Thanks for this video Ryan. I have the same 80A alternator on my Yanmar as well with 400AH of AGM house battery capacity. The output of the alternator is mostly a function of the state of charge of the battery which is sensed by the voltage regulator. After letting my batteries get down to about 70%, I ran the engine at 1200 RPM and measured the alternator charging the batteries with 66 amps. Sure enough, this decreased as the battery voltage and SOC increased. When my AGM batteries need to be replaced, I will need to decide what to do (AGM vs. Lithium). If I go to Lithium, I will probably need to make the investment on a new alternator and voltage regulator to deal with the heat issue. As you pointed out, it is an expensive upgrade indeed. I mention all of this only because in the video, you said the alternator charges at something like 30% of its rating. I believe this depends on the state of charge of the batteries.
Love your tech talks Ryan. I don't even own a boat, but I always geek out on how things work. Your explanations are always concise and easy to understand. I look forward to more videos form you.
That was great Ryan, clear, understandable (even to ME), funny in parts and you looked as if you were enjoying it. Best tec talk yet, nice to see Sophie too (even if it was only for a moment.
This is amazing! Super clear and concise. We use Balmar regulators with a centerfielder but it is great to know there are other good options out there. Great job you guys, keep it up!!
This is a very useful video for me as I am going through the very beginning stages of planning to live aboard. It helps me look at an older boat and see $3500 - $5000 to modernize the alternator infrastructure exclusive of batteries, solar, etc. Setting spending expectations.
Great job Ryan. I have attended Nigel’s lecture. I have to say that your video and illustrations truly helped me to understand this concept of inefficient alternators. One of the appeals to sailing is the sustainability of wind power to propel the boat. To inefficiently utilitize engine/alternator output simply detracts from the environmental friendly appeal of sailing. Thank-you and well done! I look forward to more content in the future.
It was an awesome video don’t apologize for the pace of it being slow you taught me a lot and I’m sure others as well. In fact because of this video I became a subscriber. Happy sailing
Hi ,Glad to see you so inspired over the up grade of your charging system ,the banter in the back ground , WHAT , JUST say yes my dear and carry on talking ,should you be heckled again ,just say man was only put on this planet ,so every day he is here to advance his way through life and make your life better for you my dear .Get ready to Duck .Well explained Ryan and a lot of boaters will learn a lot of knowledge from this . Another well thought out video , I have enjoyed your trip from the start and Sophie got her way on the design of your stainless steel frame work in Spain .Keep it up and thanks for the video .
Well, there’s another fifteen minutes of my life that i don’t want back 👍. Great video, thanks for producing and for your research into Balmar alternatives.
Wow Ryan, I thought Sophie was the personality on this channel :). This was great. It not only was well thought out with great content, but it was well presented. Great job.
I enjoy your channel. Your interactions with each other is entertaining. As one who has given a lot of technical lectures I applaud your presentation on charging systems. It was well thought out and well presented. Keep up the good work.
Hi Ryan, Thanks for your very informative tutorials. We are on a boat just across from you in Antigua with 7 dead AGMs. Rather than trying to replace them here we are glued to the dock with our yellow docklines/power cable. Will haul tomorrow and head home to design something new. We are using your intel to design a new electrical system with Lithiums. Nice to bump into you. And Happy birthday! Cheers, Glen Blue Pearl
Love your videos! From what I know, if a lithium ion battery starts burning, there's no way to control that and it will eventually burn the boat to the ground (well... to the water). So a serious one... what would you guys do in the unlikely event of your lithium ion battery combusts?
Love the banter over cost (In times of high load to prop like in a storm I would guess the change can be turned off so more power can push the boat) is this correct ?
Get rid of you feathering propeller & put a pulley on your shaft that goes to your propeller. Then connect a 200 amp alternator to it. So that it will work while you are sailing & your engine is off but in neutral & the prop is turning. Put another high output alternator on your engine that will work on demand. Another good idea for sailing is to put saildrive in front of your keel is say where the mast is. Place a vertical axis wind turbine on top of the mast. Attach the vertical axis turbine to a shaft straight down to the saildrive system. This way you can put it un neutral, reverse & forward when needed & can sail straight into the wind or any direction as long as there is wind.
