Correct
I drove from Kings Lyn to Norwich with no alternator. Had to change for a fresh charged battery once.
Technical Bigger battery?
- Thread starter Danoid
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Technical Bigger battery?
I drove from Kings Lyn to Norwich with no alternator. Had to change for a fresh charged battery once.
I think we are all saying just about the same thing here but with very small differences, probably resulting from personal experience. So I'm happy to say I don't disagree with almost anything being said and I'm going to spend my time a bit more productively considering whether to buy a battery load tester - or not.
I can’t recommend a battery tester
Over on the panda section we have had at least two people have their battery checked with a battery tester at a garage then change loads of other parts, and waste loads of time and money only to find out it was the battery.
Probably needs a thread of its own
I think my question would be..why would an an OEM spend time and money developing this if the alternator produces 100% of the cars electrical needs at all times.
Seems like a lot of work to fix nothing..
Seems like a lot of work to fix nothing..
This system manages the duration of use of certain functions, in order to conserve a sufficient level of charge in the battery with the ignition off.
After switching off the engine, you can still use functions such as the audio and telematic system, the wipers and the dipped beam headlamps or courtesy lamps, for a combined duration of approximately 40 minutes
You have to put it back or be left stranded
No that's a separate mode when the engine is off.
This specifies "when the vehicle is being driven".
We’re not comparing apples with apples. We’re not talking about a car you are still using the electrics without the engine running. Plus the load from cranking
There’s plenty of cars that have a clutch in the alternator pulley or the charge is controlled via the body computer to increase economy
But we aren’t talking about those cars here either
Here we’re talking about an alternator that can charge the battery while
The blower on max
The rear heated screen on
The main beam on
It can..but now randomly turn right and put the window down. You've just increased the electrical load with no notice where does the additional energy come from?
Yes I'm aware of doubts about the latest type which seem to rely heavily on electronic interpretation of the results. Their leads are so thin there's no way they can effectively pass sufficient current to properly load teat any automotive battery. I was thinking more along the lines of the good old tried and trusted heavy current drop tester. Like this for instance: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cla...1_1672479679_5a4734541c31e22a6d38f7599649c6bf
I think most of these seem to operate on a current draw of 100 amps which should be sufficient to test most car batteries effectively. We had an earlier version of this in our workshop many years ago. It was a crude device with two substantial probes connected by a robust resistance - which got very hot in operation - and a voltmeter. It proved very effective at identifying dodgy batteries. It's decidedly risky feature was that if you weren't really quick and forceful about jamming it on the battery terminals you would get a nice big spark as the connection was made and the same could happen on disconnect - not ideal when you've just stressed the hell out of the battery and caused it to gas freely! You could look in the cells of the old batteries and see the bad cell/cells because it/they would be bubbling! I notice the new type tester is "dead" until you operate the button/switch to draw current so avoiding the spark, great idea even if it does reduce the excitement! We also had one for bridging single cells but that quickly became redundant when they made the top of the cells inaccessible.
