SV Ramble On | New Alternator Part II
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- We finish the installation of the new Balmar alternator with the serpentine pulley kit. We had to modify the engine bracket with a little welding, but it works in the end.
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I am in the process of doing this on my boat. I have an M25XP 23-hp engine and am installing a 250A large frame alternator. I have 560Ah of LFP batteries and need a way to more quickly charge them. My current alternator is a 100A Ample Power small frame. I will control the 250a with a Zeus regulator so that I can limit the total output to 190A based on limitations of other components. I will also be able to further reduce the power as I get to higher rpm in gear to avoid overloading the engine when propelling the boat.
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I also purchased a serpentine belt kit from Balmar which did not fit the engine it is intended for. My engine is a Universal M25XP and on this engine, the drive pulley from the kit is intended to fit over the existing front balance wheel of the engine. My balance wheel has an outside diameter of 130mm / 5.12" but the pulley Balmar supplied was 64-thousants of an inch less than that. It appears that their "tolerance" is that they don't mind causing problems for others to fix as long as they get paid and take no responsibly for the part actually doing what it is intended to do. But on the bright side, I have a very pretty $450 paper weight on my desk.
Yeah, it's too bad Balmar isn't more responsive to the issues. They are definitely not plug and play. Even on our new Beta, the Balmar alternator didn't fit exactly.
@@svrambleon Agreed, I for one am done with Balmar. It cost me $137 in tools and machine shop fees to correct Balmar's mistake and their response was the same as they gave you. The part is within our tolerance. I have heard from a Yanmar owner who also got the exact same response. They must have it written on a big banner on the wall.
For the sake of others thinking switching to a multi-v belt, I found another supplier who verified all of the dimensions on his part with a digital caliper over the phone. Check out MSE Marine Smart Equipment. He even offered to sell me just the drive pulley which I would have jumped at if I had not just gotten back from the machine shop with my "fixed" Balmar junk.
Nice work
Thanks for this video series. We're embarking on the same installation this week on our Westerbeke 40. Very helpful to see the process.
Thanks Lauren & Kirk for checking us out. Been watching your guys' videos from the get-go. Glad you found our refit videos useful, and good luck on your new alternator install. Your Westerbeke is very similar to our Perkins diesel and with the right kit, it should be a fairly easy install. I had a couple of hiccups installing our conversion, but after a few modifications it ended up performing great. If you ever have any questions on your future boat projects, don't hesitate to hit me up through email at rich-at-svrambleon-dot-com.
Great information, about to do the same conversion. Gotta love Neptonics 🤙
Thanks for watching and commenting. I met Josh who started the company many years ago in Santa Cruz when I built my first few guns with Neptonic parts. I love the inlays your putting putting your works of art. Nice work man
I had a newly rebuilt Perkins from Trans Atlantic Diesel with the balmar serpentine kit done there. Glad I did cause that looked involved. You got it done though. Looks great.
Thanks Bob. I probably should have went with the kit from TAD rather than Balmar. It was a pain to get it to work for sure. I've heard from others that the TAD serpentine kit is a perfect fit.
I notice the contact surface area of the PK belt around your alternator pulley is not ideal before it heads off to your water pump. 50% circumferential friction is best to prevent slippage when under heavy loads. Yours looks to be about 35-40%. The proper fix is a back-of-belt idler pulley between either your crank pulley and the alternator, or the alternator and water pump pulley, to push the belt INWARDS for more traction surface. (Longer belt would be needed).
Is there any other option? Because I don't think there's room for an idler pulley back there.
@svrambleon
Well, firstly, I was just saying it LOOKED rather minimal. Secondly, do you have symptoms of belt slippage and belt dust issues under high load? Thirdly, belt and pulley makers have maximum advised load specs for each type and size of belt and pulley. It's a whole science of motor HP and alternator current draw (ie, power in and out) and friction area for that load.
I see you've got a 6PK ribbed belt. I had to put a back idler pulley on mine to stop slip. (10HP motor, 3-4 HP charging load at full).
Other options would be to go up to an 8PK or else a flat cog belt, (as opposed to a cog-v-belt). Yeah, money. But it comes down to symptoms needing addressing. Some people just overtighten belts, leading to more heat and short bearing life, when an idler pulley simply adds more pulley grab around the circle.
Where did you get that turnbuckle thing that attaches the later atom to the bracket, do you hav e a link or a name, or does it come with the later nation? Great vid!
I got the part from Amazon and I think they list it as a heim joint tension rod.
Next time instead if sanding the inside of the pulley. place the pulley in a pot, fill with water and bring to a boil. Better, put it on a propane BBQ grill. Obviously good glove are required for handling !
Be careful with the belt tension ! With correct tension it will still flop around some. Excess tension will wear the water and/or alternator bearings.
Thanks Jack. I considered using heat but was concerned with maybe damaging the brand new oil seal in the front timing cover. Also, the factory Perkins pulley was hand fit and I didn't want the new one getting stuck on the shaft once it cooled. I've actually received several emails from other Perkins & Westerbeke owners who've had the same issues with Balmar pulley conversion kits. I also received ONE email from someone who installed the Trans Atlantic Diesel pulley kit and it all fit right out of the box. The Balmar Tech Support guy is the one that actually recommend sanding it!
So what was the story on needing to calculate the ratio between the engine and the alternator? I thought that most tach's just had a single knob on the back of them. I was wondering how I'd get that to work based on tools I have.... I was figuring on just using a strobe light and getting it about to a known value and then just tweaking the calibration screw until the value matched? Is the ratio helping adjust the slope of the line too or?
The Balmar alternator came with 2 slightly different diameter pulleys. If I'm not getting enough amps at lower revs I can change the pulley and over-drive the alternator another 900-1000 RPMs.
@@svrambleon Ah ok then so its like a way to move more draw into the lower RPM range. Interesting.
Where did you get that adjustment for the alt. never seen them that short! I've used turn buckles before!
Got it on Amazon for about $20. Searched for "heim joint alternator bracket" and got the one that fit between the bolt holes I wanted to use. Listed as 1-1/2" which is the measurement of the center adjusting barrel, not the length over-all.
OK Thanks.
What is the source of the turnbuckle ?
Got it on Amazon
I'm in the process of installing a Balmar 120A and serpentine kit on a Westerbeke 71C. Did you fuse the output of the alternator? If so, what did you use? Thanks!
Hey Michael, I DID fuse the alternator connection to the battery bank with those Blue Sea System bolt-on cube fuse holders directly to the battery posts.
Looks like an expensive pain in the ass !!
What should have been an easy swap turned out to be a PIA. Thankfully we'll be able to use the Balmar on the new Beta 43 we're getting this Spring.
@@svrambleon Awesome !! :)
Slowly but surely the USA is going metric. Lol
Tell my ashes, won't be around for that... My wife will sell my tools at the garage sale to hang on someones wall as an old relic of idiocracy .