Hi, I'm a newbie, looking at Betas for a 47 foot sailing cat.
Have you ever done a dual alternator mount, similar to this picture?
The idea is to have high-rate charging for a LiFePO battery bank, avoiding the need for a GenSet. The dual arrangement mitigates a constant, one-sided load on the crankshaft front bearing.
Welcome to the forum. With the new generation of batteries available today, this is a great question.
The Beta factory can install twin alternators on almost all of the Beta line of engines and actually does this quite often. Occasionally very large alternators.
I am confidant that extra high output twin alternators for a lithium battery bank can be done at the factory and well within the side load design limits of the crank.
Obviously this would be more of a custom offering and involve more discussion than what would be practical here.
Please call us at the office (252-249-2473) to discuss your particular requirements.
Thanks again.
__________________
Best regards,
Farron
Technical Sales and Service for Beta Marine, US Ltd. Minnesott Beach, NC PH: 252-249-2473 farron@betamarineusa.com
We have duel alternators on our Beta 38 hp and are very happy with them. A fellow on a boat like ours with a Beta 38 hp decided he wanted dual alternators and installed a Balmar alternator along with the factory one. He had lots of problems with broken mounts etc. We could not decide what to do about dual alternators when we purchased our Beta so we went for it. We are very happy with the quality of the installation. Beta did at the factory. We did not know at the time and do not think it would have changed our decision but Beta moved the oil change pump to the side of the motor. They also move the impeller to just under\forward of the air cleaner. This makes (for us) checking the impeller a little more difficult as we are right handed and it is on the left side of the motor. Also it is a bit tight against the motor. However we still like the duel alternators. So keep that in mind as it may impact your installation and of course it may be totally different on you Beta engine as it is larger. I would ask what changes will be made to the engine setup if you think it may impact you installation or access.
We have four 6 vot AGM house batteries and one AGM starting battery.
This is all on our blog with lots of pictures if you care o look.