Balmar Voltage Regulator

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Quetzalsailor
Master of the Arcane
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Boat Name: Quetzal
Boat Type: LeComte North East 38
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Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Quetzalsailor »

There's only one thing worse than doing an expensive job that should never have been necessary and that's having to do it twice!

My fancy Balmar Regulator quit back in August 2008 and I replaced it with an even fancier Balmar Regulator, their MC-612. It quit Sunday afternoon. I trouble-shot the system and there's no voltage on the regulator where there should be, when there should be. So no reason to continue trouble shooting the 100 amp Balmar alternator.

Anybody else???
Popeye1865
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Re: Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Popeye1865 »

are you batteries charged above 10v?
Maine Sail
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Re: Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Maine Sail »

Welcome to the club. I have had three Balmar regulator failures and will no longer use them because I can't trust them. They advise putting them outside the engine compartment but then give you a harness that will not reach. My second and third were outside the engine compartment yet still failed. Two ARS-4's and one ARS-5. There are quite a few others I know of who have had the same issues..

If I were to have another Balmar (the Xantrex is also the same) on my vessel I would invest in a spare too. Ample Power is another alternative.
-Maine Sail

Canadian Sailcraft 36T
Casco Bay, ME
http://www.marinehowto.com
Tom Young
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Re: Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Tom Young »

Me too, My ARS-4 lasted just a few hundred hours. Now with an Xantrex (same thing I'm sure) I have it located outside of the engine space but don't have high hopes for more than another season or so. I keep a simple Ford regulator onboard ready to go.
Quetzalsailor
Master of the Arcane
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Boat Name: Quetzal
Boat Type: LeComte North East 38
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Re: Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Quetzalsailor »

Popeye, one bank was at 11.5v, the other at 12.5 when I noticed that the ammeter was not showing anything. I turned the 12v refrigerator on which is worth about 12 amps. The ammeter did not react. (The fridge came on, since the engine was running; it won't run on batteries alone.) I turned the fridge and everything else off to conserve battery charge and we continued the 3 hours under power back to the marina, reasoning that the Yanmar does not require very much juice to run.

I got hold of Balmar on Tuesday. They said my regulator was out of warranty, that they'd sell me a dandy new model, the MC-614 for $175, told me to send my failed MC-612 to them, said they'd refund my $175 if it was indeed faulty.

I note that the Balmar regulator connects with an ordinary four-wire 'Ford' plug, but that there are two other wires plugged into it. Tom, what would you do for the tach if you use the Ford regulator?
Tom Young
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Location: Rockport Maine

Re: Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Tom Young »

I don't have a tach right now. Since I replaced my engine, I didn't install the mechanical tach sender due to space reasons. The VDO tach I have I don't believe will work off the alt. So the Ford reg simply works as a not that bright regulator. I can hook it up in a matter of minutes though and they cost less than lunch. Good back up.
Quetzalsailor
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Boat Name: Quetzal
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Re: Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Quetzalsailor »

New one's in and working. Now to send the old one back for their verdict and refund.
Quetzalsailor
Master of the Arcane
Posts: 1100
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:53 am
Boat Name: Quetzal
Boat Type: LeComte North East 38
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: Balmar Voltage Regulator

Post by Quetzalsailor »

I got a call from Balmar who said that my faulty MC-612 was not faulty. I guess that the lack of amps showing on the ammeter and the zero voltage where there should have been 4-12v was purely my imagination, and my going through their troubleshooting scheme step by step was wrong.

So, they're sending me my MC-612 and charging me another $50.

Intermittent failure? Heat? You can bet I'll test it.

I still have a Sony receiver that I bought in 1970; by about 1975 it had developed a fault wherein it would sound a loud SNAP! through the speakers and shut off, and then another SNAP! and turn back on. I sent it in to a Sony service center; they said they ran it for a week sitting on a shelf with its cover off and there was no failure. I got it back, put it back in the box I'd made for it and it failed almost instantly. I decided that there was a temperature-induced failure and, with an electronically-saavy friend, opened it up and found a component which would cause the failure when it was heated and cooled (by alternately insulating and then blowing aerosol cleaner at it). The broken solder joint was inside a 'potted' multi-component object; we dug out the potting and resoldered it. It was fine for 15 years before I discontinued using it.

The Balmar regulators are similarly potted, but are far more complicated looking (you can see the circuit board through the potting).

Sheesh!
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