T&T: Alternator Excitation

[JHWardJr at aol.com]

The string on ground wire prompted this.  I am pretty sure my  Westerbeke 
alternator is always excited, kinda like me around bikinis ;-), and  this pulls 
down the starting battery when I am not on the automatic  shore-powered 
charger.  There is no power switch on my genset control  panel, just preheat, start, 
stop.  A couple of times when on the hook my  genset starting battery was 
sluggish.  Is this what is happening?  I  also find that the charging voltage is 
low, so I think I need a rebuild and this  would be a good time to revise this 
circuit.  Comments?  This is not  earth shattering (apparently been this way 
for 25 years!), but could leave me  hanging someday.  Thanks, Jim
 
 
 
 



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