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C

chesjak

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Messages
220
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10
Location
south coast
Car
Accord I-ctdi
Hi Guys

I have never felt that my car engine turns over very well when starting. The other day I put a test meter onto the battery and it registered 12.3v when on tickover or without the engine running. I then put the air conditioning on and found that the charging rate went up to 14.25v.

Is this normal and if so why? What should the charging rates be?

Regards
 
Sounds about right.

We have smart alternators, so the battery doesn't charge all the time.
 
That doesn't mean your battery isn't goosed though...
 
Dan Robinson said:
Sounds about right.

We have smart alternators, so the battery doesn't charge all the time.
Click to expand...


lol Dan what y'on about?
The o/p of your alternator sould be around 14V (14.4V to be exact in a perfect world) at all times.
I suspect your meter leads weren't making good electrical contact with the battery terminals or your have a loose connection somewhere.
12.5V+ is norm when engine isn't running...
 
Have a search for smart alternator. The 7gen doesn't charge all the time

If it were an alternator fault, chances are the car won't start at some point due to lack of charge.

A weak or dying battery will give sluggish starting issues, especially as the weather gets colder.
 
Hi Guys

That was a quick response from you.

Firstly Dan, the battery isn't goosed - I did a load test on it the other day to see if it holds its charge ok and it does.
Secondly Gav, Meter leads were making good contact so no problem there.
and the meter is an expensive meter and has just recently been checked for acuracy
Readings were definitely as I stated;
12.3v on tickover and engine not running.
14.3v when aircon on.

any further thoughts

regards
 
Only that battery tests mean very little with these faults.... have a search you will see.
 
Dan Robinson said:
Have a search for smart alternator. The 7gen doesn't charge all the time

If it were an alternator fault, chances are the car won't start at some point due to lack of charge.

A weak or dying battery will give sluggish starting issues, especially as the weather gets colder.
Click to expand...


Dan sincere apologies. I didn't know we had a smart alternator? I must have been lucky/unlucky as everytime I've measured with engine on it's been 14 odd V...
Cool B)
 
No worries bud...:D
 
12.3v is quite low for a car battery. I would suspect the battery is on its way out. HH is doing a special offer on batteries at the moment. I would change it before winter sets in.
 
Just ordered mine from HH ! after reading this I checked my accord and it read 11.9 before starting and 14.2 when started, so must be getting tired. The car is not 4 years old yet so pretty poor compared to the beemer which is 8 and battery still going strong. The beemer showed 12.2 before starting.
 
Hi chesjak, you may know this already I think, but measuring volts on a battery is not a good indicator as to condition, because it depends on the battery's internal resistance. As a battery ages, its internal resistance goes up, which means that it cannot deliver as much current on load, and also it will require more volts to get charge into it. A load tester is the only way to get an indication of internal resistance, because the load tester measures the delivered current and volts across the load, from which the internal resistance can be calculated. If the load tester shows that the battery is good, then you can ***ume that the battery is OK ....but only while the load test was being done. I think (not sure) that it is possible for internal resistance to change, for example if the battery is taken out of the car into a house and left on trickle charge, it will appear to be better than if left uncharged out in the cold.

The battery in my car is the original battery. I bought the car in Jan 2006 and it is a 54 plate and I have never changed the battery. However, the car has failed to start several times in the last 2 years. AA clipped a current tester round the lead when he got the engine running and said that the charging current was low, so said I should get a new battery. That was 2 years ago. RAC bloke did a load test and said battery was OK, that was about 6 months ago. Last week I went to the car on the driveway and it would not start, so I put the trickle charger on for 15 mins and then it started.

When the weather is cold, I sometimes leave the trickle charger under the bonnet over night. The battery is much better for while afterwards.

Basically I need a new battery, but I'm too tight fisted to buy another, I just love squeazing the last drop of life out of car batteries !!
 
Brian, HH are selling top notch batteries with a 3 year guarantee for 38 quid delivered !! why would you not get one now for this massively reduced price?
 
'cos he's a true Northerner :p
 
LOL ..... indeed I am .....but £38 delivered, tempted, very tempted. What is the URL for HH ?
 
Have a look in the trader's section bud... All the details should be in there.
 
Dan Robinson said:
No worries bud...:D
Click to expand...

cheers Pal
rolleyes.gif
 
I'm not saying 'owt

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