Great explanation on how alternators work. I’m no marine mechanic, but I’ve been turning wrenches to keep a roof over our heads for >25 years. I saw a setup in a picture once that looked like an alternator connected to the propeller shaft off the back of the engine. I have often wondered what happens with the propeller while under sail? I’d imagine that unless the blades of the prop could collapse, that it would naturally want to spin to reduce drag. I have no idea what rpm a prop shaft would spin at while under sail at a specific speed, but I’m certain it could be calculated and an overdrive pulley system be used to speed up an alternator sufficiently to produce current at a cost of .5 to 1 knot of speed. Just a thought.
Just 'Liking' and 'Commenting'. Trust y'all OK. :-) And.... noticing how Ryan is getting more comfy in front of the camera, it's almost as fun watching him as it is watching Sophie ( ALMOST !)
For me, that was your best instructional one ... Clear, flowing, to the point, interesting (not to mention you actually looked - dare I say - happy! ... No mean achievement these days!!). [I couldn't help noticing you had a painful looking, raw, lip sore. For ulcers and such, I have found something called "Kenalog" works magic! Comes in a tiny tube; dab it on; it's like a paste. It forms a barrier between eating and drinking which just irritates them. Best applying at night. They disappear in no time with it. Suggestion for First-Aid kit, but don't forget it's there. And, no, of course, I have no shares, interest, or such ... truly! Just handy to know, cos it works wonders].
Hey Ryan Could you do a 1 or 2 year review on your solar and more importantly the Alternator set up that you have. Looking to upgrade our Yanmar and want to know if your happy and what you might do differently today. Derek sv Sandii
Hi Ryan, sorry missed it but what alternator did you go for. I spoke to Belmar but they don't generators with no internal rectifier, and I assume you need this as yours is external? Perry
Do you have any information on the external rectifier? Why are they so rare? How many amps will yours handle? Did you completely remove the rectifier from the alternator, or does this unit supplement the one in the alternator? I suspect that people install big alternators and then the temperature sensors dumb them down, so it would seem that the rectifier is the way to go. I am thinking, though, to go with the Mastervolt Alpha Pro III.
Ryan, I'm a new-comer to your channel and am enjoying it and learning a lot. Thanks to you and Sophie! In this video, I was really surprised to hear that you used your engine for 90 hours during your East to West Atlantic crossing. Your boat's fuel tankage is, what, 53 gallons? Did you get a fuel bladder? How did you handle the fuel demand?
I would have loved to see you try a permanent magnet alternator, there are some good ones out there for trucks (24v) , they are a lot more efficient and for less than $1k.
Interesting, but I wonder about having a big permanent magnet near my compass and flux gate compass. Would it cause interference. I can't move my engine away from the helm position.
@@philgray1023 shielding is an option if interference is an issue, a electrically exited alternator also generates a field when working so if you have one now and have no problems, this should be ok.
Hi Ryan and Sophie - I also own an Oceanis 40 and I am about to start a alternator / inverter / lithium battery upgrade project - but will most likely go with a 48v alternator / lithium bank with a dc-to-dc charger to the existing 12v system onboard (to pull this off on a relatively small engine, I will be using a programmable alternator regulator/controller which will adjust the alternator load depending on the RPM on the engine in addition to the alternator temperature and battery charge level etc..) - I have been waiting for your alternator upgrade install video, but in the meantime I wanted to check what brand / model of mounting you are using on the Yanmar engine ? Cheers Lars ('Lady Marmalade' - Dubai Offshore Sailing Club)
I absolutely love these tech videos extremely interesring and detailed. If your ever in isla mujeres, Mexico near cancun we would love to meet up with you help you anyway we can.
I'm curious if you had to run new larger gauge wiring. I am considering installing an alternator with double the output, but the 0/1 gauge wiring needed will be very difficult to route where it needs to go.
I had wind turbine, solar, and high amp alternator on my boat, and the best bang for the buck is the high amp alternator. I dedicate the wind generator to refrigeration with it's own isolated battery. The solar supplements the house batteries and I run the engine an hour a day to keep up.
Cost wise I think the small generatot would be cheaper. But then you have another engine to service and you need to keep petrol on board, which I'm trying to avoid.
Can you also get an alternator that will produce 110 V AC current at the same time current going through the rectifier to produce 12 V DC current. This would give you the advantage of using 110 V AC appliances while you’re underway without using the inverter off your batteries.
Hi I cannot find your ocean planet energy link anywhere could you please point it out which parts I need to order I have the same motor and need to upgrade my alternators as I also have Lithium batteries.
