and he use to charge 200Amp. He also have LiFe

I hope I have filled in a lot of doubts and questions about those alternators.

Sailing regards from Stockholm

 

DanKim, Thanks for posting this. 

I have been searching around for water cooled alternator solutions for my sailboat powered by a Beta 25 (Marine Kubota). My current system is an Air cooled 70amp alternator with a Balmar MC-614 external regulator. We charge directly into a LiFePo4 battery and want maximum current for the shortest time. Since we are racing, the auxiliary engine in neutral is our own source of power on long distance races.

 

We found, like you all, that the alternators cannot stay cool when pushed to the max output, so I started looking at water jacketed units.

 

I would like to keep the regulator external, but have not found a suitable alternator yet. You mentioned that the VW Touareg can be externally excited? Can you tell me the model/year that alternator came from? 

 

Also what is your opinion on other units? Do they even need external regulators? The common knowledge in my region is that the built in regulators voltage is set a hair too low for Lithium. Regardless of the other heat and efficiency concerns, if we cannot get a full charge (BMS cell top leveling state) we aren't exploiting the batteries full potential.

 

Thanks!

Chris

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by svRuby

[svRuby]

Are you taping into the engine coolant lines or having a completely separate heat exchanger system for just the alternator? If the later, are you running a seperate coolant pump too?

 

 

[DanKim]

Iti s running on its own system. Its heat exchanger only for the alternator. Circulation are by a Bosch bruschless pump.

The system has no pressure and its cool. Then temp are only 26 Celsius on the alternator and the cooling water.

This winter i will investigate to make my own regulator. But it shard to get time over with all demands 🙂

The alternator I have are from a Renault 155Amp but I bought a Porsche/Bugatti/Phaeton alternator today and that one are 190 Amp

I friend to me have tested this one in his tow boat and it source 276Amp over one hour. But he has a too simple external regulator.

[DanKim]

On 13/10/2022 at 16:09, svRuby said:

 

DanKim, Thanks for posting this. 

I have been searching around for water cooled alternator solutions for my sailboat powered by a Beta 25 (Marine Kubota). My current system is an Air cooled 70amp alternator with a Balmar MC-614 external regulator. We charge directly into a LiFePo4 battery and want maximum current for the shortest time. Since we are racing, the auxiliary engine in neutral is our own source of power on long distance races.

 

We found, like you all, that the alternators cannot stay cool when pushed to the max output, so I started looking at water jacketed units.

 

I would like to keep the regulator external, but have not found a suitable alternator yet. You mentioned that the VW Touareg can be externally excited? Can you tell me the model/year that alternator came from? 

 

Also what is your opinion on other units? Do they even need external regulators? The common knowledge in my region is that the built in regulators voltage is set a hair too low for Lithium. Regardless of the other heat and efficiency concerns, if we cannot get a full charge (BMS cell top leveling state) we aren't exploiting the batteries full potential.

 

Thanks!

Chris

 

 

 

Google on this alternator 059 903 015T

This one are for Porsche/Audi/Bugatti/Toureg/Phaeton

190Amp and internal regulator. The belt are a multiribb 6. I ordered this alternator and i will get it tomorrow 🙂

It has internal regulator but it will improve al lot compared to what you have today if you use it as it is. Best thing are to have a external regulator. So far I think Wakespeed regulator WS500 are the best on the market. I have order one but have not get any confirmation when I will get it. 

It will be a huge strength on the belt and radial force on the water pump. Look on my earlier picture you can se that I have a singel belt only for the water pump. This belt will remain the motors whole life time. The tension on the belt are huge when the alternator are charging over 200 Amp. Effienciy are 50% this mean that you have about 5 horse power on this belt. The belt has to surround the wheel on the alternator by 180 degree otherwise it will slip.  

Attached picture, this week i have dismantled (removed the pcb board) the internal regulator and connected two wires to the carbon brushes. Those two flying leads will be connected to an external regulator later on. My intention are to build a own regulator. The regulators on the market today are compromises and not made only for LiFe

I have being working with PM DC motors for 34 year and I am married with this topic. My new subject are alternators. The best thing I new is to improve things. Todays alternators are more then 50 year old. To improve this antic device is a goal for me.

Happy charging

:-Dan

 

[nicknorman]

19 hours ago, DanKim said:

My intention are to build a own regulator. The regulators on the market today are compromises and not made only for LiFe

 

 If it is of any interest to you, I built my own alternator regulator for LiFe batteries. I used an AR6000 chip which does the difficult work, it takes data over LIN bus (automotive standard) so I attached a microcontroller with LIN interface to send it regulated voltage, field current limit etc. so the rest is C programming. It gets various data over CANBUS from the BMS, such as individual cell voltages, State of charge from a BMV712. It has selector switches for target state of charge and charge rate. It has a temperature sensor so max field current can be reduced if the alternator gets hot.

