i have two engines each with truck Prestolite 24volt 110 amp alternators i want to charge 1 large battery together and separately what 3 step regulator should i use
and do i need to bypass the inbuilt alternator regulators
This depends on the battery, and the application.
Presume that this is a marine environment? Lithium battery or lead?
There are a few alternator controllers on the market that communicate with Victron equipment, if you have lithium battery with a BMS, then that also needs to communicate with the Alternator regulators - possibly also via a Victron GX device. This depends on what other equipment you have, or are planing to install.
For a lead battery, the alternator internal regulators would suffice. For lithium, then these need to be bypassed and an external regulator installed. To allow for correct charging, this needs to be controlled by the battery BMS as described above.
thank you for the quick reply the batteries are deep cycle lead acid and i would like to use a 3 step smart charger
as i was very satisfied with this system on a previous boat ,also i would like to use an alternator heat sensor from
both alternators so would need inputs from 3 sensors 2 for alternators 1for battery.
try looking at
or
These are 2 fairly common brands.
you would need one regulator for each engine, and each would have their own sensors.
Only advantage of a CAN bus is that it can provide data to on board housekeeping systems.
There is also the Arco Zeus, a relative newcomer. I have the WS500, worked well with my original AGM batteries and now with my Victron Lithium batteries.
All of the three external regulators mentioned will need the existing regulator removing and at least one new wire adding to one of the brushes, possibly both. You can not just add a new field wire with the existing regulator in situ if you want to drop to float as the internal one will keep the volts at 14.4V or whatever it is set to.