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Alternator pully question.... did I hurt it??

Old 02-29-2004, 10:42 AM
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Default Alternator pully question.... did I hurt it??

It's almost time to yank my motor out to see what damage I did. One thought came to mind the other day. When I put this thing together last spring, I put a new high output one wire alternator on. Well, the only belt I had did not fit with the pully that came with the alternator, I was leaving for LOTO the next day (no sea trial, just dropping it in, starting it up, and taking off!). So, we took the smaller pully off my old alternator (which is non-functional) so the belt would fit (it was late, no place open to get a new belt). Everything seemed to be fine, so I never replaced the pully or the belt.

Long story short, my issues seemed to have started with an electrical problem, one battery seems to have shorted out, ignition shut off, motor quit, swell came over the transom, motor got hydrolocked, rod got bent, etc... Could the smaller pully spinning the alternator faster have done any damage to my electrical system???

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Old 02-29-2004, 10:49 AM
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Sounds like a bad regulator.
Overspeed "shouldnt" have killed it but you never know.
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Old 02-29-2004, 01:56 PM
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Default Re: Alternator pully question.... did I hurt it??

Originally posted by Waterfoul
... Could the smaller pully spinning the alternator faster have done any damage to my electrical system???
'Foul
Unlikely
You should be able to have it tested at a number of different places.
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Old 02-29-2004, 05:57 PM
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What I'm wondering, is did the alternator, by spinning faster, do any damage to my system? The volt meter on the dash usually read 14 or so, but that day it would not go over 12.5 with the battery switch on "both." Could a DEAD or shorted out battery cause the alternator to get hot? The paint on the housing pretty much burned off that day. When the motor quit, I opened the hatch and the alternator was smoking, and too hot to touch.
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Old 02-29-2004, 11:28 PM
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ttt
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Old 03-01-2004, 01:45 AM
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sounds like the alt was trying to charge a bad battery
or you had a short. I used to rebuilt starters and Alternators long time ago
the smaller pully should not have made much diff
I have had to replace many Alt in peoples cars at my buddy auto shop people will not replace there battery
they want to see if they can get 7 years out of them
and it ends up costing more money.
I would think you just had a freak short in the cell
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Old 03-01-2004, 06:02 AM
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I was told to never run the bat switch on BOTH on a single engine.
I have twins and never run mine on both would hate to burn anything up.
I would be checking you regulator, or maybe the alt itself was not right to begin with. Sucks
Batteries are replaced ever 2-3 years. Period.
Gues that is learned from teh frigid winters in MN
First sign of weakness, GONE would rather spend a hundred on a battery then one freezing day with a dead one. But as for boats, I also replace tehm every two years. They take alot of abuse and I look at it as preventive maintenance. Especially if they sit more then they are used
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Old 03-01-2004, 06:29 AM
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The regulator doesnt care how fast you spin the alt., as long as it's working right. Look at the volt meter in a car-at idle, around 12 volts or so. So spin it up a little off idle and it comes up to 13.8 14 or so. Rev higher, no difference. That's it's job.
I'd check the alt. if it got that hot. All that load might have tossed it if 1 batt was bad. As far as running on BOTH, if the alternator is rated high enough to charge both at the same time, no foul.
At the same time, 1 batt being trashed(shorted cell) WOULD cause you to see low voltage at the gauge as the bad batt. could load down the alt. AND the good batt at the same time.
So in your scenario---how long had you run the boat before the ignition dying? Was your voltmeter still showing DC voltage after it died?
So no I don't think the pulley did it. Yes maybe running on Both switch MAY have caused alternator failure. Need answers to my questions above to opine further. Definitely get batteries and alternator checked out before trying to run it again.

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Old 03-01-2004, 08:39 AM
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Why would running on BOTH smoke the alternator?
It just swaps between a single battery load and a dual battery load. I don't see a problem there. (I always cruise on BOTH, and only swap to a single batt when anchored). On a single I see no problem. On a twin, you got a little "fighting" of the two regulators, but you'll just end up with one alt being satisfied before the other which is no biggie either.

If a battery was shorted, then that usually just means one or several cells are shorted and the remaining cells are forced to take an overcharge which munches the battery...

If there is a short in the WIRING, then that definitely could have sent the alternator to heaven if run long enough.

As far as smoking regulators with fast alternators - a buddy of mine fought blown regulators right and left on a 7300 rpm big block Dodge. It was fine until he made a full-on pass then it was toast. He probably went thru ten regulators playing with it on the street (he'd take the alt belt off at the strip). We put a toggle switch on the field wire of the alt and he never had anymore problems (as long as he switched it off before redlining it). Can I figure out exactly WHY this kept blowing the regulator? Nope. Makes no practical sense to me. But it certainly DID. Over and over. (His regulator was external to the alternator).
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Old 03-01-2004, 05:54 PM
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"If a battery was shorted, then that usually just means one or several cells are shorted and the remaining cells are forced to take an overcharge which munches the battery..."

Never seen a battery blow up? I have, several.
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