Hello to Everyone

After searching for almost 1,5 years I found my AMEL SM. Last week I became proud owner of AMEL SM 201. I am going through some repair work at the moment and look for advice regarding mast paint. There are several places where paint is showing corrosion underneath. Is it best to strip the mast to bear aluminium or better sand lightly the paint, repair corrosion and paint over the old well prepared paint layer?

Also have doubt if I should replace the mast foot pads. They look very good and no cracks (see picture), but maybe too old and shoud be replaced?

Look also for contact details to AMEL spare parts service in Europe (France preferably).

Still searching for a name, once is done will all let you know.
Thank you all in advance

Best regards

Jarek Zemlo

Thomas, 

 

Sorry for the slow reply. Infinite resistance just means the core and shield are not shorted out. The original antenna does not have a removable connector on the antenna side. I had to cut the coax wire at the antenna. I believe water must have gotten inside either the antenna or coax as the shield showed some signs of corrosion. 

 

I then taped the new coax (RG-8X) to the old coax and had someone pull it down from the starboard side base of the mast. Quite easy but there is a somewhat sharp bend at the bottom - be careful not to damage the coax or bend it too sharply. I believe RG-8X requires a 10cm bend radius. Then it's easy to run it into the boat using the access panel above the door between the saloon and the bunk bed area. There is a mousing line inside the mast, but I didn't use this. The reason is that I didn't want to pull raw coax up and then have to do the termination soldering "in the air" at the top of the mast. By using the old coax to pull the new coax down, you can do the antenna side termination "on the ground" and pull raw unterminated coax down through the mast and terminate it "on the ground" once you determine the right length.

 

I didn't want to leave anything to chance, so I ran new coax all the way to the VHF. That part was a bit more difficult but luckily the coax is not zip tied to the wire bundles on the starboard side. A little pushing and pulling and we got new wire all the way to the VHF. 

 

I got raw coax so you will need to terminate them yourself and weather seal the termination at the antenna side. I watched some youtube videos - not difficult at all. Get the quality soldered terminals, this is not a place to be cheap.

 

There is a coupler inside the access panel above the door that allows you to disconnect the coax in case you ever need to remove the mast. I did not install this because I believe each additional termination is an opportunity to screw up. If, in the future, I need to remove the mast, I can then add those additional terminations and use the coupling.

 

I got about 42 meters of RG-8X coax. I have lots left over after the VHF antenna install, but I plan to replace the mizzen AIS antenna and coax at some point.

 

On the mass-neg leak into the rigging, I've measured it to be about 150mA. I disconnected everything in the main and mizzen and it still exists. I am certain it's something in the bow locker. Sadly, I disconnected both windlasses, both genoa/staysail Bamar boxtron units and the leak seems to still be there. I fear it may be a chafed wire somewhere in the bow locker. Not looking forward to finding it.

--
Scott 
2007 A54 #69
SV Tengah
http://www.svtengah.com

Helli Dan,

Yes i got the 175A Alternator with double pully belt setup. 

At this time I limited the current to max 90 A. I could do more but I dont need to. I installed a 14.4 kWh Lithium batterie and most times when cruising I arrive with 90% charged batterie. The good side is also there is no more worn belts because the permanent load is lower now.

Do you have the Leece Neville document TSB-1139_8SC_WIRING_DIAGRAM?

Thats what I used to identify the connections. If you need to access the fiel contacts you may get the replacement back cap or just drill a wider hole through the original and use a hear resistant silicone wire and heat resistent gasket maker Silikone to access the field contact.

To access the stator I disconnected the original regulator and used the upper slot to pass the wires. I set the old regulator back as cap, disconnected. 

Oliver from Vela Nautica Amel54 #39 

Gran Canaria SPAIN 

On Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 13:18 Dan Carlson <carlsdan61@...> wrote:

Thanks for the information Oliver.

Do you have the Leece Neville 175A alternator on your boat?  If so the one picture that would be helpful is the actual wiring of the regulator behind the cap and the new connections into it.   And also if you have the LN175, it would be helpful to know the max current that you draw from it? 

Thanks and regards, Daniel Carlson on sv BeBe, SM#387, Shelter Bay, Panama

On Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 3:13 AM Oliver Henrichsen, SV Vela Nautica <oliver.henrichsen@... wrote:

Hello Dan,

I used the VSR sailors project regulator from Al Thomason. 

I am very satisfied with it. 

Since then I dont have wear off pullys and the regulator offers all parameters to customize beside all standard charge programs. 

I dont know if my wiring or fotos will help you? 

