Advanced Alternator Regulator

[nigel]

Has anyone on the forum installed an advanced alternator regulator to their boat? When wiring these in, do you know if the Mercruiser alternator regulators are positive or negative? Did you get a vast improvement on the charging rate?

 

[Cocktail Time]

Positive and when used with a high output alternator I had superior charging. On my previous 270 Sundancer, the Merc alternator I had was a 55amp Mando unit and when I added a 115 amp alternator, it had no internal regulator. I purchased a Xantrex alternator regulator and noticed a night and day charge rate on the four batteries that were installed. It had an adjustable voltage output that was great for boosting the charge and if you were as in my case using heavy dc loads and a hi powered sound system.

 

[nigel]

Great - thanks. I was going to stick with the standard 55 amp Mitsubishi (I think they are) alternators on mine: If I can actually get anything like 55 amps out of them at 14.8v I reckon that'd be enough.

Do you have issues with overcooking the batteries when charging at 115 amps? Or do you have a massive battery bank to match?

Cheers,

Nigel.

 

[Cocktail Time]

The boat was on an inland lake and we never ran for long periods of time so I never had an overcharging problem. When the output voltage was dialed up, the manual suggested it would charge the batteries faster if you only had short run periods. We had four group 29 wet cell batteries in there. One on a starting leg and the other three as house batteries.