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Andy
 
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The Floating Bear wrote:
I found in a wonderful resource I had not seen before,

http://www.practical-sailor.com/news...Questions4.pdf

a reference today to a design in The 12 Volt Doctor's Practical Handbook
for an alternator controller. It's not an easy book to get in the UK and I
wonder if anyone who has a copy would be able to tell me more about the
section of the book that deal with this project, or perhaps scan and mail
it if it's not too long.

Regards,
Jerry (Remove the obvious from my address to mail me)


You don't need plans to build a manual alternator controller. Just buy
a rheostat rated for 12 volts and however much current will be going
into the alternator field wire and hook it up between the battery and
the alternator field wire. Thats what I did when my regulator died
when I was cruising, and it worked like a charm; charged the batteries
much quicker than the old regulator. You have to have a good voltage
meter on your battery bank and know at what voltage to start tapering
down the charge so you don't fry your batteries.

Andy