On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:15:02 GMT, "MasterBlaster"
<Nobody's.Home@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>"Moses" wrote:
>> You might want to check the voltage in the system. If voltage goes
>> much over 13 volts when the engine is running your voltage regulator
>> must be bad.
>
>Then every car on the planet must have a bad regulator. Since the basic
>chemistry of a lead-acid battery gives approximately 2.14 volts per cell,
>a fully charged "12v" battery should read about 12.8 volts. A normal
>alternator will put out around 14.5 volts when running.
Moses earns a Fail on that one. The battery in a car is charged as
a constant-voltage float charge, and the voltage output by the
alternator is varied with the temperature to match the weather.
The proper alternator output should be about 13.8 Volts at around
60F, and it rises to roughly 15.5 V at 120-ish Fahrenheit. The only
time over 13V is bad is when the engine has been off for a few minutes
- the static charge should be around 12.6V on an unloaded battery, but
can be higher from a surface charge if the engine was just shut off.
Now there IS a way that the headlights could be popping because of
the alternator - overvoltage from a bad battery or totally dirty
cables and connections. If the battery or the cable connections
(either positive or negative) go open, the alternator will keep
raising the voltage till it gets some feedback that it is high enough
- and without that feedback the output can easily go above 24 volts,
more than enough to pop light bulbs and cause other severe damage.
And if it's a dirty/loose lug in the stack on the positive post
adapter, part of the system could be staying at the proper voltage
because it sees the battery and not the alternator, and another line
can go high because it sees the alternator and not the battery...
--<< Bruce >>--
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