Charging woes

[bayareaberk at yahoo.com (T Berk)]

 -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Jarrett [mailto:jarrett@rpa.net] 
<snip>
> I checked, and I had  
> forgotten to tighten down the negative terminal to
> the battery.
> 
> When I did that, the car started, but my voltmeter
> read barely 12V.    
> It had been reading in the 13V range.  I got home
> and checked it with  
> my meter.  Even when running, with no accessories
> turned on, I'm  
> getting 12.2, 12.3V.  I cleaned and reconnected the
> ground.
> 
> I also pulled the voltage regulator from the
> alternator, and the  
> brushes looked pretty worn down, so I replaced that,
> with no joy.
> 
> Any way I can test to see if the alternator is
> working, with a meter?
> 

And then PETER said:

> The alternator should put out 13.8-14.1V, but a bad
> battery can pull that
> down to ~12V.
> 
> Peter
> 

Yep, yep- You should charge the battery overnight with
a small amount of Amps (2A setting?) and get it back
to tippy-top shape. The conversion of mechanical to
electrical potential in the battery is done
chemically. ;]) 

It's that conversion that is drawing down your power,
once you _know_ the battery is again a _source_ of
electricity and not a _drain_ on the system then you
can test the electrical system in place.

Otherwise your going to want to think about pulling
the ALT and having it bench-tested. But we aren't
there yet.


TBerk



 
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