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It is also within the realm of possibilities that you could
replace the regulator with a much more elaborate DC to DC converter type.
This could "buck convert" the high voltage (at high RPM) to low voltage
with greater amperage.
Bill Dube'
Are the parts for this circuitry available reasonably?
Yes. Not terribly cheap, however. Probably a couple hundred for a 500 Watt regulator. Price would roughly scale with wattage. Keep in mind these costs are for one-off, not large scale production. In larger scale production, 500 watts would cost $80 or so.
Are they dead bang reliable?
Can be. Vicor makes mil-spec parts, for a price.
Both items are vital if several of us start using them. Also while we shunted into talking about the Harley alternator in the thread, I believe the racemate alternator is designed to a higher rpm use.
You need not get too concerned about the RPM. Only the magnets spin.
IE doesn't produce full voltage and amprage until higher RPM normally.
The minimum RPM is not much of an issue for this application.
I'm not sure what sort of regulator comes stock with these units. I suspect that they are using some sort of simplistic PWM voltage regulator, but they could be using a buck conversion switcher (DC-DC converter.) The development cost of the switcher would be significantly higher, but production costs would not much different.
I am "officially" a mechanical engineer too, by the way.
Bill Dube'
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