Adding a 2nd alternator to WS500

• N

  Neil

  10/28/21, 3:34 AM
  in my hunger for more amps i am throwing round the idea of adding a 2nd alternator to engine. i already have a balmar 621 100A connected to the WS500.   my question is i know the WS500 can support multiple alternators but do they have to be matched or can i add a larger balmar as a 2nd alternator   and would i wire all the field, lamp, stator and additional temp sensor wires in parallel?
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• B

  Ben

  11/1/21, 7:39 AM
  From my understanding you like to install a second alternator on the same engine. Thing to connect to the second alternator: -extra additional alternator temp sensor to the battery temp sensor connector (disadvantage, the battery temp sensor can not be used anymore) (Maybe battery temp info is shared already through BMS/CAN communication) If battery temperature sensor is needed, for example: climate below 5 degrees with lifepo4 batteries OR lead acid type batteries, this is not a good option!!) -reprogram the ws500, for second alternator temp sensor -Both alternator field can be connected in parallel with the field output from the WS500 -lamp and stator from second alternator will be not connected. -Make sure both alternator share a good quality common ground and common Positive. -Alternator need to be the same. If not the same, it maybe work but probably one alternator works harder than the other. Difficult to predict the outcome. -If to less amps, you need to go to a second ws500, 2 WS500 are connected with only a RJ45 cable and work seamless together. Ben  
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• R

  Richard OGM Support Staff

  11/1/21, 10:33 AM
  I haven\'t done this myself, but I would guess the short answer is yes, but... If the impedance of the two windings are different, you will have different loading and it may cause some undesirable results.  For instance, you may find that your smaller alt will go to full power faster than your large one, then it will start to heat up and pull both units back, as it will use the highest alternator temp as it\'s safety limit. You may end loosing a lot of that potential capacity increase you were hungering for. If it were me I would spend the bucks to buy a second unit and then I would have redundancy as well as the ability to tweak each alternator to get the most output you can safely achieve.
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