Balmar 60 Alternator replacement for a Perkins 6.354

[TheLake]

Hi all,

As part of my engine rewiring project I am replacing my old alternators with new Balmar 60 - 100amp - Single V alternators.

I plan on having one go to the house bank through my Lynx Distributor. The other will go to a Victron Argofet where it will charge both my starter batteries.

I am looking at the mount for the alternators, and it seems like it doesn't quite fit. So I am hoping to get some advise.

If I mount it in the most logical format, there is about a 1/4" gap from one of the mounting legs to the mount. I suppose that I could put some washers in to fill the gap. But with this placement, the belt does not line up. Note that the shaft has two v-belt slots. If I did this mounting, maybe I could get one belt on the outer slot for the water pump, and then use the inner slot for the alternator??????

I think my other option is to just get a new mounting bracket machined to fit. It seems like it is just a plate that is mounted with three bolts onto the engine.

Thoughts?

Has anyone else done this?

Chris

 

[Delta Riverat]

There is nothing wrong with "washering" the bracket or using a spacer for a good fit. It is critical for the belt to align with both pulleys.

 

[Turtle Blues]

"Other Option" was my choice when I upgraded.
It appears from your photos that the rear of the Balmar is already tight against the back of the old spacing bushing in the bracket and you need a lot more on the front.
Can't tell without some good measurements if moving the front tab of the Balmar to the front of the bracket gives you the alignment you need or if you need to move both tabs on the bracket to achieve proper alignment. In either case proper measurements so that the bracket can be reworked are a must.
Have seen a lot of "almosts" that leave a continuing buildup of belt dust letting you know it is not right.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

No problem with shimming to get the correct alignment. Instead of a stack of washers, bigger hardware stores (and probably Amazon) would stock a single bushing of the right size. Much easier with a single shim than a handful of washers.

I had a big problem that came from the alternator bolt itself. My PO had used a stainless bolt (and it appears that yours may be SS). My tach started to bounce a little and I didn't realize what had happened. It turned out the the SS alternator bolt had sheared. A weird crack straight through that allowed the alternator to drop a little and not spin properly, thus my tach reading wasn't steady. But the big problem was the water pump was also not spinning properly and I learned the hard way that my overheat alarm was rusty and didn't work. Extremely expensive issue caused by a SS bolt shearing from what I assume was long-term vibration.

SS bolts look pretty, but it could be that good old painted grade 8 is the way to go. Thoughts?

 

[High Wire]

If you havent bought them yet, great because you want the 2" spindle foot mount for a Perkins 6.354. Those in the photos are either 3.15" or 4" saddle foot mounts. They are not even close. So unless you want to build custom mounts, go 2" Dual foot mount and a few spacer washers to make it line up correctly.