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General Car Audio
HO alternator vs Battery upgrade?
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<blockquote data-quote="adulbrich" data-source="post: 8424851" data-attributes="member: 661255"><p>Your alternator is supplying most of the power while the vehicle is running. If your amps pull more power than the alternator can supply, your batteries supply the necessary current.</p><p></p><p>A local friend and I have observed something with our setups. When you add a lot of batteries, your overall charging voltage is slightly lower even when nothing is drawing from the electrical system. For example, I went from one group 31 to five group 49's. With the single battery, I charged between 15.0v and 15.2v. With the battery bank, I charged between 14.8v and 15.0v. That's with the same alternator and nothing else changed. It may not seem like a big difference, but that's enough to get me into the safe zone for my current amp. 15.0v is fine, but it protects at 15.2v.</p><p></p><p>Also, I got less voltage drop with more batteries running the same power. We speculate that the batteries do hold a bit of voltage above their resting voltage. When you turn your vehicle off, if you have a voltage meter, you'll notice that the voltage doesn't immediately drop down to what they normally rest at. It sort of gradually lessens after the initial shut-off. To say that a battery only helps at "battery voltage" I think is untrue. Adding a battery can help voltage remain more constant.</p><p></p><p>However, I am a strong opponent of just adding batteries. If you don't have a HO alternator and your voltage is in the 12's, adding batteries is not a good idea. You'll constantly be draining them, and your alternator won't be able to maintain them. Eventually, your alternator will fail and you'll have to replace it anyways.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="adulbrich, post: 8424851, member: 661255"] Your alternator is supplying most of the power while the vehicle is running. If your amps pull more power than the alternator can supply, your batteries supply the necessary current. A local friend and I have observed something with our setups. When you add a lot of batteries, your overall charging voltage is slightly lower even when nothing is drawing from the electrical system. For example, I went from one group 31 to five group 49's. With the single battery, I charged between 15.0v and 15.2v. With the battery bank, I charged between 14.8v and 15.0v. That's with the same alternator and nothing else changed. It may not seem like a big difference, but that's enough to get me into the safe zone for my current amp. 15.0v is fine, but it protects at 15.2v. Also, I got less voltage drop with more batteries running the same power. We speculate that the batteries do hold a bit of voltage above their resting voltage. When you turn your vehicle off, if you have a voltage meter, you'll notice that the voltage doesn't immediately drop down to what they normally rest at. It sort of gradually lessens after the initial shut-off. To say that a battery only helps at "battery voltage" I think is untrue. Adding a battery can help voltage remain more constant. However, I am a strong opponent of just adding batteries. If you don't have a HO alternator and your voltage is in the 12's, adding batteries is not a good idea. You'll constantly be draining them, and your alternator won't be able to maintain them. Eventually, your alternator will fail and you'll have to replace it anyways. [/QUOTE]
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