Alternator and starter; any service / maintenace

[Philip_Oceanis 361]

Is any scheduled maintenance / service required for the alternator or the starter of the engine? If yes, how often (and what is required; though I won't do it myself)?
I understand that for cars these are two things we never touch unless they break down. I was wondering if same applies for marine.
Thanks

 

[Blitz]

Very similiar to a car in that there is little maintenance, although a broken one could leave you stranded. Serious cruisers carry spares.

As for regular maintenance I would suggest checking, cleaning and coating the terminals to prevent corrosion. Frequency depends on your environment - but annually would work in most cases for the casual sailor.

 

[kloudie1]

Interesting.. If you really wanted to be pro-active, you could have the alternator bearings and brushes changed at about 1500 hours and the starter brushes and bearings/bushings checked/changed at the same time. Replacing the starter solenoid and "Bendix" would done at the same time.. This hours number is simply based on a car beginning to need that work at about 2500 hours and a boat engine being abused more! Nothing scientific.. If the boat is out of service during the winter, that would be a good time to do it when indicated. A good local starter and alternator shop can do this at very reasonable prices, if someone else pulls the units and re-installs..
The "con" side is that there is a real problem named "Infant Mortality" in the machinery business which means that when you rebuild something, there is always a fairly high early failure rate because of possible defects in parts or technique..
Good luck>

 

[Stu Jackson]

Good question. I haven't ever heard of this one before. Many skippers replace their OEM stock alternators with higher output units when they upgrade their electrical systems. Most stock electrical systems are woefully inadequate for being out on the hook: minimal battery capacity and sluggish, low amperage alternators. That usually takes care of that. I replaced our stock 55 A alternator when it was 20 years old.

...a boat engine being abused more...

Perhaps not, since alternators get less use on boats than in cars. We just did a road trip to Canada, two days up, two days back: say at least 10 hours on the road each day --- 40 hours. That's almost half a sailing season in hours.

Same is true for starters. Just going to the store for milk is as many (re)starts as a simple daysail. My starter is 25 years old and doing fine. Most starter issues come from poor ground connections on the engine. See replies #15, #21 and #24 here on our C34 Critical Upgrades page: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.15.html

 

[kloudie1]

Understand your points, Stu.... But the temperature when they are actually being used may be much warmer in the marine case.. The underhood temperature when a car is moving 30-40 mph is much lower than inside the engine box of a typical sailboat where there usually is no significant moving air to cool the alternator.
Like I said kinda random thoughts .. nothing scientific!

 

[Stu Jackson]

Could be those folks living in Phoenix may disagree with you (101 F on a cool day during the summer).

 

[Benny17441]

Other than tightening belts and keeping electrical terminals clean and tight these components are best left alone until they fail or their mechanical parts start giving some warnings of wear and a possible falure.

 

[petersea]

If it's not broke don't fix it ! ! ! Just a general inpsection of cables and the connections on the starter and belt inpsection and connections on alternator is about all you would need to do. Can be done when changing oil or two or three times a season but it takes about three second to look so do every time you use the engine, takes less then a minute check the oil and give the engine a quick once over every day you use your engine.