Joshua Blackh4t Posted August 26 Report Posted August 26 Hi, I'm looking at upgrading my charging system since the old one is not working safely. The old one is a delco generator with an Electrodelta regulator. The charge circuit has a 50 amp breaker. In the install instructions it says it only needs to be upgraded IF you want to take advantage of the higher current available. I would be fine to keep it at 50 (safer for old wires as well), but how does that work? Can the alternator or regulator be tuned lower??
Joshua Blackh4t Posted August 26 Author Report Posted August 26 Just now, Joshua Blackh4t said: Hi, I'm looking at upgrading my charging system since the old one is not working safely. The old one is a delco generator with an Electrodelta regulator. The charge circuit has a 50 amp breaker. In the install instructions it says it only needs to be upgraded IF you want to take advantage of the higher current available. I would be fine to keep it at 50 (safer for old wires as well), but how does that work? Can the alternator or regulator be tuned lower?? Just to clarify, its to a plane power upgrade kit, SAL12-70
ArtVandelay Posted August 26 Report Posted August 26 Why would you ever need the alternator put out 50 amps?I can think of only 2 reasons.1. You have wing mounted taxi/landing incandescent lights, which 4 of them would require a lot of power. I had this issue. My plane was placarded to not turn on both lights. PO had installed a 130 amp alternator, but breaker was only for 70 amps. I fixed this by going back to a standard alternator and installing LEDs.2. Battery is condition is mostly drained, unlikely to happen unless you prop started it. This can be mitigated by not allowing the engine to idle very fast till battery has been charging for a few minutes (you would start it with field breaker pulled until rpms is stabilized at a lower speed). Hopefully this doesn’t happen often.
Joshua Blackh4t Posted August 26 Author Report Posted August 26 Thanks, Thats exactly the information I was looking for. It was the flat battery scenario I was scared of. If its a bit low will it pop as soon as I go to take off. But sounds like it shouldn't be an issue. At least, it will be worth fitting it with the old setup and seeing what happens. Cheers, Joshua P.s. when the charging system isn't doing its job properly, its a definite win for the manual gear and flaps.
PT20J Posted August 26 Report Posted August 26 General practice is that the ALT breaker size is determined by the wire size between the breaker and the alternator and the wire/breaker should carry more current than the alternator can put out. Thus, the ALT breaker can never trip with a good alternator. The ALT breaker is there to protect the wiring between the breaker and the alternator in case there is a short because the battery can supply much more current than the alternator. 1
Joshua Blackh4t Posted August 27 Author Report Posted August 27 23 hours ago, PT20J said: General practice is that the ALT breaker size is determined by the wire size between the breaker and the alternator and the wire/breaker should carry more current than the alternator can put out. Thus, the ALT breaker can never trip with a good alternator. The ALT breaker is there to protect the wiring between the breaker and the alternator in case there is a short because the battery can supply much more current than the alternator. Yeah, I get that would be optimal if I was starting from scratch, but right now I just need a new charging system and want it to work even if I can't draw the full power. Maybe one day everything else gets upgraded so I can add pitot heat and autopilot etc
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