If the regulator, internal or external has a "SENSE" wire, it may be disconnected. Are you measuring the voltage at the batteries? Have you checked the meter? Running this charge for very long may damage the batteries.
Lee Haefele On Jul 18, 2012, at 8:05 PM, Ron Rogers <[email protected]> wrote: > You could take the alternator to a starter/alternator shop for a bench test. > If the regulator (built-in I assume) is faulty, the shop can remove it from > the alternator and bring the leads outside. Then you can purchase an > external, smart regulator to properly charge your new lead-acid batteries. If > the problem continues, one of your new batteries may be defective. > > The modern, external regulator is a wise move anyway as you want to protect > your battery investment and built-in regulators are not suited to charging a > house bank, for example. Different folks will recommend different regulators. > You can spend a lot of money. Balmar and Ample Power make good regulators and > you only have one kind of battery. I'd get the minimum intelligent one. Here > is a 1997 article that I have found educational: > < http://www.amplepower.com/ps_reports/v1-2/index.html > > > Oh, put the regulator in the coolest location possible and I recommend one > that has temperature sensors for both the alternator and the batteries. > > Ron Rogers > > On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 7:43 PM, Harold D. Craft Jr <[email protected]> wrote: > Folks -- I'm seeking some advice on how to proceed with an electrical > problem on my boat, a 1982 Sabre 38, MK I. > > For some reason the alternator/regulator combination on my boat now seems to > want to put 16 +/- volts on the batteries. It seems to regulate nicely, the > voltage is pretty much rpm-independant (at rpms above a slow idle) but is too > high, in my opinion. The regulator has an adjustment that has now been > turned down to minimum voltage which now seems to be the 16V. > > The alternator is a 120 A, 12 V Kenyon alternator which, I suspect, is > original with the boat. As far as I can tell, Kenyon no longer is in > business, so finding a replacement part/regulator seems unlikely. > > This problem seemed to arise with the installation of new (lead-acid) house > batteries to which the Kenyon is dedicated. I suspect that this is not > coincidental, but am at a loss to understand why. > > So -- any advice? Do I really need to use a regulator that is specific for > this alternator, or can I get away with another brand, possibly a smarter > regulator? ( I should know the answer to this, but don't.) > > Many thanks for whatever advice you can provide. Obviously I'm trying to > avoid replacing both the alternator and regulator combination, if at all > possible. > > > Hal Craft > Talisman (Sabre 38, MK 1) > Ithaca, NY/Robinhood, ME > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web > http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here > http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
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