Paul, are you telling him to be sure the battery charger is turned off? All that would do is change the voltage being measured, and can be done from the electric panel at the nav station, maybe more easily. Regardless, when the ignition switch is turned off, there should be 0 volts at the panel meter.Make sure your AC aft end switch is off position.
paulj
I see. Still think his panel meter must be bad. Reading 12 V with the key switch off is the red flag. I’d open up the pod and measure the voltage directly with a meter that is known to work. It’s a pain to open and close, but he’ll need to do that to replace the meter eventually, so good practice.
The first picture is how the gauge reads key in our out, the second, key on, engine not running. What is your concern/point?Make sure your AC aft end switch is off position.
paulj
Paulj, what’s the issue with leaving the AC turned on? How is it not a normal operation condition?
Maine Sail, I’ve read your articles on alternators, but still have questions. Usage certainly matters, but in a case like this, what are the options for upgrading, given an FLA bank of 400 AH or so and mostly day sailing? Can this alternator be modified with your kit, producing an externally regulated system, with optional temperature sensors? Or would it make more sense to buy a new CMI 90/105 alternator? Or is the Mando ok in that situation?
Mando never made an ER kit and they are not real easy to convert to ER. Stack that on top of the fact that it's just a 55A unit that's only really capable of about 25-30A when hot, and that Mando no longer makes them, so you're now getting Chinese clones, and it winds up being a "keep it as a spare"...
I haven't written it up yet (way behind on all the upgrades) but I installed the CMI 105 with the Balmar MC614 and love the upgrade. We haven't been to a marina in 2-3 years? and live on the hook. We either charge from solar or the engine.
I’m not surprised you’re happy with that upgrade. For our usage it’s maybe overkill. I do wonder if temperature sensing (batteries and/or alternator) would be worthwhile for us? Once you add external regulation and both temp sensors the difference in price between the 72A and 105A versions isn’t that much.
Yes I believe it would be. We live on our solar most of the time. But those days we would start traveling early took a toll on our alternators. We had been through 6 in the past 4 years with the same bank as you. Typically the problems would arise from motor on cloudy days or during night passages. The alternator would heat up and fry trying to fill the deep cycle bank. The temp sensors and the belt manager function of the external regulator were the most important features for me.
Bingo! Your results are not at all uncommon for a cruiser.
Maine Sail, what’s the difference between the ARS-5H and MC-614H? In particular when being used for shallow cycle charging most of the time. Thanks!
MC-614H has two battery temp sensor ports, can drive more field current so it runs a bit cooler (two output FET's vs. one), has a dedicated voltage sense lead and some minor programming tweaks. The ARS-5H will do almost everything the MC-614H can do...
And if you ever go to lithium ion batteries in the future then the volt sensing is important. Actually it's important for all battery types but critical for lithium.
