16 volt systems

[nocturnalrites101]

i heard once that your cars electrical (ecu etc) can handle up to 16 volts even and not 10th of a volt higher any truth to this? So what would one due? get alts with an external regulator set it to like 15.95 volts? and use 14 volt batteries?

[tacomaguy1]

16v charges at 18v

14v charges around 16v

Some cars can handle the higher voltage for running 14v and some can't

[nocturnalrites101]

well i knew that much about the battery to charging ratio , just thought maybe i could get some extra ommph.. its a 98k1500 suburban. are there some known cars that can? or is more or less trial and error

[Guest DC Power Kyle]

15.95 would spike to over 16v lots of times when going from full output to no output. Just FYI

[HHR Ed]

AGM batts like to charge at a max of 2.4V per cell.

So a 14V batt would charge at 16.8V

and a 16V batt would charge at 19.2V to top off.

Most cars cannot handle this. You can use a step down and do a split voltage system with high volt batts and a 12V bank.

Or you can risk it, or even look up the manufacturers of each electrical component in the car and see if they have a max voltage rating.

[Tarball]

IMO its not worth the risk, you can screw stuff up in your ride. Mainly your computer and sensors. Invest in more alternator power (amperage) adn externally regulate to a safe peak charging rate.

[ghostlyrich]

stick with 12 volt man by the time you deal with step downs and all that jazz its easiest. And the main question is will your amps be capable of handling 14v batts since they charge at 16 volt and will send allot of amps into protect.

[will77530]

fords will not do it, chevys can, as far as long time damage i couldnt tell you, either do seperate charging systems or step down modules