Ryan, what size of DC-DC do you use? Do you still have the same setup as before, meaning alternator to starter battery then to DC-DC convertor, then to your lithium?
Hello. I have switched up my system now. I removed the sterling B2B and added a victron 18amp B2B. The alternator now charges the lithium then charges the starter battery from the b2b. So its opposite of my last setup. Ryan
is there the possibility of a clutch arrangement to use the prop shaft to keep the alternator spinning for regen but disabling the serpentine so there aren't the pumping losses from the engine? (spinning the alternator with wind rather than the expense of fuel + engine hours. Or is that hitting so far off the payback curve when you have a diesel it's like buying '$80 solar powered phone battery to avoid the expense of plugging into the house AC for $1 of bulk electricity over the device lifetime")
We have a folding prop so i dont think that will work very well. There are some other issues with it as well. Maybe i do a blog post about thatsoon. Ryan
Great video. Question: do you still have a normal lead acid battery, and how is the charge from the alternator diversed to either your lithium bank or your starter battery?
I have been informera that runnning your main envise for charging the batteries with the alternator is harmfull to the main engine in the long run. You have any comments on this.
When you've had a failed regulator cook a new $425 battery and almost cost you your boat, any, and all of this is of interest. I looked at the aqua generator route and expensive was the word that blotted out anything the sales person said after blah, blah, $😕😕😕😕. The wind gen, well ours is not cheap, but it is quiet. However at 30 knots it does vibrate the aft cabin. Hoping my latest overhaul has fixed that. But honestly the wind is a fickle mistress. It's a lot of money for not many amps.
@@RyanSophieSailing thanks Ryan. Do you find that the voltage set point fully charges the batteries, or do you prefer to be a little short of “full” to maximize cycles? Thanks for the feedback. Just wrapping up an identical install on a Jenneau (MG alt with WS 500) with older Genasun 720 ah battery bank. Cheers to you both.
Your alternater needa a voltage to start up... If you want efficient power So you still need some sort of start power Also, you can get a small handheld geni
With lithium batteries, when a battery becomes fully charged, the battery maintenance system (BMS) can disconnect the battery in order to protect the battery from overcharging. The resulting sudden loss of a load on the alternator output can cause a voltage spike, blowing out the alternator's diodes. Is this a concern with your system? Does your rectifier/regulator prevent this? Great video.
Hi Jim, need to break this question down a little. First, in normal battery operations the BMS will not 'kick in' when the batteries are full the charging source will stop charging or go in to a different charging mode based on voltage. In an abnormal situation and the BMS kicks in you are correct that this situation can cause major problems to the alternator... Its important to note that this problem can happen with any type of battery type. If someone shuts the flow to the batteries from the alternator bad things can happen. A few things to get around this. Sterling Power has a Alternator Protection device which is suppose to avoid this situation. The other option is to have the alternator charge the lead acid starter battery and then through a B2B charger charge the lithiums. This way if the BMS kicks in nothing happens to the alternator. Hope this help! Ryan
Spending the money for alternators it's been a good provider for the boat. About 4 years ago when I did a lot selling I just regret a switch and ran the alternator full on stator and kept watch of it. My favorite saying when I was told this isn't a bad life only if the boat was a little more bigger I paused and told my loving girlfriend what's next Linda?
Great video! I did an upgrade on my Yanmar 54 hp with a 120 amp alternator, external regulator and a belt & pulley system, also. One thing I immediately noticed was the effect on the tachometer reading. Our engine at 2800 rpm reads 3600 on the tach. Did this happen to you, too?
Yes... the tach on the yanmars gets its information from the pulse count from the alternator. Because you have a different pulley ratio the tach will be off. I can't remember off the top of my head but it think you take the small pulley (alternator)diameter by the crank shaft diameter. I think ours was like 16.1 or something. Don't quote me on this. You can pregame the new ratio in to the tach display. I think there is a manual online... was not to tricky. Our issue is the fact that when the field current dials back the track just stops working. Not a lot i can do about that. Hope this helps. Ryan
Ryan, did you explain to Sophie that she can run her hair drier for longer while making coffee on an espresso machine and her coq au vin is cooking in an induction stove on a cloudy day? 🙂👍 oooops! Forgot you don’t have an induction stove, Yet! Or an espresso machine.
![WATCH THIS before installing lithium batteries on your sailboat ⚡ [RYAN'S TECH CORNER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vraRhNpEWcE/mqdefault.jpg)
Such a good video guys! Literally saved me hours of research!
