Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the finished result of replacing the OEM alternator bracket in my engine. The OEM bracket didn't allow me to put more tension on the belt and that was causing all kind of problems. I found some great tips here in this forum which guided me to my final solution.
1. The metal plate is a 2''x4'', 1/4" thick steel plate I purchased from McMaster.com. You can also find 1/4"thick bars at your local store and cut it to a 4'' length.
2. The tension arm is a Balmar UBB ( https://defender.com/en_us/balmar-universal-adjustment-arm-combo-with-belt-buddy-tensioner-ubb ). You can also use the UAA version. The difference is that the UBB comes with a "Belt Buddy Tensioner" contraption. I liked having that, but the UAA version works perfectly fine.
3. The holes for the engine bolts I drilled with a 1/4" drill bit. The hole for the arm I drilled with a 3/8" drill bit.
4. The Balmar arm is a bit long, so I had to cut a couple of inches off for it to fit.
5. Bolts, washers, and a few extra washers on the alternator side to fill the 1/4" gap between the alternator housing and the new arm.
It worked great. It gives more room for the alternator to swing, and the Belt Buddy makes it easy to tension the belt. Also, the arm should now be long enough to accomodate a future upgrade to a bigger alternator.
In retrospective, I should have drilled the arm hole 5-10 mm to the left. That would have allowed for a bit more room between the arm and the engine bolts, and also a bit more room between the alternator side of the arm and the engine cover. But, this time I was very lucky and everything fit.
I took the boat for a test ride yesterday and it ran smooth.
Happy Sailing!
I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the finished result of replacing the OEM alternator bracket in my engine. The OEM bracket didn't allow me to put more tension on the belt and that was causing all kind of problems. I found some great tips here in this forum which guided me to my final solution.
1. The metal plate is a 2''x4'', 1/4" thick steel plate I purchased from McMaster.com. You can also find 1/4"thick bars at your local store and cut it to a 4'' length.
2. The tension arm is a Balmar UBB ( https://defender.com/en_us/balmar-universal-adjustment-arm-combo-with-belt-buddy-tensioner-ubb ). You can also use the UAA version. The difference is that the UBB comes with a "Belt Buddy Tensioner" contraption. I liked having that, but the UAA version works perfectly fine.
3. The holes for the engine bolts I drilled with a 1/4" drill bit. The hole for the arm I drilled with a 3/8" drill bit.
4. The Balmar arm is a bit long, so I had to cut a couple of inches off for it to fit.
5. Bolts, washers, and a few extra washers on the alternator side to fill the 1/4" gap between the alternator housing and the new arm.
It worked great. It gives more room for the alternator to swing, and the Belt Buddy makes it easy to tension the belt. Also, the arm should now be long enough to accomodate a future upgrade to a bigger alternator.
In retrospective, I should have drilled the arm hole 5-10 mm to the left. That would have allowed for a bit more room between the arm and the engine bolts, and also a bit more room between the alternator side of the arm and the engine cover. But, this time I was very lucky and everything fit.
I took the boat for a test ride yesterday and it ran smooth.
Happy Sailing!
