Gdavid
Guru
Oh I'm worried about the stock alternator quitting while trying to bring the batteries up from a depleted state too! That's why we carry a relatively inexpensive spare with us. It's not too bad to change but not something one enjoys doing, especially while cruising.
I looked into a better quality Balmar 70A, one where I could use the same belt & get by, but they are rather adamant about it's rotation for cooling. I was one on the "lucky" Mainship Perkins owners who got a contra-rotating 6.354. It runs like a top but in this case, I would rather have had the standard-rotation one.
I missed this post until just now, I also have a counter rotating 6.354 in my 34', I am planning to send my coolant water pump off to TAD this fall for rebuilding and also want to have some replacement injector lines made. They have the patterns but it will be pricey.
I ended up altering my plans on the battery plan a bit and bought 4 group 31 AGM batteries from Batteries Plus Bulbs. They have a pretty good reputation and a physical location I can walk into if I have problems, that is worth a lot to me. I had been on the verge of ordering some 200 AH AGM's via Amazon or Ebay but their where some pretty bad horror stories about damage in shipment or no one standing behind their product, the manufacturer and vender just pointing fingers. The first two 31's showed up quickly and I was able to swap them straight in replacement of the shot group 27 FLA that cam with the boat. The second two 31's were back ordered until today. I'll need to assemble the new battery leads and install the fuses for these in a new location. I'm just using the same gauge, length and manufacturer cables and fuse holders as the existing batteries so they should be receiving a balanced load and charge.