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Jeff Cote with another boating Tech talk we've got a fellow boater um asking Daryl asks Jeff I've got a Yanmar engine with a 55 amp alternator uh can this alternator be used with external regulator does the alternator need to have a conversion done prior to connecting to an external regulator and do all Marine alternators work with an external regulator good follow-up questions love it practically all if not anyways most and I mean most like 99 so I'm always leaving a little bit of room for uh unknowns but let's not be disappointed an alternator can be modified to be driven to external field or can be bought that way um and certainly companies like Balmar have them and there's other companies out there that also make alternators that are driven for external Fields right out of the box but if you have a stock alternator on an engine the reality is most of us are going to have what's called an internal regulator driving that alternator and it is possible to take that alternator off and bring it to a reputable alternator shop and have the internal field uh be removed and that they give you a wire that you connect to or post and that's a field wire uh where the external regulator would actually drive or decide the amount of output of the alternator based on multiple variables uh could be voltage could be amperage on the battery depending on the external regulator so Daryl's question is effectively can I change my 55 amp stock alternator to external regulator yes does it have to be done uh is it going to come with a post for it no but you're going to have to get it modified the other reality is you also have to not all engine manufacturers are okay with having an alternator modified for external so you're going to have to decide where you are on your warranty with your manufacturer is it worth the risk to you we've done this hundreds and hundreds of times I have this set up on my boat uh my boat my engine was outside the warranty so I wasn't too concerned and yes I did end up putting an external regulator on a high output alternator with a serpentine belt but with a 55 amp alternator you could still put an external regulator on that to drive it and the reason why people think about doing external regulars for for those of you just chiming in and watching the reality is that internal Regulators are very cautious and underperform an external regulator is effectively going to probably I'd say not double your existing output but it's going to be at least a 50 percent or even higher output from your existing alternator just to have it driven by a smart regulator that is potentially less cautious a little bit more aggressive on its output but it's also fine following a fine line and so it does so safely it's just bringing more intelligence to your alternate Europe is basically what it is so highly recommended especially if you don't have a generator and your alternator is your only way of recharging your battery Banks and a lot of you might know that our battery banks are getting bigger and bigger and it's one thing to have a large battery bank but you also have to worry about the rate of charge and once you leave the dock how are you going to recharge that battery Bank an alternator on an engine even powerboaters some of them don't have generators or one that generators run less are going to have high output alternators with external regulators to reduce the battery charge time and hence reduce their engine runtime when not needed so lots of talk about this on the website as well if you want to geek out there's dozens and dozens and dozens of articles that we've written in videos on this very topic so if you feel it might be right for you just sort of research a little bit more and maybe you'll find a way to make your boat better thanks for all of you for watching and keep the questions coming and safe voting out there so if you're curious again and go on our website and find out more answers and solutions with this sort of setup and thanks for asking and thanks for all of you for listening and tuning in English (auto-generated) Videolytics