Karizma

Hi Bikertov, Front bearing = £5.23 each Rear bearing = £3.86 each Slip ring = £12.84 each Regulator (including Brushes) = £24.99 each (though brushes only would have been £3.55 a set if I could have got them out of the regulator - which I might still try and do once I know everything works ok!) So all in, abt £50 per unit, and as @dom said, if you have the time and patience then why not have a go and learn a bit along the way. Kept me from under Mrs Karizma's feet for a few days anyway Finally, it will be interesting to see if I get an increase in output from each of the alternators? though I'm not expecting one as I did this only as preventative maintenance.

I agree, not sure how much someone would charge for servicing an alternator like what I've just done?, but there cant be a lot of money in it as a completely new one (like for like) only cost abt £150 each.

Hi Smoggy, Agree completely. I only use reputable UK suppliers, that usually have a main website and also an eBay offering. The main reason for using eBay is their option to have items delivered to a local Argos store for pick up - super convenient when you don't want to stay in all day for a delivery. SKF, NTN and FAG are my 'go to' manufactures - I use to deal with bearing manufactures when I worked for a large uk aero engine manufacturer and if they use them for their aero engines, hopefully they'll be ok for my alternators

though I'll not start celebrating until I know they work !!!!!!

Hi Grendel, The first one took me nearly a week to do ...... the 2nd one was done in 6 hours today. Pretty easy when you know how and have all the tools out and available.

Sourcing the individual parts wasn't the easiest, though would almost be impossible without the internet! Searching part numbers, cross referencing them with other websites info etc, I finally managed to find the right parts, and found suppliers to replace the Regulator, Front and Rear Bearings and the Split Ring. I decided that if I was going to do it for one, I might as well order everything to allow me to do the same to the 2nd Alternator. I also found on YouTube that if I was going to do the job 'right' I'd needed some 'Liquid Insulating Rubber' to coat / protect the soldered connections once completed (as the original connections were coated in some sort of rubber). So 3 different suppliers on flee bay gave me the best prices/options for the parts I needed: Front bearing - NTN 6303 LLU C3 17x47x14mm Rubber Sealed Deep Groove Ball Bearing Rear bearing - NTN 6200 LLU C3 10x30x9mm Rubber Sealed Deep Groove Ball Bearing Alternator Slip Ring - For Massey Ferguson Renault Valeo 2104248 2181726 2181727. Regulator - A13N234 873770 VOLVO PENTA ALTERNATOR REGULATOR YV7736 593135 IP736 12/14V What I also learnt was the 'codes/meanings' relating to bearings, and the fact that the bearings I needed were classified as C3 - which means that this bearing has a higher (internal) clearance than normal due to the high tempreatures that the alternator might experience - good to know. Removing the Split Ring was a right pain; which needed pliers, the Dremel and a hammer to get it off, making sure I didn't damage / break the wire connections on both sides of the rotor. Though once the rotor was cleaned up, putting the new one on was easy as long as you were careful to make sure the position was correct before you started tapping it down in place on the spline. Next was soldering the connections back in place and coating the connections with the liquid rubber, before tapping the small bearing on the shaft. Then it was just a case of replacing the front bearing (tapped it in with a small hammer) and putting it all back together, making sure the rectifier was back in place and re-soldered to the 3 wires. Everything went back pretty easily, once it had been cleaned and brushed down. A few more electrical checks were then done (following YouTube guidance) to make sure the Rotor / Spilt Ring was 'isolated' from the casing and everything was connected correctly, then it was degrease the outer casing and spray it with Nanni blue paint to make it look nice. Once this was done, it was time to do exactly the same with the 2nd alternator (as the confidence was good) prior to putting them back on the boat. I'll let you know if they work ok after I put them back on the boat this weekend, and then hopefully they should be good for another 30 years!!!

With having 3 weeks between our visits to the boat I thought it would be a good idea to take a 'project' home with me to keep me busy until this weekend (when we are back down for the weekend), so off came both alternators before we left so I could strip them down, and if needed, refurb them. They were both working ok, but I'm sure they might have never been touched in 30 years, so well worth a little preventative maintenance. Having never done one of these before, I viewed a few YouTube videos, and then I began stripping one of them down (just in case I messed it up and decided to leave the other one well alone!). The first thing off was the Regulator to check the Brushes, and apparently the minimum recommended length is 5mm. One of mine was 10mm and the other one 5mm, so new brushes were needed. It didn't look easy (or maybe possible?) to just change the brushes without damaging the regulator, so I decided to try and source the regulator (if they weren't too expensive). The next thing was to take off the Rectifiers, which meant unsoldering 3 wires and then I was able to check that they were electrically ok (again after watching a video on YouTube), which explained that the B+, B- & D+ terminals should read between 450-650 mV with a multimeter set on diode - thankfully mine was easily within that range - so all good. After then splitting the alternator apart (which took some persuading with a screwdriver & hammer!), i was able to check the bearings in the front housing and the back of the Rotor. The front (larger) one felt ok, but the smaller one on the back of the rotor wasn't as smooth as it could be, so I decided that new bearings might as well be fitted whilst it was all stripped down. Taking out the front bearing proved to be easy with the extractor kit. Taking the Rear Bearing off was also relatively easy, but the next decision was whether I was going to replace the Split Ring or leave it alone. The truth was, I didn't think it looked too bad, but I'd (hopefully) never be stripping these alternators down like this again, so it would be a shame not to do a 'full' refurb and replace this as well. So again, on to YouTube to see how easy or hard it was, and whether I could source replacement parts. My workshop bench was starting to look a mess, with lots of individual parts - I just needed to remember how it all went back together !!!!! Next was to try and source all the parts for a 30+ year old alternator from the faint numbers that were still visible on the rear bearing cover cap: Valeo 14v 60A A13 N 234 2541451 B3 More to follow ....................

Nice work Graham (and Sam) When you've done on Mermaid, Tracy has a list to keep you going if you run out of jobs !!!!

I think you are very brave cruising solo in less than ideal conditions - being pinned to the quay by the wind when trying to set off is challenging at the best of times when I have a 'more than able' crew mate to help (thanks Tracy xxx), doing it solo, without a 'cheat button' (aka - bow thruster, and I have one and use it all the time!) - good for you. Another good 'party trick' is using the bow thruster to push you away from the quay whilst having full rudder to push the stern out away from the quay - then apply a little forward throttle - when done right you crab out side-ways away from the quay !!!!!

Yes, one of our fav places as well - we tried getting under last week at low tide (8am in the morning) and it was 6"3" and we need 6"7". So not only unable to go above Wroxham, but also unable to moor up anywhere without paying a fee between £10 & £15. So Roys and Norfolk Marine missed out on a little business as well

We stopped for water there last week and they were still taking money (£2.50) for 6 minutes worth of tank filling.

Welcome onboard Alison Sounds as though you've had great support over the weekend from some forum members, which will get you off to a great start. Happy cruising .........

Was lovely to meet up with you again at Acle ....... and then Potter, we must have had the same idea of getting a mooring place and visiting Lathams before the rivers got busy. Hope we didn't disturb you too much when we moored up ....... as it was dark!

looking forward to reading about this so we can compare notes ........... enjoy

We are moored at Wroxham broad waiting for low tide (abt 8pm) to see if we can get under - we need 6' 7", so that extra 2" might come in handy !