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Looking to do a high output alternator install on your boat on a tight timeline? Check out this video for some tips. Whether you need a remote consultation design or perhaps inviting us aboard your boat, Pacific Yacht Systems is here to help. Check out the links in the description below. Hey fellow boaters, Jeff Cote here from Pacific Yacht System with another installment of Tech Talk. So we've got a question from Chuck. Chuck asked, "Jeff, I'm considering installing a high output alternator. Pretty handy guy. I'm going to be taking off in a cruise in 2 weeks. What are the gotchas of installing a high output alternator on my boat and what are the things I should watch out for?" So Chuck is contemplating doing a high output alternator. Why would Chuck consider doing that? Uh well, he's probably thinking about doing that to recharge his batteries faster. Most of us have undersized alternators on our boats. The reality is that most of us are going to have stock alternators that are either about 55 amps or maybe 90 amps. Of course, some boats have bigger ones, but again, I'm just saying on average, a lot of the alternators are actually quite undersized. So thinking about upgrading your alternator is not crazy, especially for those of us that actually use our boats more than dock to dock, right? If you're a dock to dock boater, this is not really something that concerns you. Most of the time the alternator is going to be properly sized to run the loads that are currently operating on your boat. You're going to be able to offset those loads while running your alternator. You get to your end destination, you plug in, you recharge overnight, you leave the dock batteries full, and then again, no problem. But for some of us that are actually using our boats and going from anchorage to anchorage for maybe 2 days, 3 days, some of us are a week, some of us are 2 weeks, what Chuck is considering putting a high output alternator is a way to recharge your batteries. Um and of course, you should consider solar, but an alternator is definitely something you should have on your boat, and a high output one is something that we do here at Pacific Yacht Systems a a So Chuck is on the right path. Now, he's got a tight timeline. He's got 2 weeks. But, the good news is he's curious. What's involved in doing this? So, well, the reality is that when you're doing a high output alternator or swapping out an alternator, there is both a mechanical aspect and an electrical aspect. So, we'll start with the mechanical. Fitting the alternator on your existing engine is somewhat tedious. And it's not like one size fits all, quite the contrary. Uh when you're sizing an alternator, it's like going to be specific to the type of mounts that you have on your boat. And when you're buying an alternator, you're going to need to make sure that the new alternator you buy fits the type of alternator mounting situation that you have on your boat. And that cannot be something that is overlooked. So, you're not just buying an alternator, you're buying a specific alternator that is compatible for your engine. All right, so that's one thing. Next, the reality is that when you're swapping out an existing alternator for a high output alternator, more than likely you're going to have probably a single V-belt driving your existing alternator, and you're going to have to either go to dual V-belts or even better to go to serpentine kit to be able to drive a higher output alternator. So, now you see, it's not getting too trivial. You're going to have to buy again a serpentine kit that is made for your engine that would be bolted on top and make sure that now instead of using a V-belt, you're using a serpentine. Now, no one is going to be able to tell you, or maybe if you're going to be able to find it online, but sizing even the serpentine is going to be a little bit tricky. So, you're going to have to have different serpentine belts, or you're going to have to have the time to measure what the serpentine belt and then buy it. But, if you have a tight timeline, you might have to have various lengths of serpentine belt that you anticipate. And then, once you times for fitting in, that's what happened on my boat. When I did to my serpentine kit, my boat was not in my service area. It was on an island far away. And when I went out there, I came with variations of serpentine belt to make sure that I had a little bit longer, a little bit shorter, and so that when I was going to end up swapping my V-belt to a serpentine, I would have the right belt. And I would end up returning the belts I didn't use. So, that's one thing. So, all of that is not an hour job. It's not a 2-hour job. It's, you know, it's probably half a day. And of course, I'm I'm hearing some people in the comments saying, "Oh, I did it in an hour or two." But honestly, you're going to want to give yourself probably a full like just to unmount, remount, and do a serpentine kit, you're probably going to want to give yourself a day, right? It might be really fast for you, but it's also, remember, on