What's the best alternator upgrade for 05' team?

[gride]

I have a 100amp right now. I'd really like to upgrade my charging system to handle 350-500amp hours, and run an ht-6,ht-4, and ht-1. Anybody know what fits or if I need to run dual smaller alternators? Any input is appreciated.

[EarmarkMarine]

Brett Yates (Polarbill) from WakeWorld is definitely the alternator expert.
Stay away from the cheap China alternators...great misleading specs with poor performance. Who cares what the output is if it's a higher RPM than what is practical and it can only withstand that load intermittently.
A big upgrade will require new pulleys and belts.
With running all high efficiency Class D amplifiers you may be okay with what you have. A zillion amp/hours do not present a challenge until they are depleted. I would measure the resting battery voltage at the end of your typical day to determine the need for an upgrade alternator. Then make sure your AC shore charger is well matched to your collective amp/hours.

David

[MLA]

Your current 100A alternator should not have any trouble keeping pace with your current system while the engine is running. If you are looking for an alternator upgrade that would be able to recharge a depleted battery bank, then prepare to part with some green as a quality hi-output alternator upgrade will be expensive. If you have access to shore power once the boat is back in its resting spot, I would consider relying on shore charging to replenish the battery bank, as opposed to an alternator.

[gride]

Thanks. Sounds like I don't need to change things. I do have 4 gauge wiring for the alt. I've been trying to figure out if I should crank the boat and immediately switch to position 2 to be on the 2 battery house bank or only do that when the engine is off and the boat is just playing music or filling sacs. As of now I just leave it on 1(cranking battery) until I stop to fill sacs and the motor is off.

[MLA]

Thanks. Sounds like I don't need to change things. I do have 4 gauge wiring for the alt. I've been trying to figure out if I should crank the boat and immediately switch to position 2 to be on the 2 battery house bank or only do that when the engine is off and the boat is just playing music or filling sacs. As of now I just leave it on 1(cranking battery) until I stop to fill sacs and the motor is off.

Without knowing your exact wiring scheme, its hard to say. The most important factors are 1) make sure you have one of the batteries isolated by the switch from the stereo draw when you are listening at anchor. 2) once back under way, place the switch in the position needed in order to replenish battery the stereo was drawing off of. This will determined by how the switch and amps are wired. It may also change if you have an ACR/VSR in the scheme.

[gride]

Perko switch: 1(cranking), 2 (stereo bank), all. The stereo batteries are two flooded deka deep cycles with 150 a/h at 23amps; in parallel, and my amps are attached there. I always charge all 3 batteries individually after a day on the water with my ctek 7002. My main reason for this question is to know if I'll fry my alternator running on the stereo bank. They might see 45 minutes of use filling/emptying sacs and/or playin the stereo; however, I usually cut the stereo while filling/emptying. Appreciate it.

[MLA]

You will not damage the alt. 45 minutes of play time while anchored will not heavily tax your stereo bank. Even 2-3 hour at a moderate volume would not deplete them. This will not harm you alternator in any way, although it is being asked to work a little harder. The key is to replenish the stereo bank once off the water for the day as you are doing.

With your current scheme, you would need to run with the switch in BOTH or 2, in order for the stereo bank to receive a charge while the engine is running. When anchored, battery 1 will be isolated in reserve with the switch in any position but BOTH.

[EarmarkMarine]

Your collective boat operations and stereo (based on what you have) combined (without intense lighting) shouldn't ever exceed 75 percent of your alternator capacity. That leaves some capacity to charge up a battery bank with your alternator. If your stereo battery bank is holding at 12 volts before you introduce it to the alternator, I don't see a problem. If you are tanking the stereo battery bank inordinately low, like below 11 volts for example, then that would be hard on your alternator when combined with all the other loads, not to mention really tough on the batteries. Again, measure these things with a multimeter at key points. You won't be speculating and you can proceed with confidence. If the load on the alternator would ever become excessive then limp along the stereo for awhile thereby reducing the load and giving the alternator a chance to raise the battery bank charge level.

David