 

AR6000 is becoming obsolete but you could do something similar with a newer chip.

[svRuby]

thank you for the insight! This is perfect. 

 

Currently, my thought is to get my hands on one of these alternators first. Then see about making a bracket and crank pulley to fit. I have a Beta 25, much smaller. However, the factory has an optional 6pk crank and water pump pulley kit. 

 

External regulation is probably something that must be done for my setup. Thanks for that picture!

 

 

 

[Eeyore]

34 minutes ago, svRuby said:

thank you for the insight! This is perfect. 

 

Currently, my thought is to get my hands on one of these alternators first. Then see about making a bracket and crank pulley to fit. I have a Beta 25, much smaller. However, the factory has an optional 6pk crank and water pump pulley kit. 

 

External regulation is probably something that must be done for my setup. Thanks for that picture!

 

 

 

I think you could  have stalling issues on an engine that small; or at the very least "poor drivability" to use the automotive term. Some proprietary external regulators have a "soft start" feature, but you are looking at some form of two channel feed back (i.e in or out of gear) to handle the near 7.5 hp on the belt at 200amp output; can that be reliably achieved with a 6PK belt? The engine would need to be at 1300+rpm just to drive the alternator. As a project it sounds like fun; but not so sure as a practical application. 

Edited October 25, 2022 by Eeyore

[Tony Brooks]

The problem with highly geared alternators on slow revving engines upon first start of the day is well known. Also in the early days of alternators the AA's Mini Vans would either stall or refuse to rev up if the alternator went uncontrolled. These are real life manifestations of the problem Eeyore highlights.

[nicknorman]

15 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

I think you could  have stalling issues on an engine that small; or at the very least "poor drivability" to use the automotive term. Some proprietary external regulators have a "soft start" feature, but you are looking at some form of two channel feed back (i.e in or out of gear) to handle the near 7.5 hp on the belt at 200amp output; can that be reliably achieved with a 6PK belt? The engine would need to be at 1300+rpm just to drive the alternator. As a project it sounds like fun; but not so sure as a practical application. 

 

A well designed modern external regulator has a "small engine" mode. Well, that is what Wakespeed calls it I think. In my case I limit the field current to a maximum of 1/2 at idle, increasing linearly to full at about 1300 engine rpm. These sorts of alternator regulators generally need a W connection ie one unrectified phase, to work out various things such as is the alternator still rotating, minimum field current to "keep alive", its rpm etc.

 

All that said, yes the above does seem fairly extreme for such a small engine!

[DanKim]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

 

A well designed modern external regulator has a "small engine" mode. Well, that is what Wakespeed calls it I think. In my case I limit the field current to a maximum of 1/2 at idle, increasing linearly to full at about 1300 engine rpm. These sorts of alternator regulators generally need a W connection ie one unrectified phase, to work out various things such as is the alternator still rotating, minimum field current to "keep alive", its rpm etc.

 

All that said, yes the above does seem fairly extreme for such a small engine!

As you say a well designed regulator with full load download switch when you are maneuvers in narrow water to slow down the charging Amp are vise to have if you have a too small engine. Or have a switch for charging or propulsion by using a smaller engine.

The alternator 059 903 015T from a used Phaeton has arrived (180€) I refurbished it last night and painted it in Yanmar grey. I am so impressed. It has 12 diod.

A friend has this alternator in his towboat with a Balmar regulator. He charge 276Amp over one hour!!!!! Its the heat that are killing diodes and winding. By cooling it down thru a heat exchanger with seawater, it keeps the alternator cool. The rotor are air cooled by internal fan. By lower revolution there are limited flow of air. It could be that I add a external fan to have stream of cool air throw the alternator as I have today with the Renault alternator. The rotor are generating about 140 watt of heat.

My older brother will have two alternators, it means it will charge 550 Amp. As little brother I will install those in his yacht. I will come back with picture when this are done. 

Wife are in Caiscais Portugal so I have free playtime and could bring in the toys to the dinner table from the work shop 🙂. Please, don`t tell her!

Happy charging

[svRuby]

8 hours ago, Eeyore said:

I think you could  have stalling issues on an engine that small; or at the very least "poor drivability" to use the automotive term. Some proprietary external regulators have a "soft start" feature, but you are looking at some form of two channel feed back (i.e in or out of gear) to handle the near 7.5 hp on the belt at 200amp output; can that be reliably achieved with a 6PK belt? The engine would need to be at 1300+rpm just to drive the alternator. As a project it sounds like fun; but not so sure as a practical application. 

