Hi everyone,

I'm new on this group, but have seeked advise before by searching
through past topics.

I have a Challenger 40 sloop, and have a question on testing my
alternator and voltage regulator. I replaced both several months ago,
and now I'm not getting any output from my alternator. I have a
perkins 4107 diesel. When I hook up a voltage tester to the
alternator, with the engine running, I read the same voltage as the
battery, around 12.5. volts. When I hook up the tester to the
regulater, I do not read anything. Does this mean I have a bad voltage
regulator? Does anyone have a method of isolating if the issue is with
the regulator or the alternator?

I would appreciate any thoughts/ideas. This is a great group btw, with
a lot of experience and knowledge.

Peter:

Here's a link to a very useful guide by Fluke.


http://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/aut...e/beatbook.pdf
beatbook.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Good luck!

Chuck

Peter

I have upgraded several of these installations on boats and have found that
the best way is to find a more modern car alternator that is self contained
that has the same mounting fittings and throw all the seperate relays and
control boxes away

The end result would be a better charging system with easier to get
replacement parts should that alternator fail. And also there are not many
people around who understand the older charging systems apart from the parts
being expensive and difficult to get.

The wiring on a new alternator is very easy, one heavy duty wire to the
battery and one small to a red indicator light on your dashboard and the
other wire from the red light to your ignition switch

Tony uk


"chuck" wrote in message
ink.net...
Peter:

Here's a link to a very useful guide by Fluke.


http://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/aut...e/beatbook.pdf
beatbook.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Good luck!

Chuck

"Tony" wrote in
:

I have upgraded several of these installations on boats and have found
that the best way is to find a more modern car alternator that is self
contained that has the same mounting fittings and throw all the
seperate relays and control boxes away



I agree a modern, self-contained car alternator is a much better
alternative than this money ripoff boat nonsense with the $300 regulators.
Batteries are just too simple...float 'em and they work great.

But, alas, a car alternator doesn't have to worry about fumes in the bilge
so it's not explosion proof. Marine alternators are supposed to
be...right? I hope so. Even on a diesel powered boat like this there is
the possibility of propane gas, gasoline fumes from the dingy engine and
gas storage, etc., so it might be safe to use a car alternator in the boat.

Sure would be much cheaper, though...(c;

--
Larry

Umm yes Larry I agree, but ill bet he is using an old car type alternator
neway and yes its probably not explosion proof but I dont suppose the
starter is either or the starter solenoid.
Just put your bilge ventilation fan on a coupla minutes before you use your
engine

Tony uk

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Tony" wrote in
:

I have upgraded several of these installations on boats and have found
that the best way is to find a more modern car alternator that is self
contained that has the same mounting fittings and throw all the
seperate relays and control boxes away



I agree a modern, self-contained car alternator is a much better
alternative than this money ripoff boat nonsense with the $300 regulators.
Batteries are just too simple...float 'em and they work great.

But, alas, a car alternator doesn't have to worry about fumes in the bilge
so it's not explosion proof. Marine alternators are supposed to
be...right? I hope so. Even on a diesel powered boat like this there is
the possibility of propane gas, gasoline fumes from the dingy engine and
gas storage, etc., so it might be safe to use a car alternator in the
boat.

Sure would be much cheaper, though...(c;

--
Larry

Thanks for the tips everyone. I suspect a wiring issue as (I believe),
I should have voltage on the regulator. I have two battery banks, one
that has 2 6volt golf cart batteries for the house, and one separate
marine starter battery that is just to start the engine, nothing else.
I intentionally ran down the house battery to test the alternator.
When I ran the engine and tested the voltage on the alternator, it read
12.42 volts, which was the same as the house battery before I started
the engine. When I switched the control to charge the starter battery,
I read 12.75 volts (the same as the starter battery before running the
engine). So, the alternator reads what the voltage is on the
batteries, but is not charging them.

I'll follow the steps to bypass the regulator to see if the alternator
is functioning. I hope it's wiring issue, that would be a lot less
expensive to fix! If the alternator is out, I fear I've got a bigger
issue because I had it professionally rebuilt about 6 months ago.
So..that would mean something caused it to burn out.

Thanks again for the tips. I'll keep you all posted.

Peter

I agree a modern, self-contained car alternator is a much better
alternative than this money ripoff boat nonsense with the $300
regulators. Batteries are just too simple...float 'em and they work
great. .

This got my attention.

An older sailboat ('79) I just purchased, has two West Marine SeaVolt
gel batteries and what appears to be the stock alternator that came with
the Perkins 4-108. I see no external regulator.

Should I replace this old alternator? If so, can I use an automobile
regulator? I was pricing exactly what you panned - marine alternators
like Balmar with external regulators and echo chargers linking house to
starting battery.

It certainly would be far cheaper if I could use a car alternator.

TIA for any info.

I would just use the stock alternator that you have already although having
said that if it came with a 4/108 then its a pretty old one and you would
get a much better charging rate out of a much newer car alternator.

Using gel batteries could be a problem as I dont think they need to be
charged to the same voltage as normal wet batteries because they cannot deal
with the gassing that occurs with normal batteries when fully charged.
Others here may know more about gel batteries

Tony uk


wrote in message
...
I agree a modern, self-contained car alternator is a much better
alternative than this money ripoff boat nonsense with the $300
regulators. Batteries are just too simple...float 'em and they work
great. .

This got my attention.

An older sailboat ('79) I just purchased, has two West Marine SeaVolt
gel batteries and what appears to be the stock alternator that came with
the Perkins 4-108. I see no external regulator.

Should I replace this old alternator? If so, can I use an automobile
regulator? I was pricing exactly what you panned - marine alternators
like Balmar with external regulators and echo chargers linking house to
starting battery.

It certainly would be far cheaper if I could use a car alternator.

TIA for any info.

In article ,
wrote:

I agree a modern, self-contained car alternator is a much better
alternative than this money ripoff boat nonsense with the $300
regulators. Batteries are just too simple...float 'em and they work
great. .

This got my attention.

An older sailboat ('79) I just purchased, has two West Marine SeaVolt
gel batteries and what appears to be the stock alternator that came
with the Perkins 4-108. I see no external regulator.

Should I replace this old alternator?

I wouldn't

If so, can I use an automobile regulator?

I wouldn't, due to incredibly high humidity in the engine compartment.

I was pricing exactly what you panned - marine alternators like
Balmar with external regulators and echo chargers linking house to
starting battery.

It certainly would be far cheaper if I could use a car alternator.

We added a small (12w) solar panel. While on our weekends and 2+ week
annual vacations, we hardly ever need to charge with the engine. During
the week, the panel tops the in-use battery full-up. When we drained the
in-use battery to 10v one night, the panel pulled in enough power to get
us started by 11. (probably earlier, that was just when I got around to
turning the key.)

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

"Peter253" wrote in
oups.com:

When I hook up the tester to the
regulater, I do not read anything. Does this mean I have a bad voltage
regulator? Does anyone have a method of isolating if the issue is with
the regulator or the alternator?

You don't read anything from lead to lead or lead to ground or where? What
kind of regulator is it? Do you know which of the leads on the regulator
is battery, field, ground, etc.?

If there is no voltages to the regulator, you have a wiring problem. The
new regulator won't have operating voltages, either.

--
Larry