Inverter gas genset and a charger makes more sense to me. What a kwinkydink to see you here!
Thanks for this video Ryan. I have the same 80A alternator on my Yanmar as well with 400AH of AGM house battery capacity. The output of the alternator is mostly a function of the state of charge of the battery which is sensed by the voltage regulator. After letting my batteries get down to about 70%, I ran the engine at 1200 RPM and measured the alternator charging the batteries with 66 amps. Sure enough, this decreased as the battery voltage and SOC increased. When my AGM batteries need to be replaced, I will need to decide what to do (AGM vs. Lithium). If I go to Lithium, I will probably need to make the investment on a new alternator and voltage regulator to deal with the heat issue. As you pointed out, it is an expensive upgrade indeed. I mention all of this only because in the video, you said the alternator charges at something like 30% of its rating. I believe this depends on the state of charge of the batteries.
These tech videos are great! Much needed information that you don't see a lot of sailing channels making. Appreciate it!
Second this comment, Wonderful content. It makes the technically minded side of me happy. Thanks.
Great informative video. Thanks so much. I have a much clearer plan for my upgrade now. 🙏
Well done money well spent
Love your tech talks Ryan. I don't even own a boat, but I always geek out on how things work. Your explanations are always concise and easy to understand. I look forward to more videos form you.
Thanks
you are very good at this, I am learning, after 20,000 miles, stuff I didn't know. Thanks.
Great video, immensely clear. Loved Sophie's commentaries.
Thorough, concise and most appreciated, Thanks!
Love the in depth discussion.
That was great Ryan, clear, understandable (even to ME), funny in parts and you looked as if you were enjoying it. Best tec talk yet, nice to see Sophie too (even if it was only for a moment.
This is amazing! Super clear and concise. We use Balmar regulators with a centerfielder but it is great to know there are other good options out there. Great job you guys, keep it up!!
Thanks guys! Time for your upgrade ;) Ryan
Very comprehensive. Thanks a lot. Have a great journey back to your boat.
Beautifully explained. Well done Ryan
Glad you liked it!
This is a very useful video for me as I am going through the very beginning stages of planning to live aboard. It helps me look at an older boat and see $3500 - $5000 to modernize the alternator infrastructure exclusive of batteries, solar, etc. Setting spending expectations.
Great job Ryan. I have attended Nigel’s lecture. I have to say that your video and illustrations truly helped me to understand this concept of inefficient alternators. One of the appeals to sailing is the sustainability of wind power to propel the boat. To inefficiently utilitize engine/alternator output simply detracts from the environmental friendly appeal of sailing. Thank-you and well done! I look forward to more content in the future.
This is really great to hear. Glad you enjoyed. Ryan
It was an awesome video don’t apologize for the pace of it being slow you taught me a lot and I’m sure others as well. In fact because of this video I became a subscriber. Happy sailing
I can see a lot of work putting your vids together. So thank you for that.
Excellent video, a good primer for anyone contemplating a swap..... thx, Andrew
Great decision incorporating the Wakespeed 500 controller!
Hi ,Glad to see you so inspired over the up grade of your charging system ,the banter in the back ground , WHAT , JUST say yes my dear and carry on talking ,should you be heckled again ,just say man was only put on this planet ,so every day he is here to advance his way through life and make your life better for you my dear .Get ready to Duck .Well explained Ryan and a lot of boaters will learn a lot of knowledge from this . Another well thought out video , I have enjoyed your trip from the start and Sophie got her way on the design of your stainless steel frame work in Spain .Keep it up and thanks for the video .
Well, there’s another fifteen minutes of my life that i don’t want back 👍. Great video, thanks for producing and for your research into Balmar alternatives.
Thanks guys!
Wow Ryan, I thought Sophie was the personality on this channel :). This was great. It not only was well thought out with great content, but it was well presented. Great job.
I appreciate your simple thorough explanation easily understood by any layman. Thank you.
I like all your tech videos you keep it so everybody understands
Thanks, this may save battery bank issues as well. Great explainations!
And again a instructive reasonable techtalk - thanks!
Thank you for your video - it was worth the time. :)
I enjoy your channel. Your interactions with each other is entertaining. As one who has given a lot of technical lectures I applaud your presentation on charging systems. It was well thought out and well presented. Keep up the good work.
