Good Morning,
We are working on a yacht that has a C.E. Niehoff N1246. It is a brushless alternator that is dual voltage 28/14 vdc 220/50 amps.
The owner wants to switch over to lithium and we are trying to research options for him to keep this alternator or swap it out.
Do you sell or can you configure a regulator for this alternator?
Thank you,
Dan
(Moved to forum by admin as this was a good question)
Hey Dan,
This brushless alt will work fine with the WS500. If I recall correctly this field is going to draw around 9-12 amps full field, and the WS500 is actually designed for field loads up to 30 amps. We have installed some similar units to this with great success.
Actually this might be of interest.
The engines for our application were the little 3JH5 39hp Yanmars, and because these alternators could pull a huge output even at low RPM, we actually had to take this into consideration. The cool thing is that the WS500 can monitor alt RPM and you can scale back the output at low RPM if needed to avoid engine lugging. It worked great. Under 1,400 RPM the WS500 would pull back on the field and reduce out in a linear fashion as we slowed the engine.
You don\'t mention what lithium batteries you are using but if you want to consider integrating your BMS into your logic to avoid hard trips, the WS500/REC BMS/Victron Inverter/charger configuration will do the trick for you. The BMS will actually instruct the WS500 and the Charger to pull back their outputs to avoid a hard trip and allow the system to top balance, all over the CANBus/VEBus network. Its pretty much plug and play. Even better the WS500 has captured the attention of Victron and they are writing a proper driver for the VEBus, Venux GX network.
Here are some links of interest:
If you let me know your system voltage for this application I will pull together a complete pre-filled cart of all the bits you will need.
Hope this helps!
Rick
OGSS Tech support
After reviewing the electrical schematic for this unit, we find that it is actually more like two alternators in one and provides both 24 and 12v outputs at the same time. I contacted the WS500 designer and had him offer his opinion.
The consensus is that it will likely work ok if the alternator is used as a single 24V unit, but you will need to include an external diode rectifier, as it seems as if it is built into the current regulator. If you need the 12V portion as well you might want to consider something like a 24/12 B2B charger something like this.
https://www.sterling-power-usa.com/SterlingPower12volt-12volt-60ampbatterytobatterycharger.aspx
model # :
BB241235
Hope this helps,
Rick
OGSS Tech support
Richard
i have two ws500 that I'm preparing to install in catamaran
yanmar 3jh40 with Valero 125A smart ready 12volt alternators
i'm changing to 48 volt house battery bank
question: Do I need to change out the alternators to 48 volt alternators or will the ws500 voltage sense the battery voltage and charge accordingly?
mark
Mark,
Your WS500's will work fine but a 12V alternator will usually put out 15V max. The WS500 will only control the current coming out. You will need to find alternators that are suited for a 48V bank and if you are using lithium you are likely going to want to go with a 56V alternator to properly charge it.
