How good is my battery?

[FamousMassacre 10+ year member]

I got a cigarette lighter volt meter and without the big 3 it's between 14.1 and 14.4 and they are usually a couple below the actual number I heard.

With the big 3 I hope to get around 15 but I don't know.

How is my battery? Good? I thought it was supposed to be in the 13's

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[FamousMassacre 10+ year member]

 

[alec14 10+ year member]

Did you have to wire the voltmeter in, or did it just plug in or something?

 

[FamousMassacre 10+ year member]

Did you have to wire the voltmeter in, or did it just plug in or something?

"I got a cigarette lighter volt meter and without the big 3 it's between 14.1 and 14.4 and they are usually a couple below the actual number I heard."

Just plug it into the cig lighter.

 

[QueSound15 10+ year member]

Did you have to wire the voltmeter in, or did it just plug in or something?

those you just plug into your cigarette lighter. no hard wiring

and i hear those are off a little but not much. the battery is supposed to be in the high 13's with the car off.

 

[FamousMassacre 10+ year member]

those you just plug into your cigarette lighter. no hard wiring
and i hear those are off a little but not much. the battery is supposed to be in the high 13's with the car off.

High 13's with the car OFF?

Let me go check.

 

[QueSound15 10+ year member]

High 13's with the car OFF?
Let me go check.

im sorry i mis quoted. should be high 12's.....typed too fast, my bad

 

[s3th 10+ year member]

Looks good to me, thats what my camaro is 14.4 volts.

 

[FamousMassacre 10+ year member]

im sorry i mis quoted. should be high 12's.....typed too fast, my bad

Plugged into a 12v cig lighter with the car off, it's at exactly 12.0

 

[dhall615 10+ year member]

My impala will climb up to about 14.9 without the subs hitting but will sit at 14.1 with subs hitting at a good volume. A good deep cycle battery will help alot with reliability.

 

[sexy 10+ year member]

14.4 is the standard output from the alternator for most cars on the road today. 13.8 is still pretty common also but 14.4 is the most common. Whether it’s a 14.4 or 13.8 alternator it has nothing much to do with how good your battery is. If you were to unhook the battery and check your cig lighter with the engine running of course it would still read 14.4.

Each cell in your battery produces 2.1 volts for a total of 12.6 when fully charged and resting. If your battery reads 12.6 or above that’s good but still does not tell you how good because there could be problems with internal resistance. As batteries age they start having more internal resistance and there are some simple test that you can do to tell how good your battery really is. If you ever want to test a battery to see how good it is then you need to Google battery resistance testing and do the work to find out for your self. Auto parts stores have testers that can do this test for you but I like to test my own to be sure.

 

[alec14 10+ year member]

"I got a cigarette lighter volt meter and without the big 3 it's between 14.1 and 14.4 and they are usually a couple below the actual number I heard."
Just plug it into the cig lighter.

Where'd you get it at? I need one of them, lol. And 14.4 sounds like your battery is still good, when it begins dropping to mid-13's you should start watching it more

 

[FamousMassacre 10+ year member]

Where'd you get it at? I need one of them, lol. And 14.4 sounds like your battery is still good, when it begins dropping to mid-13's you should start watching it more

LCD Cigarette Lighter Voltage Volt Digital Panel Meter Monitor Car Truck 12V 24V | eBay

 

[alec14 10+ year member]

LCD Cigarette Lighter Voltage Volt Digital Panel Meter Monitor Car Truck 12V 24V | eBay

Thanks man!

 

[NASTY08IMPALA 5,000+ posts]

get a hard wired volt meter and wire directly to amp ..thats where u wana see the voltage drop not at the cig lighter