Totally agree, I would need a programmable external regulator for sure. 

 

Here's some more specifics of my setup

 

We are a race boat, we don't run the engine unless we need to charge batteries on long legs. If we are "cruising" or on a "return trip" we are likely to be running the motor for hours/days at a time, the battery bank will be at 100% SoC and hopefully the alternator is not drawing much power.

 

Our current setup has a Balmar 614 controller. It has the adjustable ramp up on the field current. Hopefully this is good enough to keep the belt and engine happy.

 

We also sail in very warm waters, we are in the west side of florida, the Gulf of Mexico waters here are very warm. Our biggest issue is with heat. And so, im oversizing the next alternator. Our current air cooled 70a alternator unit reaches 120c. While I think a water cooled alternator will be cooler, it's still a lot of heat for a small engine floating in very warm water (30c is possible in the summer near shore)

 

My first assumption is that we will try to design around a 190a alternator and program whatever controller max out at 150a and see if temperatures (and belts) are ok.

 

As for spindle speed of the alternator, for sure, we will need to make sure we are driving the unit at the most efficient speed. I just got a quote from Beta, they have a 6pk crank pulley that is 210mm in diameter. My next efforts need to find out what diameters are going to be available on these alternators. I think we will likely run the motor at a crank speed of 2-2500 rpm (in neutral). What RPM's are you'all running at for peak power and or efficiency? What do you estimate the alternator speed is?

 

FInally, if I do need to be like a "Hot Rod" I'm hoping I can leverage this feature of the Balmar 614, "small engine mode" which apparently allows for a discrete switch to be flipped to reduce the current by 50%. Of course, if everything is well enough balanced thru programming and belt speed, maybe we don't need this, but here it is!

 

Thanks again for all the responses, this is truly useful for me.

 

 

[DanKim]

5 hours ago, svRuby said:

Totally agree, I would need a programmable external regulator for sure. 

 

Here's some more specifics of my setup

 

We are a race boat, we don't run the engine unless we need to charge batteries on long legs. If we are "cruising" or on a "return trip" we are likely to be running the motor for hours/days at a time, the battery bank will be at 100% SoC and hopefully the alternator is not drawing much power.

 

Our current setup has a Balmar 614 controller. It has the adjustable ramp up on the field current. Hopefully this is good enough to keep the belt and engine happy.

 

We also sail in very warm waters, we are in the west side of florida, the Gulf of Mexico waters here are very warm. Our biggest issue is with heat. And so, im oversizing the next alternator. Our current air cooled 70a alternator unit reaches 120c. While I think a water cooled alternator will be cooler, it's still a lot of heat for a small engine floating in very warm water (30c is possible in the summer near shore)

 

My first assumption is that we will try to design around a 190a alternator and program whatever controller max out at 150a and see if temperatures (and belts) are ok.

 

As for spindle speed of the alternator, for sure, we will need to make sure we are driving the unit at the most efficient speed. I just got a quote from Beta, they have a 6pk crank pulley that is 210mm in diameter. My next efforts need to find out what diameters are going to be available on these alternators. I think we will likely run the motor at a crank speed of 2-2500 rpm (in neutral). What RPM's are you'all running at for peak power and or efficiency? What do you estimate the alternator speed is?

 

FInally, if I do need to be like a "Hot Rod" I'm hoping I can leverage this feature of the Balmar 614, "small engine mode" which apparently allows for a discrete switch to be flipped to reduce the current by 50%. Of course, if everything is well enough balanced thru programming and belt speed, maybe we don't need this, but here it is!

 

Thanks again for all the responses, this is truly useful for me.

 

 

 

I have change the ratio by 77% from the flywheel to the alternator from the original. today it is 178/49 (diameter at wheel in mm) The VDO taco are not correct after this rebuilding. But its simple to adjust it (my colleague are product manager for VDO Marine in Sweden 🙂 ).

Idling at about 700rpm my 155amp charge 95 amp and at 900 rpm it charge 130 Amp and at 2000 rpm 135 amp. No idea to over run the engine. The amp curve are flating out at a certain point. In my case its about 900 rpm.  When I start the engine it charge about 140 amp at idling and 195 amp at 1000 rpm and after five minutes its 95 amp resp 130 amp. 

[IanD]

6 hours ago, svRuby said:

Totally agree, I would need a programmable external regulator for sure. 

