How crucial is an alternator?

Simi 60 said:

Reman is remanufactured if I am not mistaken.
Yes, Leece Neville is a good brand but so is Delco Remy and they seem to be a lot more prevalent

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Delco Remy makes a decent alternator for recreational use. Leece Neville large frame alternators are commercial grade with an amp rating for continuous output. You may not need the quality of Leece Neville, but they don't put Delco alternators in high amperage idling applications like firetrucks and EMS vehicles for a reason.

Ted

O C Diver said:

Delco Remy makes a decent alternator for recreational use. Leece Neville large frame alternators are commercial grade with an amp rating for continuous output. You may not need the quality of Leece Neville, but they don't put Delco alternators in high amperage idling applications like firetrucks and EMS vehicles for a reason.

Ted

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I'll just leave this here. (-;

Fire Truck & Emergency Vehicle Alternators

Fire Truck & Emergency Vehicle Alternators | Delco Remy

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Large OTR trucks and coaches frequently use 24V for starting and 12v for house loads.

The simple and reliable Vanner equalizer works seamlessly for this purpose.

Their website has multiple wiring choices to assist hookup.

They work by taking a bit from each 12v batt for a few seconds , so the 12v system is powered

They are expensive new , but so many are in use a recycle yard may have some,

https://vanner.com/battery-equalizers/

Simi 60 said:

I'll just leave this here. (-;

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Ok, guess they finally came out with a commercial grade. The standard J-180 frame that were used to tension belts and standard on the Cummins engines was what I was referring to. Does the one you linked fit your engine?

Ted

O C Diver said:

Ok, guess they finally came out with a commercial grade. The standard J-180 frame that were used to tension belts and standard on the Cummins engines was what I was referring to. Does the one you linked fit your engine?

Ted

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The 24v variant is pad mount so no, not without mods but I don't need a huge alt.

During the day we have 2.5kw of solar doing just fine
Battery storage to get through the night
Genset for occasional rainy days
Worked flawlessly for 4+ years of full time usage

The alt is simp!y there to cover extra loads while doing night passages, an extra 20 amps at most on top of usual house loads it sees every night.

And seeing the issues Woolf is having in this thread , same engine,
https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s6/cummins-n855-alternator-upgrade-55226-new-post.html
I don't want to create another drama fixing a problem that I don't have

If you mostly don't need it, then less than 40 amps 24 volt is probably fine. My single engine boat has 2 alternators on the main engine, one for the engine and 220 amp for the house bank. Twice I had the Sterling external regulator fail (switched to Balmar after the second failure). I have a battery switch that allows me to combine the batteries and the alternators. Originally I wanted redundancy for the start battery. In the regulator failure situations, it allowed me to recharge the house bank each day while cruising. While the 65 amp 12 volt alternator wasn't probably able to completely recharge the bank, it covered operating loads and then some while cruising.

Ted

The DN 50 has been made by Delco for 4-5 decades. Rebuilt cheaper than new.

Would work great with a large inverter as an AC cruise setup as changing engine RPM would no effect AC 60 cps.

They can be had to bolt to PTO , no belts involved.

ww.delcoremy.com › find-by-model-family

The 50DN is designed for transit bus and motor coach applications. Providing 270 amps at 24 volts the 50DN provides plenty of power at low engine speeds.

You can get rid of all electrical if you have a mechanical diesel and one of these:


https://www.springstarter.com/

FF said:

Large OTR trucks and coaches frequently use 24V for starting and 12v for house loads.

The simple and reliable Vanner equalizer works seamlessly for this purpose.

Their website has multiple wiring choices to assist hookup.

They work by taking a bit from each 12v batt for a few seconds , so the 12v system is powered

They are expensive new , but so many are in use a recycle yard may have some,

https://vanner.com/battery-equalizers/

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Many moons ago but I'm pretty sure the ones I used on trucks worked the other way ie default to two 12v batteries in parallel the vast majority time and then provided 24v via a series/parallel relay for the short period that it was needed for starting.

These were very reliable and we actually converted several trucks over that had issues starting on their standard 12v start circuit.

I'm not sure if they are still available as this was decades ago.

kthoennes said:

As long as we're talking about alternators, I haven't been able to find an answer to this question if somebody has a minute. Our twins (Marine Power/GM 454, EFI) both have the original 55 amp alternators.

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In a gasser, make sure you select an ignition protected model. Many diesel engine alternators are not compatible with gasoline/petrol fumes/vapors.

Simi 60 said:

While looking came across this 150 amp model for $3500
Must have golden innards
https://www.keoghsmarine.com.au/mas...l-belt-pulley-multi-fit-mounting-sur-48524150

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Yes it's a bit of an eye-watering price but it's 150amps at 24 volts and that's a 3.6 kilowatt generator/alternator. Mastervolt numbers are normally continuous, whereas the cheap 100amp Delco will dial back to 30amps really quickly to stop itself from over heating. (Actually that's a good thing because the Delco controller will happily overcharge batteries if it continued at 100amps.) The Mastervolt alpha controller is a very smart piece of kit. My Mastervolt will charge at 150amps into my 840AH AGM battery bank until they hit about 750 and then dial back to absorption and then float.

The engine alternator is one of the ways to charge batteries.
Next, the generator and the 3rd, if you have it, solar.
If your battery charger craps out too, hang on tight and head to shore.
Of course if you have solar, you can limp back to port without too much fear. Pray for long sunny days. Of course, cold food (unless you have a gas stove or a gas grill), cold showers (unless the engine heats the water), and no internal lights. Oh yes, limited water unless you have a 12vt water maker and use it only when desperate. Remember the FW system uses a 12 vt pump so hope you have a drain at the bottom of the tank. The 12vt head pump? This is when you wish you had a manual/ electric toilet.

A 120v generator can charge a bat set , but running a 120v charger , unless its huge is a slow way to handle the house set.

Far simpler is a large frame alt with dual belts and 3 or 4 stage V regulator belted from the gen set.

A front PTO may be limited by the motor , best to check with the folks that built the motor.

FF said:

A 120v generator can charge a bat set , but running a 120v charger , unless its huge is a slow way to handle the house set.

Far simpler is a large frame alt with dual belts and 3 or 4 stage V regulator belted from the gen set.

A front PTO may be limited by the motor , best to check with the folks that built the motor.

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Far simpler again, for us, is 2500 watts of solar on the roof, no need to start anything to handle the house bank.

New delco 70amp alt is waiting for us but covid lockdown means we won't see it for a bit yet.
Hoping there will be a spare 24v starter motor with it as well.