electrical/charging experts i need your help
01-24-2012, 01:53 PM
#1
electrical/charging experts i need your help
Heres the situation, 95 integra, running a new alt from maniac electric motors in texas for a few months now, great company, alot of help provided, great product. I had my buddy get me a new interstate megatron battery over the summer from his interstate guy, I have upgraded all the ground cables and my primary ground is a 2awg coming right from the post, and I have a brand new OEM positive cable that is only days old on the car. Alternator cable is original but in apparently good condition from what i can visually inspect.
I let the car sit over the month of december for about 3 weeks, battery was dead when I went to start it again, thats a given as its operating a huge alarm system. So we jumped it, I ran it and let it charge back up. Over the past month the car has been dying every few days. So thinking that Im not getting enough of a charge on it from just driving i went around to the local parts store and bought a smart charger, and let it sit for a few hours while it desulficated and charged the battery up to full. Worked great, but the issue im having now is that the alternator is delayed in coming on and i dont know why. Ill start the car in the morning, and the battery will be weak cranking still, and the battery light will stay on for a few minutes, and then you will hear a click from under the hood, and the alt start charging normally again.
Now ive done every test i can possibly think of. Ive tested the alt in all manner of ways, it can be fully loaded up with all the accessories on the car and charge just fine, im getting a normal 14.3-14.4 volts at idle. My amp draw test showed .007amp draw with the alarm off and .11amp with the alarm on. I double checked all the connections on my cables, measured voltage from various locations, voltage drop, etc. I load tested the battery with a 100amp load tester and the only anomaly I pick up is that it drops to 10-10.5v under load and then does not recover back above 12v, it tends to recover only to 11.5-11.8 or so. This is with a fully charged battery mind you.
The battery light, and the delay in the charging is what has me concerned, I contacted the company that made the alternator and they say that its not an issue with the alternator as it would not partially fail in that manner, and there should be no associated clicking sound when voltage returns to normal. Besides replacing the battery to a optima yellow top deep cycle, im at a loss for ideas here on what could be causing this.
I let the car sit over the month of december for about 3 weeks, battery was dead when I went to start it again, thats a given as its operating a huge alarm system. So we jumped it, I ran it and let it charge back up. Over the past month the car has been dying every few days. So thinking that Im not getting enough of a charge on it from just driving i went around to the local parts store and bought a smart charger, and let it sit for a few hours while it desulficated and charged the battery up to full. Worked great, but the issue im having now is that the alternator is delayed in coming on and i dont know why. Ill start the car in the morning, and the battery will be weak cranking still, and the battery light will stay on for a few minutes, and then you will hear a click from under the hood, and the alt start charging normally again.
Now ive done every test i can possibly think of. Ive tested the alt in all manner of ways, it can be fully loaded up with all the accessories on the car and charge just fine, im getting a normal 14.3-14.4 volts at idle. My amp draw test showed .007amp draw with the alarm off and .11amp with the alarm on. I double checked all the connections on my cables, measured voltage from various locations, voltage drop, etc. I load tested the battery with a 100amp load tester and the only anomaly I pick up is that it drops to 10-10.5v under load and then does not recover back above 12v, it tends to recover only to 11.5-11.8 or so. This is with a fully charged battery mind you.
The battery light, and the delay in the charging is what has me concerned, I contacted the company that made the alternator and they say that its not an issue with the alternator as it would not partially fail in that manner, and there should be no associated clicking sound when voltage returns to normal. Besides replacing the battery to a optima yellow top deep cycle, im at a loss for ideas here on what could be causing this.
01-24-2012, 07:20 PM
#2
Old Fart
Join Date: May 2004
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Re: electrical/charging experts i need your help
Sounds like batt. reserve is bad, [bad batt.].
I would do a parasitic draw test, do not use a multimeter use a 12V test light, [not the LED type]... https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...+draw+test+fcm .
Not sure what the "click" is, maybe a relay, but I know of no relay associated with the charging circuit, the alt. not coming on for a few sec. also has me a little puzzled.94
I would do a parasitic draw test, do not use a multimeter use a 12V test light, [not the LED type]... https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...+draw+test+fcm .
Not sure what the "click" is, maybe a relay, but I know of no relay associated with the charging circuit, the alt. not coming on for a few sec. also has me a little puzzled.94
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