 

Here's some more specifics of my setup

 

We are a race boat, we don't run the engine unless we need to charge batteries on long legs. If we are "cruising" or on a "return trip" we are likely to be running the motor for hours/days at a time, the battery bank will be at 100% SoC and hopefully the alternator is not drawing much power.

 

Our current setup has a Balmar 614 controller. It has the adjustable ramp up on the field current. Hopefully this is good enough to keep the belt and engine happy.

 

We also sail in very warm waters, we are in the west side of florida, the Gulf of Mexico waters here are very warm. Our biggest issue is with heat. And so, im oversizing the next alternator. Our current air cooled 70a alternator unit reaches 120c. While I think a water cooled alternator will be cooler, it's still a lot of heat for a small engine floating in very warm water (30c is possible in the summer near shore)

 

My first assumption is that we will try to design around a 190a alternator and program whatever controller max out at 150a and see if temperatures (and belts) are ok.

 

As for spindle speed of the alternator, for sure, we will need to make sure we are driving the unit at the most efficient speed. I just got a quote from Beta, they have a 6pk crank pulley that is 210mm in diameter. My next efforts need to find out what diameters are going to be available on these alternators. I think we will likely run the motor at a crank speed of 2-2500 rpm (in neutral). What RPM's are you'all running at for peak power and or efficiency? What do you estimate the alternator speed is?

 

FInally, if I do need to be like a "Hot Rod" I'm hoping I can leverage this feature of the Balmar 614, "small engine mode" which apparently allows for a discrete switch to be flipped to reduce the current by 50%. Of course, if everything is well enough balanced thru programming and belt speed, maybe we don't need this, but here it is!

 

Thanks again for all the responses, this is truly useful for me.

 

 

 

That mode on the Balmar controller is very crude, even reducing the load to half isn't going to be enough with a massive alternator on a small engine like the OP is proposing.

 

Fortunately the Wakespeed has a much better and programmable ability to taper off charge current at low rpm, for example from 20% or less at idle (equivalent to a conventional small alternator) to 100% at 1200rpm (minimum charging speed recommended by Beta).

[DanKim]

On 26/10/2022 at 04:13, svRuby said:

Totally agree, I would need a programmable external regulator for sure. 

 

Here's some more specifics of my setup

 

We are a race boat, we don't run the engine unless we need to charge batteries on long legs. If we are "cruising" or on a "return trip" we are likely to be running the motor for hours/days at a time, the battery bank will be at 100% SoC and hopefully the alternator is not drawing much power.

 

Our current setup has a Balmar 614 controller. It has the adjustable ramp up on the field current. Hopefully this is good enough to keep the belt and engine happy.

 

We also sail in very warm waters, we are in the west side of florida, the Gulf of Mexico waters here are very warm. Our biggest issue is with heat. And so, im oversizing the next alternator. Our current air cooled 70a alternator unit reaches 120c. While I think a water cooled alternator will be cooler, it's still a lot of heat for a small engine floating in very warm water (30c is possible in the summer near shore)

 

My first assumption is that we will try to design around a 190a alternator and program whatever controller max out at 150a and see if temperatures (and belts) are ok.

 

As for spindle speed of the alternator, for sure, we will need to make sure we are driving the unit at the most efficient speed. I just got a quote from Beta, they have a 6pk crank pulley that is 210mm in diameter. My next efforts need to find out what diameters are going to be available on these alternators. I think we will likely run the motor at a crank speed of 2-2500 rpm (in neutral). What RPM's are you'all running at for peak power and or efficiency? What do you estimate the alternator speed is?

 

FInally, if I do need to be like a "Hot Rod" I'm hoping I can leverage this feature of the Balmar 614, "small engine mode" which apparently allows for a discrete switch to be flipped to reduce the current by 50%. Of course, if everything is well enough balanced thru programming and belt speed, maybe we don't need this, but here it is!

 

Thanks again for all the responses, this is truly useful for me.

 

 

I have tested the alternator. I have removed the internal regulator (snipping off al leads to the IC internely) and soldered two flying leads out that are connected directly to the carbon brushes. The leads are connected to at 0-30V 0-20Amp adjustable power supply. Idling at 800rpm and sourcing 12V to the field we got close to 200Amp.  

Will replace the air cooled alternator this winter by a water cooled, then we will have 400Amp charging. 

[IanD]

43 minutes ago, DanKim said:

I have tested the alternator. I have removed the internal regulator (snipping off al leads to the IC internely) and soldered two flying leads out that are connected directly to the carbon brushes. The leads are connected to at 0-30V 0-20Amp adjustable power supply. Idling at 800rpm and sourcing 12V to the field we got close to 200Amp.  

