ETEC 225 H.O. Alternator Capacity

[rzone]

One for the experts...

I bought a 3 bank Minn Kota DC charger so I can charge all 3 of my trolling motor batteries. Now I am wondering what the capacity of the alternator is on the ETEC?

I presume if this DC charger delivers 10A to each battery it should be pulling at least 30A (more like 35A) off the main battery when the motor is running.

Is this OK? Or is there not enough in the charging system to put juice into my cranking battery and my trolling batteries at the same time?

Thank you

[ELGIN]

From what I understand after talking with Minn Kota their charger will do what is advertised with no issues to the charging system of the E-TEC.

[rzone]

Thank you Elgin.

Did they give you any info on how much current it draws from the ETEC?

I wonder if they do some sort of sequencing to give 10A to one battery, then shut that off and do 10A to the next, etc... This would keep the draw off the system to a minimum.

[ELGIN]

I would direct that question to Minn Kota.

[rzone]

Well I called their tech support line, the guy said that the MK-3-DC (3 bank) "Draws 25 Amps".

I asked for some technical data, like is that typical or MAX amperage draw from the big motor? He didn't have anything to support that 25A number.

So I hope the ETEC can give up 25A to spare, and that 25A is really the MAX.

[SEAHORSE]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rzone &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

So I hope the ETEC can give up 25A to spare, and that 25A is really the MAX.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

The big block E-TECs have a 50 amp charging system capacity

[rzone]

Thank you Seahorse.

I am going to install that charger tomorrow.

[ghind]

As Seahorse says, the E-TEC 225 has 50 amps SPARE capacity for charging or whatever. I've pulled more than that from my 225HO and it delivered not a problem. I'm sure I've seen 55 amps (I measured it!) and it held excellent voltage doing so. I was amazed. I'm ran 5 by 70 watt lights, 2 by 110 watt lights, 3 heated seats, stereo, bilge pump, 12 volt power assisted steering and more. Not sure if I ever ran it all at max at once, but at decent RPM it will produce more than 50 amps.

I don't think any stock engine has an alternator that is better than an E-TEC. The E-TEC alternator is 133 amp in total but a lot is used by the engine.

[SEAHORSE]

that 50 amp output is a nominal number and it varies a bit with rpm, temperature and voltage.

500 rpm - 10 amps output

1000 rpm - 27 amps

1800 rpm and higher- 50 amps