Anyone out there have any experience or words of wisdom to offer on
removing the internal regulator from a small alternator like a Hitachi
LR135-31 so as hook up an external unit that will properly charge GEL
or AGM batteries?

--

Roger Long

Any good automotive alternator / generator rebuilder can do it for you.
I just had mine done.

"words of wisdom", if you haven't already bought it, don't buy your
regulator from someone like West Marine [we call it "Worst Marine"].
They get $275 for the good Xantrex # 2006, I bought mine "on-line" for
$172 [brand new] including shipping and tax.

Cheers,

Trent Sanders
S/V Cimba



Roger Long wrote:
Anyone out there have any experience or words of wisdom to offer on
removing the internal regulator from a small alternator like a
Hitachi
LR135-31 so as hook up an external unit that will properly charge GEL

or AGM batteries?

--

Roger Long

"Roger Long" wrote in
:

Anyone out there have any experience or words of wisdom to offer on
removing the internal regulator from a small alternator like a Hitachi
LR135-31 so as hook up an external unit that will properly charge GEL
or AGM batteries?

--

Roger Long


Roger.....

Out in my yard is a 1988 Chevy P-20/Union City Body retired Air Force
stepvan. It's powered with a 6.5L diesel V-8 (AT, PS, PB) with an 80A, GM
alternator with internal regulator, just like every Chevy truck on the
road. There are millions of them.

All Air Force trucks are now equipped with those red AGM batteries to
simplify storage and transport across the planet...charged by those old,
reliable, internally-regulated alternators.

AGM batteries don't require you to hand over $250 to Waste Marine for a
super computer regulator with all the flashing lights. Thousands of them
work for years and years, just fine, across the planet.

Boater nonsense.....BS.....

Why do we beat ourselves trying to see how much we can spend on an
alternator?! It's just a lead acid battery!

The AF records on my van, by the way, show the batteries ran down the
flight line at Pope AFB from 1988 to 2001 for about 8 years between
replacements....

Relax! Just don't mention to any professional boaters in the marina that
you have an internal regulator. Find a fancy one that's tits up and bolt
it into the engine room to fool them.....

Hello Roger,

When GM switched to sealed, no-maintenance, lead-acid
batteries, their voltage regulators were changed to regulate
to a lower voltage than they had been using. I believe 14.1
volts is what they use for sealed batteries. This voltage
would probably not harm an AGM, although for "continuous"
use, such as an extended period of motoring, it may
constitute an excessive "float" voltage for an AGM.

Bottom line is that all "old" automotive regulators are not
created equal. Those that were made for the older
(non-sealed) lead-acid batteries are likely to destroy
sealed batteries (whether AGM, Gel, or conventional).

AGMs are not cheap, as you know. Besides, there may be
other, more persuasive reasons for using a "smart" external
regulator.

Be very wary of generalized extensions of automotive
practices and equipment to boating.

Good luck.

Chuck



Larry W4CSC wrote:
"Roger Long" wrote in
:


Anyone out there have any experience or words of wisdom to offer on
removing the internal regulator from a small alternator like a Hitachi
LR135-31 so as hook up an external unit that will properly charge GEL
or AGM batteries?

--

Roger Long



Roger.....

Out in my yard is a 1988 Chevy P-20/Union City Body retired Air Force
stepvan. It's powered with a 6.5L diesel V-8 (AT, PS, PB) with an 80A, GM
alternator with internal regulator, just like every Chevy truck on the
road. There are millions of them.

All Air Force trucks are now equipped with those red AGM batteries to
simplify storage and transport across the planet...charged by those old,
reliable, internally-regulated alternators.

AGM batteries don't require you to hand over $250 to Waste Marine for a
super computer regulator with all the flashing lights. Thousands of them
work for years and years, just fine, across the planet.

Boater nonsense.....BS.....

Why do we beat ourselves trying to see how much we can spend on an
alternator?! It's just a lead acid battery!

The AF records on my van, by the way, show the batteries ran down the
flight line at Pope AFB from 1988 to 2001 for about 8 years between
replacements....

Relax! Just don't mention to any professional boaters in the marina that
you have an internal regulator. Find a fancy one that's tits up and bolt
it into the engine room to fool them.....

Regarding the Hitachi alternators, I believe these are "N" type alternators.
The smart regulators made by folks like Xantrex only work with "P" type
alternators. I think this N/P business is something to do with the way the
diodes are wired. I think you can make the necessary changes in the Hitachi
but it may not be cost-effective.

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
Anyone out there have any experience or words of wisdom to offer on
removing the internal regulator from a small alternator like a Hitachi
LR135-31 so as hook up an external unit that will properly charge GEL or
AGM batteries?

--

Roger Long

The battery / alternator shop (which supplies a lot of the local
boatyards) assured me that the AGM batteries would do just fine with
the stock alternator/regulator. Since they easily could have sold me
a new one, I'm inclined to believe them.

If this was a power boat, I might still be inclined to look for a more
sophisticated charger. The 35 amp alternator isn't going to run
enough to do much charging on our sailboat anyway. I'll be putting in
a good shorepower driven charger with three step charging so that is
what the batteries will mostly see at the top end of the charge cycle
where it is most critical.

--

Roger Long

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 19:54:22 GMT, "Gordon Wedman"
wrote:

Regarding the Hitachi alternators, I believe these are "N" type alternators.
The smart regulators made by folks like Xantrex only work with "P" type
alternators. I think this N/P business is something to do with the way the
diodes are wired. I think you can make the necessary changes in the Hitachi
but it may not be cost-effective.


Basicly a "N' type alternator has the regulator hooked into the
Negative side of the alternator where a "P" type will be hooked to the
Positive or "IN" side.
It denotes which side of the alternator the regulator switches from.
Mark E. Williams

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
Anyone out there have any experience or words of wisdom to offer on
removing the internal regulator from a small alternator like a Hitachi
LR135-31 so as hook up an external unit that will properly charge GEL or
AGM batteries?

AGM batteries can use the same charging regimine as liquid lead-acid.

--

Roger Long

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 15:21:59 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Anyone out there have any experience or words of wisdom to offer on
removing the internal regulator from a small alternator like a Hitachi
LR135-31 so as hook up an external unit that will properly charge GEL
or AGM batteries?

I'm not sure it's wisdom, but I am about to pull the alternator right
off the engine and put it in the spares locker to replace it with a
new unit and an external alternator. It works great now unless I want
a serious charge and seems like a great fallback option in the event
of a failure. I really don't want to risk breaking anything that
works, even if it means a few more bucks to replace.

Ryk