External voltage regulators....

[AvalonGB]

We have 2 Balmar MC-614s and a Centerfielder. Been excellent since installed.

 

[DDW]

However, I rather think (opinion) that the more sophisticated regulation provided by the Wakespeed is only marginally better for battery charging.

That depends a little on your particular situation. If you have no house loads, or your house loads are constant and never change, the Balmar can do a pretty good job. On my sailboat I've been OK with them. On the trawler, electronically controlled engine and house load change from 10A to 100A and back frequently. The Balmar does a pretty bad job, can't keep track of what is going on. It is often in float when it should be in bulk, and vice versa. Not really much they can do, given what they have chosen to measure.

 

[Seevee]

Boy, after scanning Scott's post #16, I'm not sure I can handle that additional complication in my life, even if it helps my boat light up the entire marina, make dinner for us and do the laundry. And I've watched a lot of Jeff Cote's videos too, they're great, I love the guy, but I only have so much time in life. I'm installing new alternators this spring. Double pulleys already so that's nice, but the old ones are original to the boat and only 50 amp. I'm going with a relatively simple upgrade to 70 amps, simple swap, same wiring pattern (Marine Power 454's). I'm already wondering about whether I should replace the wiring with something heavier, just for that relatively small amp increase. It never ends. External regulators might be a big improvement, I don't disagree, but at some point I only have so much time and mental capacity to maintain complex systems. I had to figure out the error message lights and repair a Keurig coffee machine at home this week. Even the coffee machine is eating pieces of my life with higher complexity.

KTH,
A lot depends on what you do with your electric and what kind of batteries you have but the external regulators are great for any batteries, but a must for some like the AGMs and LifePo4.


You don't say what you have for batteries but with a boat your size and the "average" use that most trawler folks do, I could argue for at LEAST 200 or more of usable amp hours, and quality externally regulated batteries.


As for alternators, your 70a could be adequate if you don't plan to upgrade your battery bank. However, if you're adding NEW alternators, I could argue strongly to get a larger one.



I recently installed the Balmar 250a alternators with the Balmar 618 external regulators. Previous boat had teh Balmar 614 and worked flawless and was not hard to install.


However, if one is not familiar, I could argue to just hire an electrician and have them install this stuff.... not really too hard.

 

[AKDoug]

I have a 600 series Balmar 100 amp alternator and the simple AR-5 external regulator, it does everything that I care about despite the MC-614 being more capable. Flawless for the past nine years, and easy to install and program for a "non electrical" guy.

I have 400+ amp hours in my main bank and typically am topped off in under two hours of run time. I got six years out of my Lifeline AGM's and currently have two years on my second set, the batteries acted fine after six years but my Webasto heater is voltage sensitive and would fault "low voltage" despite everything else on the boat working just fine.

I am fairly steady DC usage, never plug into shore power, and I do mean never! Refrigerator, stereo, 40 quart freezer, heater, toilet, and full house electronics for navigation. No generator, though I carried one for a few years and discovered I never used it.

 

[FF]

"I carried one for a few years and discovered I never used it."

For folks that do not require air cond 24/7 this is common.

The multiple battery power tools take care of most on board tasks .

 

[DDW]

I have 400+ amp hours in my main bank and typically am topped off in under two hours of run time.

How do you know it was topped off?

This is the weakness of the Balmar. It will almost never run in absorb until the batteries are topped off. If you run another 4 hours they will get topped off anyway, by the brute force method. According the Lifeline, "topped off" is defined as a charge current <0.5% C at absorb voltage, for 400 AH that is 2A charge @ 14.4V. In a boat with a refrigerator, freezer, heater, etc., this amount of current is well below the noise level, there is no way the Balmar can see it (and it doesn't).

The Balmar were, and are, OK regulators. But not the best anymore. 6 years on Lifelines is an early grave for them.

 

[AKDoug]

I monitor the AR-5 and watch it drop from Bulk to Absorb and how much time it takes, and then monitor that it drops into Float after I drop my load when I put down the hook. My battery monitor agrees with the AR-5 that they are topped off.