Will replace the air cooled alternator this winter by a water cooled, then we will have 400Amp charging. 

 

I see you've now added a fixed idler wheel to increase the belt wrap for the big alternator on the left, good move 🙂

 

Whether it'll still be OK when you double the current to 400A (>5kW output, maybe >10kW load on the belt at 50% efficiency) will be interesting to see... 😉

[DanKim]

19 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I see you've now added a fixed idler wheel to increase the belt wrap for the big alternator on the left, good move 🙂

 

Whether it'll still be OK when you double the current to 400A (>5kW output, maybe >10kW load on the belt at 50% efficiency) will be interesting to see... 😉

The new alternator have a bigger wheel, the diameter are 63 the old one 49. Yes we add up a idler wheel for increase the wrap. But notice, Its one belt for each alternator. I doubt that will be any problem. The engine didnt complain at all 🙂  I forgot to measure the smaller alternator how many amp that one was pumping out.

[svRuby]

On 25/10/2022 at 16:03, DanKim said:

As you say a well designed regulator with full load download switch when you are maneuvers in narrow water to slow down the charging Amp are vise to have if you have a too small engine. Or have a switch for charging or propulsion by using a smaller engine.

The alternator 059 903 015T from a used Phaeton has arrived (180€) I refurbished it last night and painted it in Yanmar grey. I am so impressed. It has 12 diod.

A friend has this alternator in his towboat with a Balmar regulator. He charge 276Amp over one hour!!!!! Its the heat that are killing diodes and winding. By cooling it down thru a heat exchanger with seawater, it keeps the alternator cool. The rotor are air cooled by internal fan. By lower revolution there are limited flow of air. It could be that I add a external fan to have stream of cool air throw the alternator as I have today with the Renault alternator. The rotor are generating about 140 watt of heat.

My older brother will have two alternators, it means it will charge 550 Amp. As little brother I will install those in his yacht. I will come back with picture when this are done. 

Wife are in Caiscais Portugal so I have free playtime and could bring in the toys to the dinner table from the work shop 🙂. Please, don`t tell her!

Happy charging

 

Would it be possible for you to post the rough (approximate) dimensions of the alternator? (diameter, height, center distance between the mounting "ears")

 

I've been trying to find the details from other sources but failed. I am leaning toward this unit for my own system on my Beta 25 motor and if it will generally fit, Im going to buy one soon for testing.

 

Thank you DanKim!

 

Chris

 

 

 

[DanKim]

On 26/01/2023 at 23:50, svRuby said:

 

Would it be possible for you to post the rough (approximate) dimensions of the alternator? (diameter, height, center distance between the mounting "ears")

 

I've been trying to find the details from other sources but failed. I am leaning toward this unit for my own system on my Beta 25 motor and if it will generally fit, Im going to buy one soon for testing.

 

Thank you DanKim!

 

Chris

 

 

 

Hi Chris

mail me on dan.kimblad[at]gmail[dot]com 

[DanKim]

On 30/01/2023 at 20:25, DanKim said:

Hi Chris

mail me on dan.kimbla[at]gmail[dot]com 

Hi gentlemen and ladies.

Latest news from my project of a water cooled alternator.
It’s a dream. I charge normally 225A continuously at 1400rpm and the temperature is 42C. When idling I charge100A att 680rpm. The idling is going down caused the load.

I am stripping out everything in the alternator and only left the carbon brushes then it’s a generic alternator left.

Two cables are connected directly to the brushes. The field is supply by a Balmar MC-618 and a shunt with blue tooth. Everything can be controlled over my smart phone. Also, a temp sensor is attached inside the alternator that give feedback to the Balmar regulator.
3 thick cables of 25 mm² is connected to the stator inside the alternator. They go further to an external rectifier of 300A that are also water cooled.
Why don’t I use the internal rectifier? Its to week for this hi amp. I have burned so many rectifiers. The alternator is stamped with performance of 190A but that’s not for continues work. Very seldom a alternator can produce continuously what they are stamped especially at lower rpm. Why? The internal fan needs a high speed to cool down the internal heat. As we know is the efficiency only 50% this means a significant amount of heat must disappear somewhere. When I charge 225A at 14 volts, its 3000 watt of heat inside the alternator. To cool down this by air is not simple.

Any disadvantage for this kind of solution?

Need to understand everything how it works, not only about electronics also plumping! Spent so many hours to solve the circulation without having air in the system. Having air in the system could ruin the alternator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CrBNP1dqzs&t=2s