Balmar ars-5 not working, no tachometer

[granche1]

Hey everyone. I finally made it back down to my boat in mexico and got back into tinkering with my charging system. When I left it, I had just installed a new Balmar ars-5 and for the most part things seemed to be working fine. Today I started the motor and noticed that my tach was not working. I then noticed that the display on the ars-5 did not seem to be scrolling correctly. It starts off just rapidly moving through the battery selection mode and the magnet does not seem to activate the switch. The alternator is also not working. However, when I plug the alternator into the old alpha voltage regulator, everything seems to work fine. Any insight would be appreciated.

grant
s/v viandante

[Plumbean]

Is your tach wired through the ARS-5, or is the lead taken directly off the stator on the alternator? When I had mine installed, the tach would only work when the engine was revved up, and we figured out it was because the tach had not been run through the ARS-5. My understanding is that the ARS-5 includes an amplifier of some sort for the tach signal so it doesn't cut out at low rpms. Once we ran it through the ARS-5 the tach worked fine. Sounds like you may have more issues here though ...

[Stu Jackson]

I had "issues" with our new MC-612 a few years ago when I put it in. Turned out factory crimps and ring terminals kept failing. First, check the wires at the back of the alternator. Then do the diagnostics in the manual for the regulator, they've been know to fail, though, just a printed circuit board...good luck.