Jump to content

Sterling Alternator no output


regginald

Featured Posts

Perhaps the OP could let us know what the pulley/ belt situation is, if only to satisfy my curiosity.

It seems that it's quite common for people to fit bigger or too big alternators with no thought to how they are going to drive them 

Maybe manufacturers or suppliers could enclose advisory notes.

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

I wonder if he has the V belt around the polly-V pulley but if he has I would have thought it would at least energise and put the warning lamp out but not much more before it slips.

The op says in post 3 he doesn't have any warning lights. Maybe he has a resistor instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, Flyboy said:

The op says in post 3 he doesn't have any warning lights. Maybe he has a resistor instead.

Or a rising oil pressure switch. Or there is nothing on the other end of the D+ cable so now we need to know what the voltage is on the end of the disconnected D+ cable with the ignition or or if no ignition switch with the engine running. NO volts there = no energisation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Or a rising oil pressure switch. Or there is nothing on the other end of the D+ cable so now we need to know what the voltage is on the end of the disconnected D+ cable with the ignition or or if no ignition switch with the engine running. NO volts there = no energisation.

Posts 4, 5, and 6 suggest that he’s energising it. But I guess supposition is a bad thing, requiring confirmation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, WotEver said:

Posts 4, 5, and 6 suggest that he’s energising it. But I guess supposition is a bad thing, requiring confirmation. 

Those posts make little sense to me, he goes on about the charger, not charge or alternator output. I also can't see how putting DC onto the W terminal will excite the alternator unless its a rarer one where W means something different. We need the base alternator identifying before we can help much. I also wonder if its a Ebay bargain faulty alternator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Tony Brooks said:

Those posts make little sense to me, he goes on about the charger, not charge or alternator output. I also can't see how putting DC onto the W terminal will excite the alternator unless its a rarer one where W means something different. We need the base alternator identifying before we can help much. I also wonder if its a Ebay bargain faulty alternator.

I agree... the comment that energising the W terminal woke up ‘the charger’ confused me completely. However, he did state that energising the D+ terminal did not raise the battery voltage, suggesting either the D+ was NOT energised or the alternator is faulty (or miswired). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I agree... the comment that energising the W terminal woke up ‘the charger’ confused me completely. However, he did state that energising the D+ terminal did not raise the battery voltage, suggesting either the D+ was NOT energised or the alternator is faulty (or miswired). 

It sounds like the alternator is caput.

In post 6, he says that connecting 12v supply to the W connector turns on the AtoB charger but no current out of the AtoB ie the 12v energises the AtoB (ie the lights come on) but the alternator is not generating any power. In a later post he says connecting the 12V supply to the D+ connector results in nothing ie no lights on the AtoB (and no current) as there is no output from the alternator. To do its job, the AtoB needs to see a 12v supply to be able to function (which it sees when there is 12V on the W) and then a current to the AtoB which it is not seeing at all.

In post 14, he says that when the AtoB is out of the line and 12V to D+, he sees no output to the start batteries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

In post 6, he says that connecting 12v supply to the W connector turns on the AtoB charger...

... which makes absolutely no sense. I’m not saying that he’s lying or anything but applying 12V to a phase tap can’t turn anything on. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

It sounds like the alternator is caput.

In post 6, he says that connecting 12v supply to the W connector turns on the AtoB charger but no current out of the AtoB ie the 12v energises the AtoB (ie the lights come on) but the alternator is not generating any power. In a later post he says connecting the 12V supply to the D+ connector results in nothing ie no lights on the AtoB (and no current) as there is no output from the alternator. To do its job, the AtoB needs to see a 12v supply to be able to function (which it sees when there is 12V on the W) and then a current to the AtoB which it is not seeing at all.

In post 14, he says that when the AtoB is out of the line and 12V to D+, he sees no output to the start batteries.

Well, as I think has already been said. The first thing he needs to do is disconnect the A to B and concentrate on wiring the alternator so it works. Then he can  connect up teh A to be once he knows the alternator is working.

 

On Whatever's point. I also do not see how putting battery voltage onto a phase tap can get an A to B to charge but I have a feeling )(not drawn any diagrams out) that it could feed through the phase, out of the "other" diode, put 12V on B+ and thus fool the A to be into thinking there is alternator output. Remember that with an A to B the alternator B+ is connected to the A to B, not the battery. The A to B is complicating the issues and what looks like a lack of knowledge of the OP is not doing anything to help the situation.

 

Regginald:-

 

Photo of back of alternator please so we can identify the actual make.

Connect the alternator to the batteries without the A to B so we can work on just one thing art a time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to all for the replies

 

I spoke to the guy on the phone and he says they adapted my alternator to work with an external regulator which he advised me to buy. on the website the product code is al12200pdar for regulator and alternator as a bundle, alternatively there is the alternator on its own product code al12200 with internal regulator. I purchased al12200 on ebay along with the charger and remote at a cost or 1200 quid as i live aboard with no address and needed to use the ebay click and collect at argos facility. the bloke i spoke to at sterling says i have been given an incorrectly labelled alternator which should not be sold separately but he is unwilling to help me in any way as he is a dick.

 

I have a tripple belt crank pulley and water pump pulley and the sterling alternator 12200 comes with a double pulley in the box which i have attatched my original lucas a127 pulley to so i have tripple belts at 13mm wide which is plenty to run the 200 amp alternator at a more economical charge rate of 160 amps continuous charge rate to charge my 8 240Ah leisure batteries.

 

i do not know if the original regulator is still inside but been disabled or if sterling has taken it out when they modified it to work with PDAR regulator.

