LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Pazapa was powered by an 18hp
Yanmar 2GM20 diesel engine, a thrifty
machine that gave her a cruising range
of 3,214 miles at 5 knots on about
120 gallons of fuel.
“I’ve tried to make Pazapa as
much of a little ship as possible,
not in appearance, perhaps, but in
functional features,” Jackman wrote
in 1999. “When the two of us are
ready, I intend to expand my cruising
horizons. I can’t wait.”—Bob Lane
ALTERNATOR WIRING
I have been a fan of Steve
D’Antonio’s technical articles for years,
and now I have a question that I’m
hoping Steve can answer. This winter
I’ve hauled out my Grand Banks 42
and am completely rewiring her.
I have rewired the twin Ford
Lehmans so they both start using a
single wet 8D battery. I also have a
Westerbeke genset started by a 4D
that can now be paralleled with the
Ford 8D, so I have good backup. The
Westerbeke alternator charges the 4D,
and the port Ford alternator will
do fine charging the 8D, which only
serves engine starting and my windlass.
I wish to change the wiring
for the starboard Ford alternator
(a Leece Neville; 51 amps) so it
charges the house bank while
under way. My question involves
the excite wiring: I plan to wire
the positive and negative terminals
on this starboard alternator to my
house bank, made up of four 6-volt
batteries wired for 430 amps and 12
volts. Now to the excite: I plan to
start at the battery terminal on the
house battery switch and connect
to one terminal on an oil pressure
switch. Then, the oil switch output
would go to the excite terminal on
the alternator. Is this correct?
I have a Balmar 200-amp large
frame alternator mounted on the back
end of my Westerbeke 8k W genset.
Since I am usually anchored out
behind Big Majors in the Exumas, this
has worked very well to charge my
house bank without running the twin
Fords. I run the generator twice a day
for an hour each time. I essentially
have converted the Westerbeke to a
12-volt genset. My only 120VAC
loads are water heating, charging
toothbrushes, etc. I have always
wondered if it was advisable to help
load my 120VAC generator by running
the 120 three-leg battery charger to
charge the house bank at the same
time my Balmar 200-amp alternator is
doing it. (I do have a smart regulator
and XBM monitor installed.)
Thanks for your thoughts.
Howard Means
Spartina
Tiverton, Rhode Island
