To much voltage an amps

[Basil]

Hi
I have had to replace my old alternator with an identical one from the manafacture. (Beta Marine 60hp) alternator is 120 amp
I have a Balmar 614 regulator also fitted, I have converted the alternator to external regulator with the use of a factory supplied brush box.

On running up the unit I am now getting up to 110 amps an upwards of 15.8volts,
The batteries are around 560amp in total an are near fully charged.

I have tried to get the balmar regulator unit to prevent this high load but with no success.
Can any one assist please with ideas.

Regards
Phil

[Paul L]

You can reduce the max amp output by setting the belt manger value on the Balmar. This keeps the amps down so as to put less strain on the belt.
The max voltage should depend on the battery model you chose when setting up the Balmar.

[john61ct]

Unless the regulator is broken.

Have you read the manual?

Also
https://marinehowto.com/programming-...age-regulator/

[mickt243]

Wind back the voltage to something far more sensible like 14.2 and the current will drop....

[transmitterdan]

Basil,

Are you measuring the voltage at the batteries? If so, it sounds like something is not wired or programmed correctly. The regulator has a battery sense wire that will prevent the battery voltage going so high. If the sense wire is connected correctly what voltage does the regulator report on the digital display? If it reports almost the same high voltage maybe the regulator is not programmed correctly. Or perhaps the field wire to the alternator is not wired correctly.

[tanglewood]

It does sound like something isn't wired correctly, and you are getting full field and full alternator output. This assumes your Balmar is still programmed correctly, which it presumably would still be after the alternator swap.


A simple test would be to disconnect the Balmar field wire and see if the alternator stops generating power. It should. If the alternator keeps outputting, then I'd guess you didn't do the conversion correctly, and the field is being driven internally in the alternator.


Oh, a less intrusive way to test if you have the right equipment would be a clamp ammeter on the Balmar field wire. My guess is that you will find zero field current, indicating that the Ba;mar isn't driving the field winding, and that it's being driven some other way.

[rgleason]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Basil,

Are you measuring the voltage at the batteries? If so, it sounds like something is not wired or programmed correctly. The regulator has a battery sense wire that will prevent the battery voltage going so high. If the sense wire is connected correctly what voltage does the regulator report on the digital display? If it reports almost the same high voltage maybe the regulator is not programmed correctly. Or perhaps the field wire to the alternator is not wired correctly.

I second this suggestion. I had an ARS5 wired direct to the alternator as shown in the manual, and was getting 15+ amps. Dale and others suggested to relocate the positive sensing wires (sense & power, in my case with the ARS5) to the battery positive. Then they wanted me to remove the black and relocate it directly to the bank negative. This solved the problem. Before that I had cleaned all connections and tightened them, and I had not had a problem for years with the wires direct to the alternator, but moving them to the house bank fixed it.


Along with that you need to add an ACR Combiner to charge the start/reserve automatically provideed the chemistry is compatible, and to realize that with a 3way switch (if you have one) on the start/reserve bank, then alternator is sensing the other bank so it will try to overcharge the start/reserve bank.

[Basil]

Thanks very much for all the great help, I am slowly working through the suggestions which have been very helpful.
At this stage I am looking very hard at either several or all batteries being faulty.
They were all tested at the start of this sarga An were ok, but as an added problem the inverter failed to work showing a low battery light (Victon battery charger inverter).
I have now shut down all power (wind an solar) An will leave the batteries 24hours to see result.
Once again thanks very much to the site an contributors for your help.
The positive is I now a lot more knowledgeable in this are

[sailorboy1]

I don't feel that a bad battery could cause your alternator/regulator to be putting out a high voltage.

Your system kind of sounds like it is stuck in equalize mode. Did you reprogram the regulator during install? Have you tried resetting the regulator to factory default programming to see what happens.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Basil

Hi
I have had to replace my old alternator with an identical one from the manafacture. (Beta Marine 60hp) alternator is 120 amp
I have a Balmar 614 regulator also fitted, I have converted the alternator to external regulator with the use of a factory supplied brush box.

On running up the unit I am now getting up to 110 amps an upwards of 15.8volts,
The batteries are around 560amp in total an are near fully charged.

I have tried to get the balmar regulator unit to prevent this high load but with no success.
Can any one assist please with ideas.

Regards
Phil

-What bank is the alternator B+ terminal (output) charging?

-What bank is the MC-614 sensing (terminal #9)?


The above questions, and resolving them if incorrect, are the most common mistake for what you are seeing..

A wiring diagram of how it is connected, even if just chicken scratch, would help..


Alternators and Voltage Sensing (LINK)






.

[Basil]

Charging house bank,
Sensor is connected to feed to starter motor which is a direct feed from batteries, so should be sensorineural the batteries

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Basil

Charging house bank,
Sensor is connected to feed to starter motor which is a direct feed from batteries, so should be sensorineural the batteries

Sounds like your sensing the start bank but charging house.. This would explain the high voltage on house.. if you read the link I posted above it will explain in detail how this can happen..