Smart charger
The alternator of my Perkins 4.810 was changed and now is a Motorola NGM 14V 75A with integrated regulator. Is there a simple way to fit an external smart charger like a Balmar ARS-4 that I happen to own? I would like to hear from somebody who can suggest the actual operations to perform.

Regards
Daniel 411/04

Without knowing how many batteries and whether you have separate house and starter batteries it is difficult to say exactly how you should connect your smart charger. This link shows some ideal circuit diagrams and how to connect in wind and solar chargers as well.

 http://www.adverc.com/technical/technical-boat.asp

I have not bought anything from adverc yet but I have found their whole site very informative. I have a large house bank and a separate starter battery and charge them independently. In order to avoid having to turn the generator on, if we are motoring for long periods, I can charge the house batteries through a blocking diode and isolator switch.

As I use the engine alternator to charge the house batteries very infrequently I have not compensated for the voltage drop across the blocking diode on the Perkins alternator. My smart charger also has a trickle charge output for the starter battery for when we are on shore power.

I hope this helps.

Good luck

David

Hello Daniele,

my opinion is that it is not a good idea to buy an alternator with integrated regulator for a boat, since they appear not to offer smart charging, and hence are not charging enough for sailboat use. There may also be a risk that the - (minus) might not be isolated which is fine on a car, but not on a boat.

I personnaly have installed a 75 Amps alternator with separate smart charger from Mastervolt and it is perfect (domestic bank 300 Ah plus engine 100Ah). I believe Balmar does the same. Having a Battery Monitor (name from mastervolt) helps you checking wether the batteries are fully charged, or how much they have been discharged. I find it indispensable.

There also exists some battery boosting add-ons to the internal regulator which appear not to be easy to install, but seem efficient. There was an article in PBO some time ago (Practical Boat Owner in the UK: write to copyreport@ipcmedia.com to get a copy). If I can find the article I will tell you (unsuccessful at the moment).

Also if you have split charging diodes you must either feed the voltage sensing wire to the domestic battery bank, or compensate for the voltage loss of the diodes. This shoud be explained on the Balmar site as given by John.

Kind regards. Philippe. 41/022