Oops.
Upon further consideration, it appears that the new 210A alternator I got may not be appropriate for the boat. They suggest that you need to run 2 belts to drive the unit, which I may not be able to do. (I’m not certain if I really need 2 belts, though - my batteries will ‘only’ take 120A, a load that’s more comparable to the smaller alternators that use 1 belt. I’m not using anywhere near the 210A rating of the device.)
I’d also have to find/fabricate a bracket to mount the unit, do additional wiring, and so forth. It seems time-consuming. For now, I think we’ll go with the original 75A unit. This means that we’re only charging at 60% of our potential rate using a bigger alternator. Anyway, we’ll have to wait and see how much engine time we’ll be requiring.. if consumption is lower than expected, and wind speed is good (which it ought to be in the trades), we should be OK.
