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  • #109503

    Rodney Kirk-Burnnand
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Two By Two
    Engines: Cummins 480CE
    Location: Florida
    Country: USA

    Hi Gene and Tony

    Shortly after I wrote that in 2017 I took a bad fall on our boat, completely breaking my quadraceps tendon. By the time I had gotten over that I had forgotten that I had promised to put something together, photos and words, regarding the 28si 200Amp alternator and Alternator to Battery Charger AB12210 install. When we eventually got back to our boat we continued to love that installation. The 28Si alternator was cheap, I even carried a spare when we headed to the BVIs, much cheaper than a Balmar or similar. The install did exactly what it was supposed to do, the 28Si put out a lot of amps at idle (100A+) and a lot more at trawler speed (200A), the AB12210 made sure the 1500Ahr AGM battery bank was properly charged, and we could run our Pilothouse mounted Dometic Roof Air whilst cruising in hot weather. While running the roof air in hot weather the 28Si alternator would get hot enough that the AB12210 would cut back the 28Si’s output for a while, no problem. I have photos of the install which I could pass on if wanted.

    Regards from Rod

    #16720

    Rodney Kirk-Burnnand
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Two By Two
    Engines: Cummins 480CE
    Location: Florida
    Country: USA

    Hi Tony. I’ll put something together for you, photos and words, regarding the 28si 200Amp alternator and Alternator to Battery Charger AB12210 install. I’m sure you will agree it’s a truly pretty installation. I’ll email that to you direct, including the T Shirt info. (thanks for that), soonish. Thanks too for the ‘stall stumble’ compliments, however whilst it might have been me who ‘broke the story’ regarding the Cummins 480CE ‘hidden problem’ in fact it was some guy on the ‘other forum’ who finally convinced me that I was ‘on to something’ and convinced me to dig deeper, despite ongoing ‘knock backs’ by Cummins.

    When I was burning up 22si alternators I spoke directly to Balmar Technical guys, they, to their credit, told me that they were not happy connecting one of their alternators directly to a huge house battery bank because they expected their alternator would burn up. What I began to understand was that many of these ‘hot rodded’ alternators are basically ‘old’ alternators modified to provide external regulation. So basically they use an old technology alternator, a technology that cannot handle real heat. I am sure I am right in saying that Delco Remy have not built a single 22si alternator for many many years. One can still buy what appears to be a ‘new’ 22si but what one is getting is an old well refurbished unit (there are millions out there) or a knock off.

    One thing I did not mention in my previous post was that I regularly see a genuine 200 amps being produced by my 28si alternator (I have a shunt there) even at only 1,200 engine rpm. I have a Dometic DuraSea Rooftop A/C fitted through a Bomar hatch in the roof of our boat’s pilothouse. That allows me to run A/C in the pilothouse whilst cruising, without running the generator to fire up the three ‘wet’ A/C unit’s. That roof A/C draws a lot of alternator power, no problem for the 28si, in fact I understand that was the aim when the 28si was designed, to be able to run a 120V roof air in the hot engine space of a school bus that spent a lot of time with it’s engine idling. Note also, I can run that roof A/C when our boat is ‘on the hard’, something I cannot do with my ‘wet’ A/Cs.  With a Dometic ‘Smart Start’ the roof A/C will easily start and run off my Xantrex SW3012 Inverter/Charger. My wife loves the roof air.

    Rod

    #16683

    Rodney Kirk-Burnnand
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Two By Two
    Engines: Cummins 480CE
    Location: Florida
    Country: USA

    I have had good experience running a 200 amp 28Si alternator on my 480CE for many years. The original 22Si is old technology, when I upgraded our 12V house battery bank to 1500Ahrs, with six big Lifeline AGM batteries, and connected the original 22Si directly to that I started burning up alternators, twice before I got smarter. The 28Si is today’s technology, a reliable high output at low rpm, high temperature capable, relatively inexpensive, off the shelf alternator. I carry a new spare, just in case. I regularly see over 100 amp output at startup idle. Initially I had some issues with a slight belt squeal at startup when the battery bank voltage was low and the serpentine belt cold. Running a ‘better’ serpentine belt, a Gates K080575HD, and stepping up to high idle (700rpm) soon after cool startup seemed to fix that issue. One problem remained, the alternator’s relatively low maximum voltage output rather than a three step charge profile. I have installed a Sterling Power Alternator to Battery Charger AB12210 to fix that issue. I’m extremely happy with the outcome of that combination. I have an alternator that’s designed for high output high temperature applications, if it fails I can quickly install a relatively cheap off the shelf replacement (unlike a Balmar etc.). I have an adjustable three step regulator that if it fails the alternator still works as original, or the regulator can easily be bypassed. With a Sterling Power remote panel I can control the alternator, I can turn the regulator on/off at will, it has a startup delay. I can watch the alternator temperature, at 194F the regulator automatically turns off until the alternator cools, then it automatically restarts, or I can monitor that high temperature approaching and turn the regulator off myself. Now I can charge my big battery bank fully and very quickly.  I have fourteen AGM batteries on my trawler, four in 24V configuration for bow and stern thrusters, six for house, two for engine start, one for generator start, with switchable echo chargers all can be charged off my 28Si engine alternator charge system if I wish . Rod

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