We Need More Power: Installing a 250 amp Alternator
We Need More Power💥 Installing a 250 Amp Balmar Alternator Cruisers know the importance of reliable power systems, especially when going long distances or living aboard. Among the critical components of our sailboat’s power setup is the alternator. It’s one of the ways we charge batteries and power our watermaker. In this blog post, we’ll […]
Protecting Your Alternator: The Importance of Installing an Alternator Protection Device (APD)
With the growing popularity of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries equipped with internal battery management systems (BMS), it’s crucial to protect your alternator from voltage spikes that can lead to potential damage. We will explore the risks associated with load dumps, explain the role of the Alternator Protection Device (APD) in mitigating these risks, and […]
New Solar Panels
As much as we love our canoe-stern, it has its drawbacks – like a place to mount solar panels. A lot of people add a big arch to the back of the cockpit to mount solar panels, dinghy davits, and other things. We considered adding an arch but opted not to mostly due to cost, […]
Installing a Balmar External Voltage Regulator
While I don’t recommend intentionally frying your alternator, frying ours last summer pushed this project to the top of our to-do list and I’m glad it did. We spent a lot of money on our Battle Born LiFePO4 batteries and with a new alternator and external voltage regulator I feel more at ease that the […]
How We Fixed Our Reverse Polarity
While anchoring out last summer we had to use our Honda generator to charge the batteries when the alternator died. Though we were frustrated by the alternator, we were relieved to have the generator with us. So we plugged it in, fired it up and started charging the batteries. Then we noticed the reverse polarity […]
New Balmar Alternator
Our boat came with an internally regulated, Leece-Neville 105 amp alternator. It couldn’t keep up with the high charge acceptance rate of our new 500 Ah LiFePo battery bank; it worked too hard and got too hot and finally quit on us. Plus, it looked like it had been sprayed with salt water at one time. […]
First Overnight Anchorage and Alternator Autopsy
First Overnight Anchorage A couple of months ago we finally got to take SVRO out for an overnight trip. We left Friday after work and headed south along the San Joaquin River. The wind was blowing maybe 3 knots so we weren’t able to sail, but the motor was running fine. Our batteries were at […]