Hunter 36

[Broke sailor SV Marcell]

I had my dealer upgrade the batteries on my H-36 (on order) to 360 amps. I also wanted to upgrade the charging system with a larger alternator, 80 vs 60 amps and a smart regulator. i was told it was not possible to place a larger alt. under the companionway steps. Is this true? How do I keep that battery bank charged? The dealer says that the alternator caps the charging rate at 5 amps max for the battery. Any extra output is used to power up house loads.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

find another source of info

A regulator controls the rate of charging; not the alternator. If he/she told you that it is the "alternator caps the charge rate at 5 amps", he/she clearly has no clue... I can't tell you how much add'l space will be required for a slightly larger alternator but it should be easy enough for you to tell if you checked it out. Regardless, going from 60 - 80 amp won't make a significant difference in charging time and unless you spend lots of time on the hook, I don't believe it's worth the effort to upgrade to a larger one.

 

[Buck2796]

I AGREE

with Don. Whoever told you those things at the dealer doesn't sound too well informed. Or there's a LOT less space under those steps than I would have thought.I don't know which alternator you will have on your Yanmar, but if you want to upgrade, get the information about the alternator that will be delivered and go talk to someone at an alternator service/repair shop (or call Balmar). They will very quickly tell you what other higher output alternator(s) you can use (that are the same size as your stock alternator). Balmar will be expensive, but the alternator shop can give you much more reasonable cost alternatives.And, as Don said, it's the regulator that controls the charging amperage delivered to the batteries. You would do well to install a Link 1000 (or 2000). See related posts discussing Link. Good luck !