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fitting a Balmar Alternator and regulator
For the alternator there are all sorts of mounting foot arrangements to choose from, besides the actual power capacity, but Power Store had supplied a number of drawings to aid the selection process (incredibly, I found some critical interface dimensions were incorrectly shown on several of the drawings!). We chose the Balmar ARS-5 regulator to drive the alternator as this had all the features we needed without any “geeky” extras. I also signed up for the alternator temperature detector which would protect the alternator against overheating (lessons learned at Ramsgate!).
Fitting the alternator was straightforward. It seems that there are some industry standards at work in the background here, thankfully! The vital dimension - Vee pulley centre to mounting foot face - was identical between the old Bosch alternator and the new Balmar one despite what it had said on the drawing! The housing on the Balmar was slightly fatter than the old alternator and so it stood further away from the engine. This meant that a longer vee-belt was needed. A local supplier provided me with the next two sizes up, to try out for size, and took back the one which I didn’t need. A nearby marine engineer turned me a new spacer for a few pounds, to fit the Perkins mounting bracket.
The electrical connections are more complex to sort out. The instructions that came with the alternator and regulator are very comprehensive and clear. However there are a number of options for connections depending on your specific electrical configuration; these are described in addenda to the main instructions. It pays to draw out separately the connection diagram for your own installation based on the supplied information. Once this was done it was possible to see what was needed to finish the job off.
An “emergency” switch box was installed to enable the alternator internal regulator to take over from the external regulator in case of the failure of the latter. Extra wiring to the control console was needed for a new regulator fault light, and an indicator light to show if the “emergency” switch was on. The main alternator power output and ground cables were upgraded to Balmar’s specification, and a new alternator power supply/battery sensing wire was needed, protected by a 10A fuse supplied by Balmar. All this was in addition to the various connections between the alternator and regulator which run through a flexible conduit supplied as part of the package. This was about a day’s work to install.
Setting up is a doddle using the "magnetic screwdriver" supplied with the regulator. There is a small magnet in the handle. You hold the handle near the red dot on the regulator as prompted by the LED display to change settings. Everything is clearly explained in the setting up instructions.
Prior to running the alternator we did some preliminary tests to verify circuit integrity just to make sure everything was in order and here is where things went pear shaped. It was immediately obvious that the standard ALT lamp circuit did not work!
The Balmar system was replacing one in which the D+ function worked as normal, with the “ALT” lamp connected between power (key switch – “ignition”) and D+. When the key switch was on, but the engine stopped, D+ was at ground and the lamp was lit; with the engine running the lamp was extinguished. In the absence of any supplied information explaining how the Balmar D+ circuit operates, I had expected the same configuration to work.
Circuit continuity between the lamp and D+ was checked, and the lamp was fine itself. With key switch on and the engine stopped the lamp remained out regardless of whether it was configured BAT+ to LAMP to D+, or D+ to LAMP to BAT-. Most odd!
After several telephone conversations with someone at Power Store who didn't really understand what I was talking about (they wouldn't let me talk to the engineer who knew what was what), I ran the engine and found that the ALT lamp remained extinguished until the engine was running and excitation established at which point the ALT lamp came on. So it seemed that the D+ output logic was inverted from standard.
As an act of desperation I connected a relay to the output of D+ to invert the logic and reconfigured the lamp wiring to make the lamp work as normal. After that everything worked as it should do.
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating - and so far so good. I really like the way the charge current is ramped up slowly to avoid strain on the vee-belt. You can see by monitoring the battery charge ammeters what a difference a decent alternator /regulator makes. The batteries are clearly being kept well charged; now when we get back to the marina after a few days cruising, the 240V mains battery charger has nothing much to do!
As for the inverse logic in the D+ cicuit, a week later after calling Power Store many times and being promised a call back (which never happened), I got to talk to the engineer. She told me that there was a switch inside the alternator that outputs to D+ and this must have been wired up back to front at the factory. It should have worked the same way as my old alternator. What a pitty the chap I spoke to couldn't have said that at the time, as it would have saved a lot of trouble!
I have decided to keep everything as-is rather than replace the alternator, as it would involve a lot of work as well as being very inconvenient. I have asked Power Store for a written explanation of what is going on inside the alternator so that I have something on file for future reference, and an extended warranty to offset my trouble. That was in September. See panel to left for the latest!
Power Store need to take a leaf out of Raymarine's customer service book.
Despite all this, the Balmar alternator itself seems quite good!
The automotive alternator that failed at Ramsgate.
The blue wire was the field control wire from
the Sterling Regulator. See below for details.
The installed Balmar Alternator
The electrical connections at the back of the
alternator. Good sized screw terminals. No horrid fastons! By the time I had added the various extra
connections/options between alternator and
regulator, the flex conduit was only just big enough.
The ARS-5 regulator on the right, and the
"home made" emergency switch box on the left.
The switch box also contains a diode required
by Balmar for Starry Night's configuration.
When we bought Starry Night back in 1999 the electrical survey had identified inadequate charging of the batteries. It was suggested that we fit an alternator management system. We followed this advice and installed a Sterling 4-Step alternator regulator which gave an immediate improvement.
More recently we had been warned by several marine electrical engineers that they were seeing quite a few alternator failures apparently caused by external alternator regulators. Because these external units work an automotive alternator a lot harder than it was designed to do, automotive alternators can overheat, and over a long period of use may fail. We were told by one engineer that we would be better off getting rid of the external regulator! We ignored this advice to our peril.
Then at Ramsgate, this summer, our alternator failed. One of the first questions we were asked by the harbour marine engineer was – do we have an alternator management system?..... “Ah, that will be the cause of the problem almost certainly!” he said! see Diary Entry.
We fitted a replacement alternator and disconnected the external regulator, determined to install a good quality marine alternator system on our return to the UK.
By late November I still had no reply from Power Store AKA Merlin Equipment Ltd (MEL) to any letters or phone calls on the subject.
A letter sent by recorded delivery in late December was mislaid within MEL after it arrived. I had to transmit all the correspondence again by e-mail.
Eventually I got to speak to the MD, James Hortop, who promised to reply to my letters and sympathised with my situation. He seemed a really nice guy and I was very hopeful. But no reply ever came. Two further reminders by phone to James Hortop solicited promises of replies which never materialised. On each occasion Hortop was unable to find my corrspondence due to computer problems at MEL's end.
Having taken legal advice on the matter I have been persuaded that my statutory rights are probably more useful than any extended warranty. So I have given up on that.
And MEL have no legal obligation to give me a written explanaion of the nature of the fault - only the concept of customer care applies here!
I have concluded that MEL are either:
1 Completely disorganised, or
2 Severely understaffed, or
3 Uninterested in customer service, or
4 A combination of the above.
So, if you have read this and are thinking of doing business with MEL, you have been warned!