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for your very informative tutorials. We are on a boat just across from you in Antigua with 7 dead AGMs. Rather than trying to replace them here we are glued to the dock with our yellow docklines/power cable. Will haul tomorrow and head home to design something new. We are using your intel to design a new electrical system with Lithiums.
Nice to bump into you. And Happy birthday!
Cheers,
Glen
Blue Pearl
Great video! Thanks Ryan!
Thanks, Ryan. You've nailed it again!
excellent video, very informable...tks
Just fantastic! Thank you for this mate.
Love your videos! From what I know, if a lithium ion battery starts burning, there's no way to control that and it will eventually burn the boat to the ground (well... to the water). So a serious one... what would you guys do in the unlikely event of your lithium ion battery combusts?
Love the banter over cost (In times of high load to prop like in a storm I would guess the change can be turned off so more power can push the boat) is this correct ?
Very good information.
Very helpful, thanks.
Ryan's tech corner, Sophie's director cut, that's a great useful video, i'd like to add also my compliments! My dears, Fair Winds ;-)
Thanks guys, great advice!
Awesome video, really well laid out. Nice work!
Great video!
Get rid of you feathering propeller & put a pulley on your shaft that goes to your propeller. Then connect a 200 amp alternator to it. So that it will work while you are sailing & your engine is off but in neutral & the prop is turning. Put another high output alternator on your engine that will work on demand. Another good idea for sailing is to put saildrive in front of your keel is say where the mast is. Place a vertical axis wind turbine on top of the mast. Attach the vertical axis turbine to a shaft straight down to the saildrive system. This way you can put it un neutral, reverse & forward when needed & can sail straight into the wind or any direction as long as there is wind.
great video. really helpful.
Great explanation on how alternators work. I’m no marine mechanic, but I’ve been turning wrenches to keep a roof over our heads for >25 years. I saw a setup in a picture once that looked like an alternator connected to the propeller shaft off the back of the engine. I have often wondered what happens with the propeller while under sail? I’d imagine that unless the blades of the prop could collapse, that it would naturally want to spin to reduce drag. I have no idea what rpm a prop shaft would spin at while under sail at a specific speed, but I’m certain it could be calculated and an overdrive pulley system be used to speed up an alternator sufficiently to produce current at a cost of .5 to 1 knot of speed. Just a thought.
Thanks Ryan! I think we need to service our alternator now..
That was an excellent presentation.
totally excellent video. Im praying you guys get back to polarseal asap
Just 'Liking' and 'Commenting'. Trust y'all OK. :-) And.... noticing how Ryan is getting more comfy in front of the camera, it's almost as fun watching him as it is watching Sophie ( ALMOST !)
Learned a lot. Time for a turbo. :)
That was really interesting. Learning a lot. Thanks
omg you have the calder book too! so cool
For me, that was your best instructional one ... Clear, flowing, to the point, interesting (not to mention you actually looked - dare I say - happy! ... No mean achievement these days!!).
[I couldn't help noticing you had a painful looking, raw, lip sore. For ulcers and such, I have found something called "Kenalog" works magic! Comes in a tiny tube; dab it on; it's like a paste. It forms a barrier between eating and drinking which just irritates them. Best applying at night. They disappear in no time with it. Suggestion for First-Aid kit, but don't forget it's there. And, no, of course, I have no shares, interest, or such ... truly! Just handy to know, cos it works wonders].
Very good knowledge video
Well done, TY!!
Man great explanation. Nice video.
So how long did it take to charge your batteries with the new setup?
How did the alternator expense compare to the bar bill?
Hey Ryan
Could you do a 1 or 2 year review on your solar and more importantly the Alternator set up that you have. Looking to upgrade our Yanmar and want to know if your happy and what you might do differently today.
Derek sv Sandii
Great info, and the language used to explain makes it simple to understand. You guys need to get back in the water.
Really useful, thank you!
Hi Ryan, sorry missed it but what alternator did you go for. I spoke to Belmar but they don't generators with no internal rectifier, and I assume you need this as yours is external? Perry
Do you have any information on the external rectifier? Why are they so rare? How many amps will yours handle? Did you completely remove the rectifier from the alternator, or does this unit supplement the one in the alternator? I suspect that people install big alternators and then the temperature sensors dumb them down, so it would seem that the rectifier is the way to go. I am thinking, though, to go with the Mastervolt Alpha Pro III.
Excellent...
