batteries

Need help with your car stereo system? Have a technical question? Post here.
ShawnArnold
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:01 pm

Re: batteries

Post by ShawnArnold »

ttocs wrote:145 is a BIG stock alt, most are not more then 70-80 amps so yous is 2x as big. Like I said trucks tend to have that ability to add a 2nd battery easier then a car.

Years ago I heard about a neat demonstration for this where they had a simple bicycle generator that rolled on the inside of the tire to produce the charging current. Of course they had a light on the front of it to show how much voltage it was making and it was easy to tell if the load was more on the rider. They slapped a student on the bike and sent him peddleing to power the light. As he went faster the instructor showed how much brighter the light would shine then when he was going slowly. So then the slap a small rechargeable battery on the circuit and what happens? Well of course the light lights up brighter as the energy from the battery was there at first to help aid in its voltage dips and the student didn't need to pedal any faster, all was good in the world. But it didn't take more then another 10 mins of the teacher talking before the light on the bike was now shining even dimmer then it was before although the student was visably sweating now again just to light up the light like he did before. So, how can we fix this problem? Well add another battery of course! So they slapped a 2nd identicle battery on it and again the light lit up brighter then it had been just seconds before, all is good in the world right? Well no it didn't take 5 mins of talking now before the light was now even dimmer then before all the while the student was now pedeling faster then the first time.

The battery is nothing more then a storage place for electricity/current, a big storage tank(think about a bucket of water). say your alt is the same as a 1/2" hose that is filling the bucket as fast as it can. All is good while not under load but when there is a load on the battery/bucket its the same as poking a hole in the bottom and letting the water drain out. If the drain/hole is bigger then the 1/2" hose the alt supplies its only a matter of time before you drain that battery/bucket. If you add a 2nd battery to it now, you now split that 1/2" the alt can supply between the two to fill 2x the amount again with the same hose so the alt needs to work 2x as hard to pump the water back into the bucket. Be clear that when the load on the alt increases, it becomes harder to turn, wears on the voltage regulator circuits, and genereally makes the alt get hot which is the easeist way to kill one is to cook it. No matter how much storage you add if you can't charge it, the battery acts as a load on the alt rather then making it easier anytime it tries to charge it.
Charge the battery at full charge and should not be disabled. If the battery is sitting idle battery charge.
Post Reply