 

The guy who sells the sterling products on ebay is also a dick as he is buying the bundle and selling seperately with wrong product codes which is no good he is called beacon-and-lightbars and sterling wont talk to you if you buy from him.

 

the dick at sterling power said that his alternators will work with nothing connected to D+ as long as there is a b+ and field wire it will run but said my field wire coming out of alternator needs to be connected to PDAR field to make it run.

 

When i connected my field wire from ignition to W on alternator it turns on A to B charger but it shown no amps, i can see battery voltages of both banks.

 

I am only very sorry that i ever bought anything with Sterling on it as the bloke who owns the company is a Dick.

 

Thanks to all for your input, i just wonder if regulator is still inside that i can get working with some soldering and wiring

 

And please do not buy anything from this narcissistic Sterling in future i know i wont be giving him my money ever again thats for sure.

 

Regards

Edited by regginald
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My original alternator was a127 putting out 60amps just above tick over with the field wire coming from ignition constantly on when key was in position 2 before starter, it was like this when i bought the boat. There are 2 light bulbs in the panel next to ignition but no wires are connected to them.

 

Thanks again to all

Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

 

On Whatever's point. I also do not see how putting battery voltage onto a phase tap can get an A to B to charge but I have a feeling )(not drawn any diagrams out) that it could feed through the phase, out of the "other" diode, put 12V on B+ and thus fool the A to be into thinking there is alternator output. Remember that with an A to B the alternator B+ is connected to the A to B, not the battery. The A to B is complicating the issues .

I agree. When a voltage is put on the W, the AtoB must see this voltage and turns the unit on but as the alternator is not 'working' the AtoB sees no current.

 

23 minutes ago, regginald said:

 

the dick at sterling power said that his alternators will work with nothing connected to D+ as long as there is a b+ and field wire it will run but said my field wire coming out of alternator needs to be connected to PDAR field to make it run.

 

 

So when you do this, does it work with the AtoB out of the circuit?

If you have bought a new sterling alternator and regulator, you will no longer need the AtoB.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, regginald said:

to run the 200 amp alternator

But it is not a 200 amp alternator it is model number "200a".

The "200a" alternator is 140 amps.

 

Hopefully you have not been conned and you did read the specification before buying ?

 

The Ebay link I posted explains the difference and part numbers between the with / without regulator options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, regginald said:

I purchased al12200

This has its own internal regulator - you also bought an external regulator (separately).

Maybe the two regulators are 'fighting each other'

At £1200 for (effectively an alternator) you really have been 'done'. It would pay you to take some advice on what you really need.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alan de Enfield

 

the a to b was 460, remote controller to check Amps etc was 340 and alternator was 340, these are the prices on their website. i do not feel it is too expensive as the power has to run my washing machine and fridge/freezer and telly etc through 2400W inverter. I do not have an external regulator nor have i ever had one so do not see where any conflicts will come from.

 

The specs you are looking at on ebay are from beacons and lightbars and due to the fact that he is a dick and is selling the wrong products with the wrong codes as he doesn't understand his business does not surprise me to find out he has miss labelled the specs on the alternator. He doesn't understand the business he is just a dick trying to make money and doesn't care if he is ripping people off or giving them a severe hard time.

 

And thanks again for telling me "At £1200 for (effectively an alternator) you really have been 'done'. It would pay you to take some advice on what you really need" Thats really helpfull and you actually have no idea what my needs are or how much time i have spent reading and researching to find out my best options for living aboard with no mains power. I take umbridge to your commets and suggest you go give advice to somebody else as i have no need for it here i am simply trying to get my alternator (which is 200Amps by the way) working

 

Regards

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tony Brooks

 

I isolated the A to B and just wired up the alternator to starter battery and connected the field to the white wire which is the field wire on alternator but it doesnt fire up even at full rpm and with another field wire onto D+, i have tried everything but the alternator has been modified by sterling to be part of a bundle containing the external PDAR regulator, i am wondering how to convert it back to its original state so it will run.

 

Thanks for all your input on the alternator threads here i have learned a lot from you despite reading lots elsewhere where it gets too confusing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, regginald said:

i am simply trying to get my alternator (which is 200Amps by the way) working

It appears that you need the Sterling PDAR:

https://sterling-power.com/products/universal-advanced-digital-alternator-regulator-pro-reg-d-pdar

 

Installation manual: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0658/7343/files/PDAR.pdf?484

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, regginald said:

Alan de Enfield

 

the a to b was 460, remote controller to check Amps etc was 340 and alternator was 340, these are the prices on their website. i do not feel it is too expensive as the power has to run my washing machine and fridge/freezer and telly etc through 2400W inverter. I do not have an external regulator nor have i ever had one so do not see where any conflicts will come from.

 

 

 

Why have you gone for the AtoB? A good alternator and an external regulator is only about £500. You dont need the AtoB. They are only useful if you have alternators that dont put out the 14+V required for LA's. I know. I am on my 2nd boat with alternators that only put out 13.9V. The AtoB is then a good solution.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, regginald said:

i am wondering how to convert it back to its original state so it will run.

If it now has no internal regulator then you’d have to either fit one or give up and use the PDAR. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dr Bob

 

i purchased the A to B to go with the 2 A127s which were not doing what i needed, i purchased the remote later so i could then check amps and do the other things that the remote does. the a127s still kept breaking and were just not reliable and they killed my last battery bank of 4 80Ah batteries as they ran at 30Volts for 2 hours and i swore never to use them again without the a to b and remote that shut down and protect the batteries, i spent 2000 on 8 240 Ah AGM batteries and need to take care of them so i purchased the 200Amp alternator to put on it as i have had enough of those crappy lucas things.

 

Do you know why English men prefer warm beer??? Its because Lucas make fridges too )))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.