a boat, very few times do things go smoothly. It does happen, and we cherish those moments, and I do as well. Most of the times, we run into sort of like hiccups or problems, and you've got to sort them out. So, that's on the mechanical side. Now, you've got to worry about the electrical side. If you're changing your alternator to a high-output alternator, most likely the connection from your alternator to your batteries is going to be undersized, so you're going to need to change that. It might be a short jumper from simply your starter so- the the alternator post to the starter solenoid. And but you're going to need to make sure that that wire can handle the new amperage from your alternator. Or it might be a long run, because you might have your alternator directly connected to your house batteries, and that might be a 10-run foot run or maybe 3-m, 10-m, not maybe 10-m, but maybe 5-m, 6-m run, and you're going to run a high-gauge wire both on the positive and negative side, right? And going back to your house batteries. So, these are things that you need to worry about. And then, you've got to worry about all the connections that were at the back of your existing alternator are going to have to be mapped properly, right? So, you're going to need to have the exact electrical connections go back on the new alternator, but a lot of times the labeling isn't great, the connections moved around, they're not in the same place they used to, so you got to make sure you can't just look at what was past and what's future and just sort of like well, it used to be here, I'm going to go here. You have to actually think it through. And so that's not trivial, right? Um I would say you don't want to rush it and you want to make sure that you're doing it right. Now, all of that is on the install and then you have to test it and make sure that your alternator is outputting, it's outputting right, that things don't get hot, that your alternator turns off when you turn off the engine and I've seen that where uh people didn't connect the right wire the right place and their alternator was always on, was like smoking hot, would never turn off. It wasn't producing output, but it was actually sort of excited. Uh so, you just want to again, you're doing your research. It's doable, but that's something that I would normally recommend in order to think about a little bit like down the path so that you can test and calibrate. Now, of course, it's doable. People have done it, but as a if you're going to make trying to make your life easier as an installer or do-it-yourself, I would recommend to give yourself a little bit more time than 2 weeks. Things are not going to work, things are not going to be sized properly, you're probably going to run into issues. It's just a reality. It's just It's always the devil's in the details. So, that's pretty much what's involved and then the last thing that we didn't make mention of this is are you going to use the internal regulator on your alternator? Which is standard or are you going to upgrade to an external regulator, which would be a big win uh and would give you probably a sizeable output from your alternator. And if you're going to do that, that's not a half-day job, that's like a full day, maybe a day and a half job. So, as you can tell, like things always balloon, you know, and they get bigger and bigger and bigger. A lot of things to consider. If you're going to tackle that, I would really do your my research and give myself time to do it. Or of course the easy thing again in your service area if you've got a pro in your service area something that's really important, you can always delegate that to someone who's done it like many many many times. Not someone who you know has done it twice, but someone who's done it maybe 100, 200, 500 times. Because again, you know, if you've got someone who's done it many times, they've seen all the permutations, right? So, they understand not only the concepts, but they're going to understand all the little like things that happen around it and they're going to get the ball to the finish line faster than someone who's doing it for the first time or the fifth time. So, that's something to consider when you're bringing someone on board to tackle that project. And that's about it. If you've made it this far in the video, I want to say thank you for listening and helping us grow the channel. Please subscribe. It makes a difference for us. If you're contemplating purchasing an alternator for your boat, I reach out to our rountonmarine.com. Our team is there to help you figure out what the right device or alternators for your boat. And if you're in a service area and you're thinking about doing a high output alternator on your boat, of course we're here to help. Give us a shout and with all of you that watched, again thank [music] you and we'll see you in the next installment of Tech Talk. Take care. Hey fellow boaters, we're going to be doing a lot more Tech Talk videos. If you've got any suggestions for future video, leave them in the comments below. Once again, thank you for watching.