I have a small motorcycle battery in my race car and need to keep an eye on the "strength" of the battery. Would a voltage gauge do that?

 

Someones gotta know.

 

id say yeah... not so much how many minutes it has, but the voltage it puts out... just keep an eye on it to be in the healthy range, and there you go

 

I realize that, but I wasn't sure if battery "life" was measured in voltage, amps, watts, or whatever.

 

well technically, I guess you should stop running your battery when it goes below... what is it.. 10.2volts? I dunno... I forget, but whereever you get a voltage monitor from should be able to tell you, also, maybe your battery manufacture's site will tell you the running power recommendations

 

Bump.

 

I'm assuming you only use the battery to start the car?

A voltmeter will only provide an estimation of the juice left in the battery. Once the starter engages, it is all about the amperage the battery is able to produce and maintain until the motor starts up.

This is why most battery chargers which put out anywhere between 13-17VDC (measured with a voltmeter) cannot start the car, yet a battery @ 11VDC can.

Hope this helps!

 

So a voltage gauge wouldn't help?