Charging irregularities?

[hanleyclifford]

Atomic 4 Brothers - Take a look at the picture and note the capacitor in the regulator ground circuit (ordinary ignition). The regulator body isn't even grounded. The problem appears to be solved! But how? Why? I need some electrical insight or this is going to drive me nuts (short trip)! Thanks, Hanley

[sastanley]

pics!

Hanley, I know nothing of your electrical problems, but your picture quality has jumped quantum leaps!

it even looks good on my new smartphone!

[ndutton]

This comment is not specific to your installation but normally capacitors installed in that fashion are there for noise suppression.

[Administrator]

The only thing i noticed was that once
the battery was nearly fully charged it seemed to go into a repetitive
pattern of fluctuations. I spoke with Balmar customer service and they
told me to set the float voltage up a tenth of a volt to prevent this
hunting as I call it.

I have a Balmar alternator and regulator which exhibit exactly the same behavior. When I'm doing something like retensioning the alternator belt, I have to turn on every light and navigational instrument on the boat in order to present a load to the alternator and stop the hunting.

As Art pointed out, this behavior is observed only when the batteries are at or very near a full charge.

Bill

[hanleyclifford]

Well there is some comfort in having company in the issue. But that leaves the question: why has this little condenser apparently cured the irregularity? Is the actual case of the regulator supposed to be grounded to the engine? Another little weirdness - I just checked the voltage (engine off) between the red wire (always hot) and the casing - .3 volts: so is the casing supposed to be grounded or is the ground just leaking to it's case? I could find nothing about this in the Balmar literature. Does anyone else specifically ground their case on this type of regulator?

[ArtJ]

Hanley
Have you spoken to Tech support at Balmar?

I found them helpful and knowledgeable sp? . I think I mentioned in my
post that they suggested raising the float voltage 0.1 v to stop hunting.

Regards

Art

[hanleyclifford]

Art - Yes, I remember your post on this. Did that suggestion work for you? Regards, Hanley

[ArtJ]

Hi Hanley

I have not followed thru with the recommendation to up the float voltage
by 0.1 volts. Primarily because the switches are difficult to active with
the magnetic screwdriver and secondly because once I realized that
the fluctuations were not believed to affect the charging, I didn't want
to risk modifications that might result in a incorrect setting during the
season. I also had other fish to fry as you know from my fuel related
postings.

Regards

Art

[hanleyclifford]

Problem Solved!!

The perplexing and maddening issue with the Transpo 1500 adjustable regulator has been solved on the road. While trying to adjust the NAPA mechanical contact style regulator I briefly reconnected the old regulator that I thought was no good[/I]while the regulator was laying on the seat, not mounted in the position shown in post #1[/I]. Encouraged, I remounted it in the position shown in post #1--it would not work. Moved it back to the seat and it worked again. Answer to the problem---the regulator will not work in close proximity to the tachometer which evidently sets up a field the regulator does not like. Regulator now moved to other end of instrument panel and all is well. Who'd 'a thunk it?

[jpian0923]

Was this a Don Moyer assisted fix?

[hanleyclifford]

Was this a Don Moyer assisted fix?

Negative; this was a dumb luck accidental unexpected fix--the Don Moyer recommended fix relates to fuel pressure reliability and will be posted when completed. Just as an aside, the regulator issue was a by product of redesigning and improving the instrument panel layout (or so I thought).

[ndutton]

The remote regulator's operation is affected by ambient EMF's? (electro-magnetic fields for those keeping acronym notes) Not that it matters but you can imagine my opinion of it. Hint: drives me further down the path I was already traveling on the regulator discussion. What happens if you key the handheld VHF? Is shielding the regulator a consideration?

Glad to hear the issue is resolved or at least surrounded. You could have looked for a long time before finding the culprit. Sounds like you are enjoying the trip, also good to hear.