Sampsonite Posted January 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 lulz. But what I'm sayin is.. I know not all the power from the alt is going straight to that batteries. But, lets just say. . 200a alt is putting out exactly 160 amps @ idle in a perfect world the car uses 120 amps. the extra 40 amps is getting sucked up by the batteries, True or false. Its not like the alternator is turning off when not in use. so in theory, if you left your car running for 1 hour at idle, it would be the same as charging your batteries with a 40 amp charger? What I'm trying to get at is, if you were to leave your car on for too long, wouldn't it cause some damage to the batteries from overcharging? Quote --Sampson 816-591-6592 www.kcrimshop.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappin F150 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 What I'm trying to get at is, if you were to leave your car on for too long, wouldn't it cause some damage to the batteries from overcharging? False the voltage regulator keeps the car at a steady voltage without your system on. It ...well...regulates the voltage lol. Keeps batteries from over charging , but also keeps them at peak voltage when not in high current draw from them. Quote Team DC! 2005 F150 | Pioneer | Infinity Kappa 6x8's | MTX 3404 4 Channel | Q Logic Kicks | KNU | DC | AQ | 1998 Taurus | Alpine | Punch 5x7's | Rockford Fosgate | MTX | KNU | Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Just_Rob Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 so in theory, if you left your car running for 1 hour at idle, it would be the same as charging your batteries with a 40 amp charger? Not exactly... If your batteries were low and needed 40 amps going into them to charge them then yes, but assuming a normal startup cycle where the alternator is just replacing what was used during starting, then no.. 99% of the time when measuring alternator output on a normal car, only about 7-10 amps is ever going into the battery at any given time.. What I'm trying to get at is, if you were to leave your car on for too long, wouldn't it cause some damage to the batteries from overcharging? No, after say an hour or so of idling with nothing on, and the alternator just making enough to power the necessary functions of the vehicle such as engine management etc, at some point the battery will only have 2-3 amps actually going into it, and after an extended period of time I have seen that go as low as 1 amp actually going into the battery. Nowhere near enough to cause any long term damage.. If you look at how most vehicles are wired from the alt to the battery, most all of them have the alternators output directly into the fuseblock, then to the battery so all the current doesnt have to flow into, then out of the battery to power the vehicle.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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