Balmar Regulators

[Iggy]

Has anyone had one that went bad? When it goes bad, I have heard that the ALT will over heat and burn it self out.

 

[Dick Geving]

I have used Balmar regulators on every boat I have owned. Never had a failure. I think they are good solid investments. That being said, I see they are a little behind on the Lithium issue. I like the Wakespeed units. Heard lots of good things about them locally. I live in Seattle.

 

[jleonard]

I had an alternator burn up. They warranted it.

 

[Iggy]

Wakespeed is very pricy. But they offer more features.

 

[READY]

I recently purchased a Balmar XT -170 alternator with there 618 regulator. The balmar kit price was pretty good, I already had purchased a Wakespeed intending to install it, I decided to install both and use waterproofconnectors to switch from on to the other creating redundancy which I like, From your experience both are good products but the Wakespeed is well worth the few hundred dollar premium.

It is a pain to configure the balmar regulator using a magnetic screw driver. You have to spend a few hundred on other Balmar devices to do this with their regulator.The app for Wakepeed configuration is very good, a huge difference is that you get very detailed diagnostic and error messagess for troubleshooting. Also the Wakespeed is very easy to integrate to a Victron display.

 

[Iggy]

Thanks for the input.

I just may go to Wakespeed.

 

[FIRE]

Has anyone had one that went bad? When it goes bad, I have heard that the ALT will over heat and burn it self out.

Just happened to me about 6 months ago. Only reason I learned it went bad was because I needed to run my generator while underway after my house bank was depleted. That said I ran without the regulator for the remainder of the run (6 hours or so) and suffered no issue. Normally with two 500 HP Cummins and substantial alternators I was always putting juice back into my house bank from either or both. Once replaced everything was back to normal.

 

[SteveK]

Thanks for the input.

I just may go to Wakespeed.

If you are going LFP then make sure the Wakespeed will work. Ran into someone who says the one installed on his boat does not.

 

[sean9c]

This seems to be the flavor of the month.
It sounds interesting.

ARCO Zeus High Energy Bluetooth Alternator Regulator

High-energy External Bluetooth Alternator Regulator ARCO’s Zeus is the only high-energy external Bluetooth alternator regulator to feature Bluetooth (no additional equipment required) and a native app (on IOS and Android) allowing for easy installation and configuration. With its intuitive...

arcomarine.com

 

[cafesport]

Has anyone had one that went bad? When it goes bad, I have heard that the ALT will over heat and burn it self out.

Yes and no, we have two connected to a centerfielder. When one goes bad you just unplug the ford plug and replace it when you can. Replaced one last year after seeing the arco Zeus at the annapolis show. Waited til we got back to fl, considered going to the new generation regulators, wakespeed as well, but after weighing all the costs and new wiring decided to just stick with what has worked for the past 17000 hours. Fwiw the new Balmars seem to be potted much better and have a simpler config along with a stock LiFePo4 setting you can tweak if desired.

 

[DDW]

If you are going LFP then make sure the Wakespeed will work. Ran into someone who says the one installed on his boat does not.

Tons of boats with LFP and Wakefield. It integrates fully with many LFP BMS units, much better than the Balmar. It is always possible to make an error in installation.

While I didn't have much of an issue with the Wakefield configuration, there is a fair amount of derision thrown its way for that. A little old school, though much more advanced than a magnet and a reed switch.