HO alt with only 1 battery?

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

I don't think you know what you're talking about. My vehicle didn't come with a large battery and neither do most vehicles. They put whatever rinky dinky battery they can in there that will start the engine and run the radio with the engine off for a while. You cannot prove mathematically or scientifically that a battery is discharging when an alternator is able to keep its charge up around 14v, which it should in a stock system all the time. Until you do that, you fail.

I never said all batteries in cars were huge I also never said anyone needs 1 million batteries to haul around, you did. Your car came with a battery larger than it needs to just start the car as a little 680 sized batteries can start most cars as well as 925 sized which are considerably smaller than lets say a group 78 battery. Many cars could use a smaller and cheaper group 51 battery (or smaller and cheaper yet batteries) instead of a group 27ish sized battery if all it had to do is start the vehicle. Hell some of the newer luxury vehicles now come with a 35 AH starter battery under the hood and a rather large trunk mounted battery to help cover the cars electrics. What size is your battery? Is it larger than a motorcycle battery?

Parasitic drain - memory, heat and a few other factors play a role in everything as well. Having dealt with people at SEMA salons and NOPI Nationals before with street racer enthusiasts, many of which did not even have audio systems, ran into issues of dead "little" batteries within 3 months to a year of them installing it even if they drove the car often and had upgraded electrical to help run the ignition better. Over the 4 days spent at both events I would venture to say off of memory that I was asked about that at least 30 times from different people with different cars all using other brands of battery. Be it to save weight to wanting to keep the battery in the stock locations because different air filters and performance parts ate up space to where a stock sized battery could fit.

 

[ahole-ic]

I never said all batteries in cars were huge I also never said anyone needs 1 million batteries to haul around, you did. Your car came with a battery larger than it needs to just start the car as a little 680 sized batteries can start most cars as well as 925 sized which are considerably smaller than lets say a group 78 battery. Many cars could use a smaller and cheaper group 51 battery (or smaller and cheaper yet batteries) instead of a group 27ish sized battery if all it had to do is start the vehicle. Hell some of the newer luxury vehicles now come with a 35 AH starter battery under the hood and a rather large trunk mounted battery to help cover the cars electrics. What size is your battery? Is it larger than a motorcycle battery?
Parasitic drain - memory, heat and a few other factors play a role in everything as well. Having dealt with people at SEMA salons and NOPI Nationals before with street racer enthusiasts, many of which did not even have audio systems, ran into issues of dead "little" batteries within 3 months to a year of them installing it even if they drove the car often and had upgraded electrical to help run the ignition better. Over the 4 days spent at both events I would venture to say off of memory that I was asked about that at least 30 times from different people with different cars all using other brands of battery. Be it to save weight to wanting to keep the battery in the stock locations because different air filters and performance parts ate up space to where a stock sized battery could fit.

Are you comparing apples to oranges? The crux of the issue is, with the car on, unless your alternator is not able to support the current draw, the battery is not discharging and makes no difference the size. You're bringing in all kinds of uses for batteries when the car is off.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Are you comparing apples to oranges? The crux of the issue is, with the car on, unless your alternator is not able to support the current draw, the battery is not discharging and makes no difference the size. You're bringing in all kinds of uses for batteries when the car is off.

Yawnnnnnnn ALL of what I said are factors and more in the real world use of the battery and heat is with the engine on.

Do you think all of those guys running the small batteries ran without an alternator or left their lights on or something? Are you saying they do not drive the car?

Also please explain to me why a regular battery would get trashed with 140-270 amp alternators on systems of 900 to 3200 watts. I have tried to recondition 4 regular batteries for those people over the last year+ with non upgraded batteries and they all were a couple of years old at most and all trashed with external corrosion and sulfation out the ying yang. Are you also saying engine heat doesn't play a role in battery life? What about in correlation to cycle life?

Does climate matter in battery lifespan? What does heat effect?

 

[ahole-ic]

Yawnnnnnnn ALL of what I said are factors and more in the real world use of the battery and heat is with the engine on. Do you think all of those guys running the small batteries ran without an alternator or left their lights on or something? Are you saying they do not drive the car?

Also please explain to me why a regular battery would get trashed with 140-270 amp alternators on systems of 900 to 3200 watts. I have tried to recondition 4 regular batteries for those people over the last year+ with non upgraded batteries and they all were a couple of years old at most and all trashed with external corrosion and sulfation out the ying yang. Are you also saying engine heat doesn't play a role in battery life? What about in correlation to cycle life?

Does climate matter in battery lifespan? What does heat effect?

It's easy. The batteries were drained with the engine off. With the engine on, they are not discharging plain and simple. If they can't stand the heat of the engine compartment, they were poorly designed anyways. I mean really, do you have any kind of point here?

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

Ok why don't we all run the smallest battery out there that starts our cars? Stock alt is large enough to cover the vehicle it is put in isn't it? Just saying I know quite a few people who tried to run cars off of a tiny battery and no audio system and the things like electric seats and air conditioning were ripped out. Those small batteries tend to fail in 6 months to a little over a year regardless if it was daily driven or not. If an auto maker could save money and weight by tossing in any old battery that just starts the car why dont they?

I read it as him saying all you need is an under-hood battery, no need for a secondary one. He never said that all you need is a battery big enough to start you car, but all you need is the one used to start your car.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

It's easy. The batteries were drained with the engine off. With the engine on, they are not discharging plain and simple. If they can't stand the heat of the engine compartment, they were poorly designed anyways. I mean really, do you have any kind of point here?

Summer Heat Can Leave Motorists Stranded

Test and Replace Car Batteries Before They Fail

" MEMPHIS, Tenn., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- As summer temperatures sizzle

overhead, the heat could be cooking up trouble under the hood of your car.

Corrosion caused by heat is the leading cause of battery failure, and

automotive repair shops and retail outlets often report a spike in battery

failures during periods of severe summer heat.

"The more heat a battery is exposed to the shorter its lifecycle," said

Bruce Bonebrake, master mechanic and host of Weekend Mechanic on the DIY

Network. "Motorists should take proactive steps to avoid unexpected battery

failure. They should be prepared to replace car batteries before they fail

and leave them stranded."

While most batteries last three to five years in ideal driving

conditions, factors such as external temperature, the car's age and nature

of usage can impact the life of a battery. Many motorists are unaware that

under the stress of normal city driving, the average life of a vehicle

battery is about three years or even shorter in warmer areas.

According to the National Car Care Council, a national non-profit

organization that educates consumers about proper vehicle care, drivers

with batteries more than three years old should consider replacing them

since batteries rarely give warning signs that they are about to fail.

Bonebrake recommends the following: Test your battery at three years.

If it's failing, replace it immediately. If the battery is more than 4

years old, replace it right away or you are asking for trouble.

"From navigation systems to DVD players, we are demanding more out of

our car batteries than ever before," Bonebrake said. "Proactive battery

testing and replacement, especially during warm weather, is the only way to

ensure that your car's battery is performing as it should."

Automotive retail outlets such as AutoZone offer free diagnostic

testing for car batteries."

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

I read it as him saying all you need is an under-hood battery, no need for a secondary one. He never said that all you need is a battery big enough to start you car, but all you need is the one used to start your car.

And I was getting at you need the proper sized battery........

 

[ahole-ic]

I read it as him saying all you need is an under-hood battery, no need for a secondary one. He never said that all you need is a battery big enough to start you car, but all you need is the one used to start your car.

Thank you.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

My vehicle didn't come with a large battery and neither do most vehicles. They put whatever rinky dinky battery they can in there that will start the engine and run the radio with the engine off for a while.

Yawn