Ryan, I'm a new-comer to your channel and am enjoying it and learning a lot. Thanks to you and Sophie! In this video, I was really surprised to hear that you used your engine for 90 hours during your East to West Atlantic crossing. Your boat's fuel tankage is, what, 53 gallons? Did you get a fuel bladder? How did you handle the fuel demand?
No. We have 250lt on board and burn about 1.8 an hour. So yes, we used a lot of fuel but no bladers needed... though we were very low on fuel.
I would have loved to see you try a permanent magnet alternator, there are some good ones out there for trucks (24v) , they are a lot more efficient and for less than $1k.
Interesting, but I wonder about having a big permanent magnet near my compass and flux gate compass. Would it cause interference. I can't move my engine away from the helm position.
@@philgray1023 shielding is an option if interference is an issue, a electrically exited alternator also generates a field when working so if you have one now and have no problems, this should be ok.
Hi Ryan and Sophie - I also own an Oceanis 40 and I am about to start a alternator / inverter / lithium battery upgrade project - but will most likely go with a 48v alternator / lithium bank with a dc-to-dc charger to the existing 12v system onboard (to pull this off on a relatively small engine, I will be using a programmable alternator regulator/controller which will adjust the alternator load depending on the RPM on the engine in addition to the alternator temperature and battery charge level etc..) - I have been waiting for your alternator upgrade install video, but in the meantime I wanted to check what brand / model of mounting you are using on the Yanmar engine ? Cheers Lars ('Lady Marmalade' - Dubai Offshore Sailing Club)
Very nice. Thank you.
I absolutely love these tech videos extremely interesring and detailed. If your ever in isla mujeres, Mexico near cancun we would love to meet up with you help you anyway we can.
Great detail...
yea guys if you have a lithium setup go with a secomdary alternator amd a wakespeed charge comtroller. its the best combo.
Do y’all have a DC air conditioner?
I'm curious if you had to run new larger gauge wiring. I am considering installing an alternator with double the output, but the 0/1 gauge wiring needed will be very difficult to route where it needs to go.
I did... at least through the part of the system that needed it. If the big wire is too thick you could run two smaller wires. Ryan
I had wind turbine, solar, and high amp alternator on my boat, and the best bang for the buck is the high amp alternator. I dedicate the wind generator to refrigeration with it's own isolated battery. The solar supplements the house batteries and I run the engine an hour a day to keep up.
I Agree Mike, though i do prefer solar. Ryan
I wonder at what point it's worth having a smaller secondary Honda petrol generator
Cost wise I think the small generatot would be cheaper. But then you have another engine to service and you need to keep petrol on board, which I'm trying to avoid.
Interesting ryan
Look into marine vertical wind turbines. Quiter and takes up less space.
That's a very clean engine! How did that happen?
Can you also get an alternator that will produce 110 V AC current at the same time current going through the rectifier to produce 12 V DC current. This would give you the advantage of using 110 V AC appliances while you’re underway without using the inverter off your batteries.
Hi Ryan ! It's a year after this video was posted. How has this series of upgrades preformed ?
Hi I cannot find your ocean planet energy link anywhere could you please point it out which parts I need to order I have the same motor and need to upgrade my alternators as I also have Lithium batteries.
I'm not a sailor, but really enjoy your videos. Don't most boats like this come with separate Generators?
No. Maybe on larger boats.
And maximizing the output from the alternator would always be preferred. One less machine to maintain. -->> COMPLEXITY!
Ryan, what size of DC-DC do you use? Do you still have the same setup as before, meaning alternator to starter battery then to DC-DC convertor, then to your lithium?
Hello. I have switched up my system now. I removed the sterling B2B and added a victron 18amp B2B. The alternator now charges the lithium then charges the starter battery from the b2b. So its opposite of my last setup. Ryan
Great video. What kind of the engine you are using?
Yanmar, 3JH4E
Great vid, too bad for the commercials in it, except for that one singing "Dreaaaams are not reality" just after you said "when we buy a cat" 😂
No way?!!!! 🤣🤣🤣 that was hilarious!
is there the possibility of a clutch arrangement to use the prop shaft to keep the alternator spinning for regen but disabling the serpentine so there aren't the pumping losses from the engine? (spinning the alternator with wind rather than the expense of fuel + engine hours. Or is that hitting so far off the payback curve when you have a diesel it's like buying '$80 solar powered phone battery to avoid the expense of plugging into the house AC for $1 of bulk electricity over the device lifetime")
We have a folding prop so i dont think that will work very well. There are some other issues with it as well. Maybe i do a blog post about thatsoon. Ryan
Great video. Question: do you still have a normal lead acid battery, and how is the charge from the alternator diversed to either your lithium bank or your starter battery?
