Delco Sentry Gold

[starfish62]

Bought a boat yesterday and am finding some interesting things hidden away in places. There was a beautiful alternator, a Delco "Sentry Gold" with a huge fan and big pulley. Can't find out anything about a "Sentry Gold," and there is nothing on the case that I can interpret to indicate amps. It certainly looks like a 100+ amp alternator, and it's a heavy rascal, but I don't know how to find out anything about the reference #.
Any help?

[GordMay]

What other numbers show up on the case, nameplate?

I presume you’ve searched the Delco-Remy site?
Delco Remy
Remy Inc.

U.S. & Canada toll free: 1-800-372-0222

[starfish62]

Hey Gord,
I'll write the numbers down off the casing while I'm over there today. Someone bought two new 8D's and just wired them into the system with both batteries in series back to a "1-2-All" switch common, instead of separating the frigging batteries. They apparently didn't wire the charge circuit back to the common on the house switch, as the two 8D's were down to 9.26 volts (fully discharged), though the shore power charger was putting out amps. I put a hygrometer on them and all of the cells were okay, so I put a trickle charger on them yesterday and they were taking 20 amps initially, then banked down to about 13 over 4 hours or so. They were up to 14.4 volts, so I'm hoping they aren't hurt (electrolyte level was good in all cells). They're NAPA deep cycle batteries, so they're pretty good basic units, and at $200 a pop I'm hoping to get them happy.

At any rate, when I go back to the boat to check on the batteries and charge up the start batts, I'll write the casing #'s down. This is a REALLY pretty alternator. I'm pretty sure it's 125 amps or better, and it's brand spanking new, so I'm stoked. There's a 50-amp Delco on the block now, so I'll keep that as the backup and mount the big one for life on the hook. Just trying to figure out what it is before I bolt it on.

Thanks for the links. I'll surf more when I get back. I was hoping maybe someone had one on their boat and could opine.

[Rick]

When you identify the part number of your alternator keep in mind that it is most likely an internally regulated one. If it is externally regulated so much the better in driving it with a 3-step regulator for your batteries.

If it is internally regulated the Delco stated charge current will not be realized for a time sufficiently long to properly recover a deeply discharged battery. The internally regulated high current alternators are designed to deliver the current at a nominal "12V" and do not deliver a requisite 14.4V. If you convert the alternator be externally regulated ("P" type) then you will realize a good performance with a 3-step regulator.

[hellosailor]

Starfish, Delco products can be "AC Delco" or "Delco Remy" as a result of the splits/mergers in the parent companies over the years. Some of the AC Delco alternators have a gold rear cover so that may be your part.

AC Delco Alternators:
Alternators | Starters and Alternators | Parts | ACDelco

Best bet? Call both companies, they both answer calls from the public and provide OUTSTANDING customer service. Write down whatever numbers you can. Take a digital pic if you can, sometimes it helps to eyeball a match even if that's via email.

Before you belt it up...find out the amperage and check the belt. Single V-belts can only handle about 80-90A service, it is very easy to put in too much alternator. And unless the alternator was designed for marine service or had a conversion kit installed--it may not have adequate cooling (dual fans) for full power service, and may not be ignition protected against sparking.

Both the Delco companies have built great products, and a few dogs. But overall I like Delco--they answer the phone and provide tech info and say "Thank you for buying our stuff!" unlike a lot of other companies.

[starfish62]

Got some numbers off of the rig. It's a Delco Remy, and there's a gold label on it proclaiming it to be a "Sentry Gold." The numbers on the label are: 8140-8 H8 NI-260. Behind the Delco Remy there is "6F." Anyone have a clue how to read this stuff?

I'll make some calls tomorrow, I guess, and try to figure out what I've got here.

[hellosailor]

Sounds like those numbers belong to a remanufacturer, they don't match up to anything in the Delco-Remy catalog. (Typically a 7-8 digit plain numeric model number.)

[starfish62]

Might be a reman. It looks brand new.

[hellosailor]

A real remanufactured unit WILL look brand new. Delco goes into that on their web site, emphasizing that a "rebuild" means someone took a broken unit and fixed something on it, but "remanufactured" means it was stripped down to the bare frame, and reassembled 100% from components that were each individually tested and found to be within operating spec, or replaced. And that would include stripping and refinishing the frame and covers (or replacing the covers) so that the whole thing does indeed look perfectly new.

I have no idea if this definition has industry-wide status or what, I've just heard it from a couple of companies that proudly say they don't "rebuild", they remanufacture.