Oliver from Vela Nautica Amel54 #39 

Gran Canaria SPAIN 

On Thu, Nov 28, 2019, 13:43 Dan Carlson <carlsdan61@...> wrote:

Does anyone know what the safe continuous output for the LN175 would be? Or any information on the out put curve specific to this alternator.  I don't recall seeing it. Just the 175 amp rating. 

On Thu, Nov 28, 2019, 4:18 AM Alan Leslie <s.v.elyse@... wrote:

Yes Bob,
Traditional alternators can be a problem.
Remember though that on our boats there is a 1:2 ratio between engine rpm and alternator rpm so when the engine is doing 1000rpm the alternator is doing 2000.
This is where alternators like Delstar and Idlepro Extreme come into their own. These are 220/250amp alternators that can deliver 80-90% of rated output @ 2000 alternator rpm.
The standard LN175 can't do that and if you increase the rpm to produce more amps it will only do it for a while before everything turns to custard. 
We have big battery banks that can have very high charge acceptance rates with AGM,  firefly or lithium batteries,  so you need to think about these things very carefully in designing and operating a system that will achieve what you want safely.
Cheers 
Alan
Elyse SM 437 

Thanks for the information Oliver.

Do you have the Leece Neville 175A alternator on your boat?  If so the one picture that would be helpful is the actual wiring of the regulator behind the cap and the new connections into it.   And also if you have the LN175, it would be helpful to know the max current that you draw from it? 

Thanks and regards, Daniel Carlson on sv BeBe, SM#387, Shelter Bay, Panama

On Fri, Nov 29, 2019, 3:13 AM Oliver Henrichsen, SV Vela Nautica <oliver.henrichsen@... wrote:

Hello Dan,

I used the VSR sailors project regulator from Al Thomason. 

I am very satisfied with it. 

Since then I dont have wear off pullys and the regulator offers all parameters to customize beside all standard charge programs. 

I dont know if my wiring or fotos will help you? 

Oliver from Vela Nautica Amel54 #39 

Gran Canaria SPAIN 

On Thu, Nov 28, 2019, 13:43 Dan Carlson <carlsdan61@...> wrote:

Does anyone know what the safe continuous output for the LN175 would be? Or any information on the out put curve specific to this alternator.  I don't recall seeing it. Just the 175 amp rating. 

On Thu, Nov 28, 2019, 4:18 AM Alan Leslie <s.v.elyse@... wrote:

Yes Bob,
Traditional alternators can be a problem.
Remember though that on our boats there is a 1:2 ratio between engine rpm and alternator rpm so when the engine is doing 1000rpm the alternator is doing 2000.
This is where alternators like Delstar and Idlepro Extreme come into their own. These are 220/250amp alternators that can deliver 80-90% of rated output @ 2000 alternator rpm.
The standard LN175 can't do that and if you increase the rpm to produce more amps it will only do it for a while before everything turns to custard. 
We have big battery banks that can have very high charge acceptance rates with AGM,  firefly or lithium batteries,  so you need to think about these things very carefully in designing and operating a system that will achieve what you want safely.
Cheers 
Alan
Elyse SM 437 

Hello Dan,

I used the VSR sailors project regulator from Al Thomason. 

I am very satisfied with it. 

Since then I dont have wear off pullys and the regulator offers all parameters to customize beside all standard charge programs. 

I dont know if my wiring or fotos will help you? 

Oliver from Vela Nautica Amel54 #39 

Gran Canaria SPAIN 

On Thu, Nov 28, 2019, 13:43 Dan Carlson <carlsdan61@...> wrote:

Does anyone know what the safe continuous output for the LN175 would be? Or any information on the out put curve specific to this alternator.  I don't recall seeing it. Just the 175 amp rating. 

On Thu, Nov 28, 2019, 4:18 AM Alan Leslie <s.v.elyse@... wrote:

Yes Bob,
Traditional alternators can be a problem.
Remember though that on our boats there is a 1:2 ratio between engine rpm and alternator rpm so when the engine is doing 1000rpm the alternator is doing 2000.
This is where alternators like Delstar and Idlepro Extreme come into their own. These are 220/250amp alternators that can deliver 80-90% of rated output @ 2000 alternator rpm.
The standard LN175 can't do that and if you increase the rpm to produce more amps it will only do it for a while before everything turns to custard. 
We have big battery banks that can have very high charge acceptance rates with AGM,  firefly or lithium batteries,  so you need to think about these things very carefully in designing and operating a system that will achieve what you want safely.
Cheers 
Alan
Elyse SM 437