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Recommended replacement alternator vendor?

Ed_Wischmeyer

Ed_Wischmeyer

Well Known Member
Like many RVs, my RV-9A is a 87 Suzuki Saluki, part number 14824/14870. The first one lasted about 600 hours, but the replacement failed yesterday after only about 50 hours -- fortunately when I was inbound on the ILS, fifteen miles from home.

The first one apparently developed an internal electrical problem. No idea what caused the second one to fail, be it mechanical, electrical, fan belt or installation. I'll let the mechanic who installed it do the post-mortem.

Question: the recently failed alternator was a rebuilt unit from NAPA, and the spare on hand is new, also from NAPA. Any comments on vendors recommended or to be avoided?

Thanks!

Curious coincidence: on both flights, I had the Garmin aera 660 turned on as an additional navigation source. Don't think that was causal, however...
 
Thousands of trouble free hours on my B&C 60A alternator. More expensive than the NAPA/AutoZone, etc. automotive types, but the hassle-free operation is worth something to me.

George
 
BlndRvtr said:
Thousands of trouble free hours on my B&C 60A alternator. More expensive than the NAPA/AutoZone, etc. automotive types, but the hassle-free operation is worth something to me.

George
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Thanks. Is it the same form factor, or would rework be required? 600 hours on the first one wasn't bad. The stamped logo appears to be ND with the two letters kerned together.
 
Something to keep in mind is that the B&C is externally regulated, and most modern automotive alternators are internally regulated. I'm in the process of replacing a failed Plane Power alternator with a B&C and need to rearrange some electrical architecture to accommodate the separate voltage regulator (inside the cockpit).
 
May be the difference between new and re-built. You don't know how many cycles of vibration a re-built has gone through. Go for the new alternator.
 
B&C vs other brands is the difference between wanting to buy a cheap one and replace ever x0 hours or buy once and forget about it.

3 B&C alternator on three different RV and none have missed a beat. The first one is a 40A B&C, over 15 years now and over a thousand hours.
 
5 homebuilts, 5 B&C alternators, 5 B&C regulators, 5 B&C starters. The first was installed in 1985 - zero failures or service required on any of their products over 6,000 aggregate hours.

Buy once; cry once.
 
B&C. Pay more but then you can forget it. Saving a buck on the initial cost just to keep replacing it is false economy.
 
Plane Power, AL12-EI60 for my builds.

As far as I can tell, both the PP and B&C units are ND knockoffs with specific tweaks (e.g. regulator architecture, over-volt crowbar, fan "twist", gold vs silver finish) supplied by Bosch/Unipoint...

I'm sure there are a bunch of other OE specified differences as well...
 
bjdecker said:
Plane Power, AL12-EI60 for my builds.

As far as I can tell, both the PP and B&C units are ND knockoffs with specific tweaks (e.g. regulator architecture, over-volt crowbar, fan "twist", gold vs silver finish) supplied by Bosch/Unipoint...

I'm sure there are a bunch of other OE specified differences as well...
Click to expand...

The B&C is an actual ND alternator but modified. The PP is a similar ND clone with non ND proven and validated components. I have yet to find (still looking) the exact form factor with identical housings of the PP in an ND alternator.
 
Alternator

Rock Auto online sales.

I replaced my original 1997 Vans 40 AMP alternator with a NEW ND 14684 purchased online from Rock Auto. My vehicle search was 1987 Suzuki Samurai. This new alternator was direct mounting bracket fit replacement for Vans 1997 brackets. This new alternator has been working properly for over 800 hours. My VFR RV-6 has a low voltage warning lamp, adequate reserve battery capacity, gps with internal battery that gives me confidence I'm safe flying with a low cost internally regulated automotive alternator.
 
amckeen said:
Rock Auto online sales.

I replaced my original 1997 Vans 40 AMP alternator with a NEW ND 14684 purchased online from Rock Auto. My vehicle search was 1987 Suzuki Samurai. This new alternator was direct mounting bracket fit replacement for Vans 1997 brackets. This new alternator has been working properly for over 800 hours. My VFR RV-6 has a low voltage warning lamp, adequate reserve battery capacity, gps with internal battery that gives me confidence I'm safe flying with a low cost internally regulated automotive alternator.
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I think it’s less about being safe and more about the hassle of changing them out if they fail prematurely. Most of us have, or should have, charging and voltage indication in our panels.
Still, to your point, many flying with these cheap ND’s that are doing just fine.
 
Rock Auto

What Alan said, Rock Auto is brand new. 3 years 300 plus, no issues.
 
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I've had pretty good luck with Duralast brand from AutoZone. One bonus of AZ is a lifetime warranty; a coupla years ago I was tracking down some noise in my audio system and thought maybe the alternator was causing it, but it was still charging just fine. Anyhoo, I took it to AZ and mentioned audio noise... the counter guy said yep, it could be dying on you, here's a new one, covered by warranty and no charge. That wasn't the source of the noise, but at least I got a new alternator...
 
No fault found when I took it to the shop.

So I'll fly locally a bunch, and if it flakes out again, cycle the alternator field circuit breaker to see if that will get it working again, then put in the spare alternator.

???
 
Ed_Wischmeyer said:
No fault found when I took it to the shop.

So I'll fly locally a bunch, and if it flakes out again, cycle the alternator field circuit breaker to see if that will get it working again, then put in the spare alternator.

???
Click to expand...

Seems to be a common problem - bad connector on the alternator. There's a thread for that with links to places to buy replacement connectors.

I read somewhere that most alternators returned to PP/Hartzell are actually NFF, which probably means that there is a wiring problem somewhere.
 
My RV7's Plane Power IR 60amp has been in use for 1150+ hours. I have a replacement/spare PP60; but I'm in no hurry to swap out the old old one for the new.

PS my Mooney 201 never had the OEM alternator last more than 400 hours.
 
Poll Results

I didn't vote but so far 368 hrs primary and back-up B&C alternators perfect. % of PP users who had a failure in the first 250 hrs - 31%, % of Auto users who had a failure in the first 250 hrs - 18%, % of B&C users who had a failure in the first 250 hrs - 2.5%.
 

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dmattmul said:
I didn't vote but so far 368 hrs primary and back-up B&C alternators perfect. % of PP users who had a failure in the first 250 hrs - 31%, % of Auto users who had a failure in the first 250 hrs - 18%, % of B&C users who had a failure in the first 250 hrs - 2.5%.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't those numbers contain the words "Reported" failures? I run a PP main Alt and B&C backup on the accessory case. Neither one has failed to keep my battery charged. I did replace the PP once when trouble shooting an issue but it was still charging at the time. In fact, I loaned it to another guy that had an electrical problem and he flew it over 1000 miles to get him home. I won't hesitate to use PP.

-Marc
 
Wire/Pin failures

Just following up with regards to wire/pin failures. The Plane Power/Hartzell AL12-EI60 kit includes a pre-wired connector but is missing the vibration isolator/wire seals.

I've brought this to the attention of Tim Gauntt @ Hartzell, but to my knowledge they haven't updated their kit.

The replacement connector, including the vibration isolator/wire seals are available from https://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/product_info.php/products_id/1704

Please install these, or pack the wire cavities with neutral cure silicone RTV.
 
When I started up, I thought the voltage maybe took a little longer than normal, it I didn’t remove the data card to check. However, I did have the video camera going as the plan was to record AOA response in dynamic situations. I’ll check this when I get home.

Just before I got to the runup area, the alternator dropped off line.

I didn’t think to cycle the alternator field breaker, but that can be done when trying to duplicate the problem.

Back to square one.
 
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