This happened to Diesel Duck on the trip going north in Brazil and we are sure, PUP readers have experienced something similar. Coming from Parati on the way to Angra dos Reis, I noticed a charging problem. Somehow the voltage of the housebank batteries was dropping and not rising, while the engine is running. The housebank's alternator, which is mounted piggyback on top of the PERKINS diesel engine, is a 100 Amp BALMAR alternator, controlled by a fancy BALMAR regulator, had already over 3000 hours on. I suspected that the alternator's brushes were worn down after all the hours of good service. But there were no spare brushes or parts for this alternator on board of Diesel Duck. We had met Klaus, who runs the cruising station for the "Transocean Cruising Club" here in Angra dos Reis and he said he knew of a starter and alternator repair shop in town. With his Range Rover we were soon there and Pedro, the honcho at the shop said, "No problem." These were the only English words he knew and my Portuguese knowledge was not much better. In no time was the alternator clamped into the vice and Pedro, the expert, attacked the beast with a metric allen key trying to open up an US made alternator. The key didn't fit. Meanwhile, I was trying to tell him there is a difference between metric and standard. In a short time four customers plus me, (Benno) Klaus, the TO guy and Pedro, the expert, were involved in a heated discussion about metric and standard and George Bush. Suddenly, Pedro found in the depths of his toolbox a 3/16 allen key. Voila! The alternator came apart and I was feeling a lot better now. Pedro reached for a 6 mm socket driver to remove the 1/4 inch hex head screws, which were holding the brush holder. I started the discussion again about 6 mm and 1/4 inch and that it was not going to fit. Pedro smartly grabbed a 7 mm socket driver, which is bigger, of course it was too big. The discussion heated up as there were now seven customers and me, plus Pedro. Klaus, the TO guy had left to do other things and before we got to George Bush again, Pedro remembered the US made vise grip pliers, his secret weapon. In a flash both brush holder screws were removed and Pedro was holding the culprit, the brush holder, up. The whole group was happy and clapping their hands. The brushes had worn flat right down to the wire. Does Pedro have new brushes? He smiled and went down the road. Five minutes later he was back, presenting me and the whole discussion group with a new brush holder complete with brushes. Pedro was the boss and Tavio, his right hand man, got the job to assemble the alternator. Tavio went to a wall cabinet where he pulled out a tiny drawer and plucked two new hex head machine screws out. On the old screw the vise grip had eaten the heads. Surprisingly, the socket driver fit this time. It was going good. Now Tavio was bending over and I could see he was putting some muscle into the turning of the screw. A little crack sound was heard. Something no good had happened. The saying is: "after tight comes loose." Did he try to fit a metric machine screw into a standard thread? He did!! He then broke or snapped the screw while forcing it into the hole. Pedro, the boss, must have heard the breaking sound too when the screw snapped. He waved to me and with a sour smile, "No problem" pointed to the wall clock, made with his hand an eating sign, indicating me to buzz off, have lunch and come back at two O'clock. I was back at 02:00 hrs. Pedro was holding my alternator like a Christmas present and smiling. Tavio was smiling too. "Completo" and the bill was completo too. $75 bucks. I hoofed back to the boat, fitted the alternator and started the engine. A crackling sound, a little smoke out of the $310 Balmar MC 612-H smart regulator. Nothing worked. Maybe the regulator had been already defective prior to fitting the alternator, I thought. Out comes the spare Balmar smart regulator, gets fitted and another try with the engine. More smoke. Now this regulator is fried too., That's it. I remove the alternator and open it up. Christ, what a mess. The brush holder was not aligned, the mounting holes were not drilled in a 90 degree angle and the negative brush lead was not wired to the negative stud. Instead, it was wired to the case. The isolation Teflon sleeve was destroyed. Shall I bring the alternator back to Pedro, was my first thought. Nope, these guys here are not up to snuff in fixing isolated ground Balmar alternators! To get us going, I wired the house bank's batteries to the engine's own alternator which has only 75 Amp and normally feeds the engine starting batteries. Months later, in St. Thomas USVI, Bradford Aircraft & Marine Alternator & Starters, a FAA repair station, fixed the Balmar alternator professionally. >From Defender Marine (http://www.defender.com) we got a new BALMAR smart regulator. Best Regards Benno & Marlene P.S. pictures of alternator and regulator are complementing this story in our blog: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/dieselduck/