Can you tell me more about the 70 amp alternator as factory installed on my Beta38 (WOC K36400)? I'm looking at the idea of installing 200 ah of LiFePO4 lithium batteries (Battle Born) for my house bank. I have a pretty basic set up of starting battery and house batteries seperated by isolator. With the lithiums able to take huge current easily, I'd worry that the alternator would overheat. Is the standard 70 amp alternator "smart enough" to combat this, or would some sort of regulator need installed? I see that the output voltage, as read while running, is withing the perameters of the batteries I'm looking at. Also, Do you forsee an issue with a standard wet cell starting battery and Lithium house batteries once engine is running and voltages open the isolator? My onboard charger/inverter is programmable and I can set charging parameters for the Lithium. With 200ah of House batteries, I probably could eliminate the starting battery all together and use as emergency start battery. The batteries I'm looking at can handle 100 amps continous each, and I'd be installing 2 in parallel. I believe the starter pulls 130-150 amps? Hope this makes sense. My main concern is Alternator Overheating or damage.
It is never a good idea to mix battery types as the one charging system will not be able to differentiate between the two types of batteries and their different charging requirements.
Your 70 amp alternator will not cope with those Li alternators. I would recommend a 120 amp alternator with an external programmable regulator. We keep two different types of 120 amp alternators in stock that will work for you. One is the Mahle 120 amp and the other is a Balmar. The Balmar MC614 H regulator has the programming in already for li batteries.