Yes, we have SLA for the starter and bow thrusters. Ryan
I have been informera that runnning your main envise for charging the batteries with the alternator is harmfull to the main engine in the long run. You have any comments on this.
When you've had a failed regulator cook a new $425 battery and almost cost you your boat, any, and all of this is of interest. I looked at the aqua generator route and expensive was the word that blotted out anything the sales person said after blah, blah, $😕😕😕😕. The wind gen, well ours is not cheap, but it is quiet. However at 30 knots it does vibrate the aft cabin. Hoping my latest overhaul has fixed that. But honestly the wind is a fickle mistress. It's a lot of money for not many amps.
Thanks for the great video. Can I ask what is your voltage ceiling on the regulator 14.3 or higher?
I have everything in my charging system set to 14.2. I could go to 14.4 but i'm trying to increase the life of the batteries a bit. Ryan
@@RyanSophieSailing thanks Ryan. Do you find that the voltage set point fully charges the batteries, or do you prefer to be a little short of “full” to maximize cycles? Thanks for the feedback. Just wrapping up an identical install on a Jenneau (MG alt with WS 500) with older Genasun 720 ah battery bank. Cheers to you both.
Your alternater needa a voltage to start up... If you want efficient power
So you still need some sort of start power
Also, you can get a small handheld geni
With lithium batteries, when a battery becomes fully charged, the battery maintenance system (BMS) can disconnect the battery in order to protect the battery from overcharging. The resulting sudden loss of a load on the alternator output can cause a voltage spike, blowing out the alternator's diodes. Is this a concern with your system? Does your rectifier/regulator prevent this? Great video.
Hi Jim, need to break this question down a little. First, in normal battery operations the BMS will not 'kick in' when the batteries are full the charging source will stop charging or go in to a different charging mode based on voltage. In an abnormal situation and the BMS kicks in you are correct that this situation can cause major problems to the alternator... Its important to note that this problem can happen with any type of battery type. If someone shuts the flow to the batteries from the alternator bad things can happen.
A few things to get around this. Sterling Power has a Alternator Protection device which is suppose to avoid this situation. The other option is to have the alternator charge the lead acid starter battery and then through a B2B charger charge the lithiums. This way if the BMS kicks in nothing happens to the alternator.
Hope this help!
Ryan
@@RyanSophieSailing Thanks! Something we must remember - don't turn the battery selector switch to OFF when the engine is running!
Spending the money for alternators it's been a good provider for the boat. About 4 years ago when I did a lot selling I just regret a switch and ran the alternator full on stator and kept watch of it. My favorite saying when I was told this isn't a bad life only if the boat was a little more bigger I paused and told my loving girlfriend what's next Linda?
Great video!
I did an upgrade on my Yanmar 54 hp with a 120 amp alternator, external regulator and a belt & pulley system, also. One thing I immediately noticed was the effect on the tachometer reading. Our engine at 2800 rpm reads 3600 on the tach. Did this happen to you, too?
Yes... the tach on the yanmars gets its information from the pulse count from the alternator. Because you have a different pulley ratio the tach will be off. I can't remember off the top of my head but it think you take the small pulley (alternator)diameter by the crank shaft diameter. I think ours was like 16.1 or something. Don't quote me on this. You can pregame the new ratio in to the tach display. I think there is a manual online... was not to tricky.
Our issue is the fact that when the field current dials back the track just stops working. Not a lot i can do about that. Hope this helps.
Ryan
@@RyanSophieSailing THANKS!
When I run out of cooking fuel, I can always make an omelet on the Balmar. Nice.
Ryan, did you explain to Sophie that she can run her hair drier for longer while making coffee on an espresso machine and her coq au vin is cooking in an induction stove on a cloudy day? 🙂👍 oooops! Forgot you don’t have an induction stove, Yet! Or an espresso machine.
I may be able to explain the need for coq au vin while crusing.
Thanks for sharing guys. Are you in Curacao? Best wishes to you.
Not yet, but hopfully soon! Ryan
my car came stock with a lithium battery from factory. not a problem at all charging it.