Serpentine belts ???

[hellosailor]

I strongly suspect those military-spec belts used on the helo would cost more than the average parts counter guy makes in a week. Which is understandable, since most AAA plans do not provide coverage in a war zone, so the tow home tends to be a bit more costly too.

RR-
You were mis-lead. GM didn't make those alternators, one of their Delco kids did and does. (Delco split into DelcoRemy and ACDelco, hard to keep track of them these days.)
They've had some better and worse ideas over the years. At one point they were making alternators with spike protection built in, to make life gentler on the electronics in the car. And then after a couple of years, they found out the spike protection would do what it was supposed to do (absorb spikes and die to save the rest) except, oops, that killed the alternator and killed the car and the customers tended to get more upset about that. Can't get away from that Law of Unintended Consequences.

[a64pilot]

Hughes 269/300 is a civilian helicopter.
Being aircraft I’m sure they are more expensive, but if I remember correctly, I do remember seeing Gates on them. Nothing special just matched as a set of eight and bought from an aircraft company.
It’s extremely common to use off the shelf parts on aircraft, they become aircraft parts when the manufacturer of the aircraft inspects them and designated them as such. Where I worked we got quite a few parts from NAPA, like the brake master cylinders.
My Maule’s starter solenoid was an OMC outboard Marine company part. for example. With Google it wasn’t hard to find the actual parts source, just Google the part number.

Point is that if matched belts will wear together is all.

[Rotten Ricky]

[QUOTE=Rotten Ricky;2666199]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

Thanks for your great input. But I am really surprised.

Before choosing the Delco CS-144 model to upgrade my boat's generating ability, I was told - repeatedly and in every case - online and individually, that the CS-144 was superior to the CS130D that you choose. It was cheaper to buy, cheaper for parts that where very common, easy to overhaul and maintain and so reliable as to be used on ambulances and fire-trucks. They said, without exception, that the CS-130D had a bad reputation of overheating. Cheers, RR.

Hey Main Sail,

Just apologizing in advance if it seems I came on too strong - my fingers ran away with my astonishment at the very different conclusions we have come to. I hope the CS-130D fits your purposes perfectly. So please accept my apology if it seems I was being too loud!

Cheers, RR.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Rotten Ricky

Hey Main Sail,

Just apologizing in advance if it seems I came on too strong - my fingers ran away with my astonishment at the very different conclusions we have come to. I hope the CS-130D fits your purposes perfectly. So please accept my apology if it seems I was being too loud!

Cheers, RR.

No worries I did not take it as too strong... The CS144 will not fit where many small case alts will and the DE frame is generally only available in a 2" foot. The CS144 would not fit my own engine and if I am going to do a custom mount I am going to use a custom built 200A+ J180 LN frame or 28SI based frame.

For its size, the DIF (dual internal fan) CS130D frame design has excellent cooling capability, when done correctly. It's why Balmar, and the copies of their 6-Series frame designs in 1" and 3.15" saddle mounts, chose to loosely use that frame category over many other small frame choices they could have started with.

The problem in the automotive "hop-up" world is folks throw 160A to 200A stators and rotors in them, and don't address anything else, and yes those automotive "hop-ups" can over-heat if used to charge large banks and not further modified.

I was able to get 115A to 120A out of a Mark Grasser built CS130D when charging a 400Ah LFP bank and that was with a custom 140A stator / rotor combo (really put out closer to 150A but Mark specs it as a 140A). Now that I've removed the internal rectification I run it full bore using a 160A custom stator / rotor and it simply does not over heat. For me this was much less time consuming, and time is the real enemy for me, rather than building a custom mount for a J180 alt.

As you go up in output, of any small frame alt, the % of improvement in stator / rotor increases is not linear.

[Rotten Ricky]

Thanks for your generous response Maine. There is a huge amount of engineering that goes into alternators.

I am lucky that I have a good deal or space in my engine compartment, that others with an engine in "The Cave" under the companionway, do not. It would seem hugely beneficial for those of us with less technical knowledge to do everything we can to help out the equipment in our engine compartments. I suggest the first way is to make sure there is a good supply of fresh cooling air and that people use a simple and inexpensive duct to funnel it directly to the input of the alt. And have good extractor fans. Tired of the noisy and hungry inline marine fans, I replaced mine with two 4" computer fans in two duct that are rated at 100 cfm combined, and I have air entry into the compartment with two 4" ducts that make for good cross flow of air. Also, no matter how it looks, some kind of simple heat shield to protect the alt from heat radiating from the engine would help if it could be squeezed in.

Cheers, RR.

[bobsadler]

Thanks for all the advice and apologies for a slow reply but have been without wifi for a few days. For those who asked my external regulator is a BALMAR ARS-5 (which I've discovered has the belt management function).