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increase alternator cooling

Sailorwse

New member
Are there any ways to increase the cooling of the alternator? I have an old Ample Power 108A alternator that works good but it has very few cooling holes into the case and it gets over 190º if it puts out any more than 50A for very long. I have my bilge blower set so that the pickup hose pulls the hot air out from the cooling fan side of the alternator which helped a lot but would like to increase it more.
In my computer, I have installed fin-type heatsinks to increase cooling. Is there a way to do the same thing to an alternator case?
 

makomark

Silver Medal Contributor
I'd suggest you put the bilge blower hose back down where it should be and add a separate dedicated cooling fan if you want for the alternator. the brand you identified used to build their parts using a Delco style frame...and they are not ideal for the marine environment. Nothing that I've seen for an add on heat sink...

What are you running that is drawing over 50A?
 

Sailorwse

New member
I'd suggest you put the bilge blower hose back down where it should be and add a separate dedicated cooling fan if you want for the alternator. the brand you identified used to build their parts using a Delco style frame...and they are not ideal for the marine environment. Nothing that I've seen for an add on heat sink...

What are you running that is drawing over 50A?
For load I have a 560Ah LFP battery. I would really like to improve the cooling so that I can dial up the output to 70-80 Amps but need to increase cooling to do that.

The engine is a diesel so there is no requirement for a bilge blower like on a gas-powered boat so my "bilge blower" is more of an engine space cooling fan. Given that, I have the intake for the hose located so that it will pull the hottest air from the enclosure. I have added sound proofing insulation to all four sides and the top, so the space is about engine coolant temp which is 180º. I am planning to replace the coolant thermostat with a 160º which should help some.
 

makomark

Silver Medal Contributor
That is a beast, especially if it is one physical entity...and I won't ask why....

The diesel likely won't appreciate a cooler thermostat...may be time to investigate other alternators...or alternative mounting locations on the engine...
 
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