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Old 06-20-2020, 09:27 AM   #1
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Balmar voltage regulator

I have a 2005 Cruisers Yachts 375 Motoryacht that I sail much like a trawler, 8 knots most of the time etc, spend a fair amount of time anchored out. I replaced the original house battery with 6 Trojan T105's wired to give 12 volts. I added a Promariner 2 alt input / 4 bank output smart isolator so I can have Port engine battery / Starboard engine battery (which the Generator is tapped off) Bow and Thruster batteries / House bank (4 banks). The engine / thruster batteries are charged when on shore power by the original Charles charger and the Trojan house bank is charged by a Xantrex charger / inverter. The alternators are standard Mercury Marine 8.1 Horizon installed , 65 amp each I believe. I am curious what a Balmar voltage regulator does and would it be beneficial in my installation. Any help, comments are much appreciated.
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Old 06-20-2020, 10:54 AM   #2
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The one I have allows the alternator to charge like a modern 3 or 4 stage battery charger (recharge the battery bank faster, up to the limits of the alternator output). It's important to understand that a normal alternator regulator adjusts output to match power consumption with some amount flowing to recharge the battery. The Balmar is designed to recharge the battery bank and cover current power consumption. I have a 220 amp alternator. With the Balmar regulator I can be putting close to 200 amps into recharging the battery bank.

You really need to know what you're doing when installing one. As DC high amp failures can be impressive!

Ted
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Old 06-20-2020, 11:13 AM   #3
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Jeff Cote - External voltage regulator video. Jeff has created a 30 episode tutorial on boat electrical, etc. His company Pacific Yacht Systems is highly regarded in BC and Washingon.

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Old 06-20-2020, 11:32 AM   #4
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Any aftermarket external regulator will run the alternator at a higher voltage than the internal built in ones will do. I will point out that the newer internals run at a higher voltage than 20 yrs ago so that too has changed. The externals will hold that voltage higher for longer than the internals also. That gets the batteries recharged faster. Then they back off the voltage to a lower level to allow for the fact that the batteries will not accept that high charge rate at some point without damage.
There is a lot more to it than my simplified explanation. The point is your batteries will be recharged much faster than the stock regulator can do.

THe Balmar also has many adjustments which the internals cannot match. Temp sensors to protect the alternator and the batteries as that high for longer output comes at a cost, HEAT, which can damage the alt. and batteries.

The actual alt. output can be limited so it doesn't go to full output but rather a lower level so even though there is less current it is held much longer so the batteries still benefit with a faster recharge. There are many other adjustments to allow for specific battery types other than the typical wet cells.

This becomes more important for cruisers who stay out longer, anchor more with limited or no dockside power for extended periods where they depend upon the alt. to recharge the batteries.

For a blast out to the fishing grounds or the typical weekender only and then back to the dock plug in for the rest of the week it doesn't have nearly that importance.

I set mine up many years ago with an aftermarket external reg. [[not Balmar as they were not even around]] keeping the stock 60A alt. and it made a LARGE difference in the recharge by the time I got home. We were weekenders mostly with the typical two- three week holiday but that holiday was anchoring a lot and very limited plug in availability. Just that regulator made a big difference. Eventually I went to a more powerfull alt. when we retired and were out for up to two months. I still had to plug in from time to time but FAR, far less.

The Balmars, as OC Diver, points out though are also much more complicated due to all the adjustment available so be sure it will help you before you jump in. There is a STICKY on this forum, electrical section, which will explain a lot more by those who have these units and dug into the setups to get the performance needed.

If you go to Balmars site I remember that you can or could download the manual to bone up on the capabilities.
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Old 06-20-2020, 11:54 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pwesthead View Post
I am curious what a Balmar voltage regulator does and would it be beneficial in my installation. Any help, comments are much appreciated.
The Balmar alternator will not work with your alternators unless you modify them, and I don't recommend doing so. They are designed to work with a high output alternator (Balmar's and others) that has external terminals for the field wiring. Your alternators don't have these and if you modified them to add these, the Balmar alternator would probably burn them out after a while due to heavy continuous load.

So combined with a high output alternator the Balmar regulator provides much more charging than your existing alternators as they have a three step program that ramps up the voltage as the batteries charge up. Your existing alternator has a fixed voltage output.

But whether a Balmar alternator/regulator is useful for you depends on how you use the boat. If you anchor in one spot for a night or two, pull up the anchor and motor to another spot, then the Balmar system will recharge the batteries in a couple of hours while motoring. If you just go out overnight and come back to the dock and plug in to shore power then they won't be very useful.

Many twins owners who want the benefits of faster alternator charging just replace the existing alternator on one engine with a Balmar alternator and regulator.

Tell us how you use the boat and we can comment further.

BTW I really don't like isolators as they have a significant voltage drop which makes the OEM alternators perform even worse at battery charging. A combiner or an ACR is a much better solution.

David
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