Charging qiestion

phat46 · July 24, 2005, 03:25:53 PM

My battery keeps getting low in my truck project as i work on it in the shop, I start it a couple times a day; it seems and after a few days it cranks real slow. The battery (Optima, mounted upside down) shows 11.90 volts. After i start the engine I get 11.11 volts at the batt. terminals. Shouldn't this be around 13-14 volts while running? It's a Ford Alternator with external regulator.

Dave · July 24, 2005, 05:02:32 PM

Quote from: "phat46"My battery keeps getting low in my truck project as i work on it in the shop, I start it a couple times a day; it seems and after a few days it cranks real slow. The battery (Optima, mounted upside down) shows 11.90 volts. After i start the engine I get 11.11 volts at the batt. terminals. Shouldn't this be around 13-14 volts while running? It's a Ford Alternator with external regulator.

Should be about 14 volts. Check the regulator.
Dave

Crosley.In.AZ · July 24, 2005, 05:52:19 PM

what Dave said.... should be showing high 13 to 14.5 volts if the system is operating correctly.

phat46 · July 24, 2005, 07:19:35 PM

Should be about 14 volts. Check the regulator.
Dave[/quote]

I thought maybe Alt. or the regulator. I never had to play with an external reg. before, do you know the test procedure?

Mr Cool · July 25, 2005, 11:51:42 AM

Quote from: "phat46"The battery (Optima, mounted upside down) shows 11.90 volts. After i start the engine I get 11.11 volts at the batt. terminals. Shouldn't this be around 13-14 volts while running? It's a Ford Alternator with external regulator.

First thing I noticed is that you should NEVER mount a battery upside down. There is NO battery designed to do this, sideways etc is ok but certainly NOT upside down, no matter what the salesman tries to tell you. I work with batteries for a living and Ive never come across one yet (except the usual AA sizes etc but thats a different thing altogether). Mounting a battery upside down can cause it to sulphate and stuff-up prematurely.
This doesnt mean its causing your problem, the alternator should still increase the voltage accordingly

The reg may not always be the problem either, it may just be that the alternator is rotating too slow, or it could be that the alternator is not excited, and by that I mean it must have a voltage present for it to actually feed power back into your battery. This is normally fed via ignition switch and you may need an auto-elec to test this for you. It may also be worn brushes inside the alternator. Of course it still could be the regulator too.

phat46 · July 25, 2005, 03:48:19 PM

First thing I noticed is that you should NEVER mount a battery upside down. There is NO battery designed to do this, sideways etc is ok but certainly NOT upside down, no matter what the salesman tries to tell you.

i tried to research this and from what I could find out at the time, The Opitima could be mounted upside down, they Optima, say in ANY position. I will try to check this further as a precaution.

34ford · July 25, 2005, 05:47:12 PM

Quote from: "phat46"First thing I noticed is that you should NEVER mount a battery upside down. There is NO battery designed to do this, sideways etc is ok but certainly NOT upside down, no matter what the salesman tries to tell you.

i tried to research this and from what I could find out at the time, The Opitima could be mounted upside down, they Optima, say in ANY position. I will try to check this further as a precaution.

Here's the line from the Optima's web site "Nonspillable and can mount in almost any position", I think almost is the key word here. could e-mail them since they have a contact address on there web page.

bob

phat46 · July 25, 2005, 07:36:27 PM

ere's the line from the Optima's web site "Nonspillable and can mount in almost any position", I think almost is the key word here. could e-mail them since they have a contact address on there web page.

bob[/quote]

I sent them an e mail: in one part of the site it says "any" position, farther on it says "almost any position, even on it's side" That's clear as mud...

If I can't have this battery upside down, I'm basically..well you know.. there is no place to mount it upright, it's under the bed and is about a half inch from the bottom of the bed, between two frame cross rails that are so tight to the battery that i had to shave I little off the lip of the battery to get it to slide between the rails... :?

HOTRODSRJ · July 25, 2005, 07:44:48 PM

Upside down is okay! I have put one in the 32 for 5 years upside down and narry a problem.

From the website of Optima...."Optimas are completely sealed and do not leak. They can be mounted in vehicle sideways or even upside down and they will not leak acid like standard batteries. With an Optima, you will not see your terminals or battery tray corrode as you would with standard batteries. If you want high battery performance for your vehicle, an Optima is the battery for you."

First, a full Optima cell battery will read at least 12.78 volts and as high as 13volts depending on model.

Your alt should be charging above this figure into the 14s at 2000rpms.

So, it's the regulator in my opinion.

Dave · July 25, 2005, 07:48:30 PM

Quote from: "phat46"Should be about 14 volts. Check the regulator.
Dave

I thought maybe Alt. or the regulator. I never had to play with an external reg. before, do you know the test procedure?[/quote]

I got an old motors manual that tells ya but its hot and im drinking and not going back to the garage tonite LOL... If you really need the test procedure lemme know and ill find it for ya. If I remember right on the ols systems like that you could take the pos off the battery and if the alt is working it should idle no problem if it doesnt then its alt or reg..
Dave

rooster · July 25, 2005, 08:21:20 PM

Quote from: "phat46"My battery keeps getting low in my truck project as i work on it in the shop, I start it a couple times a day; it seems and after a few days it cranks real slow. The battery (Optima, mounted upside down) shows 11.90 volts. After i start the engine I get 11.11 volts at the batt. terminals. Shouldn't this be around 13-14 volts while running? It's a Ford Alternator with external regulator.

Try Here, It has a Q&A section also. Could it be somthing slowly draining the system?

http://www.powerbase-auto.co.uk/alternator_faults.htm

Bruce Dorsi · July 25, 2005, 10:55:26 PM

Quote from: "phat46"It's a Ford Alternator with external regulator.

Do you have the Ford Electronic regulator, or the mechanical-relay type of regulator?

phat46 · July 26, 2005, 03:45:42 PM

I sent Optima an e mail about mounting their battery upside down, here is their answer:

Please accept our apologies for the delayed response.

Optima Batteries are totally sealed and non-spillable, therefore they can
be mounted in any position as long as the leads and terminals do not touch
anything that may cause a short.
So i guess I'm safe that way, at least if it fails they can't say i mounted it wrong...

flt-blk · July 26, 2005, 05:05:08 PM

Dry cell and Gel cell batteries are sealed and can be mounted in any
position.

I have a Gel Cell Dyna-Batt in my A (ths size of a lawn mower battery)
upside down and it has never given me trouble. 3 years.

The dry cell in my Commander is right side up, but since it is sealed I
could mount it any way in my trunk. Th other benefit is a sealed
battery does not need to be vented. my trunk is safe.

Mr Cool · July 27, 2005, 12:04:27 PM

Quote from: "flt-blk"Dry cell and Gel cell batteries are sealed and can be mounted in any position.

Two different batteries altogether, dry cell batteries can be used in any position, gel cell batteries still have a relief valve and for it to operate properly it must not be upside down.
Optima batteries have this relief valve to prevent it from expolding if overcharged, and my rep over here in Oz also says that they should not be mounted upside down for this very reason. I checked with him the other day when he called in.
They will of course work fine until this happens (IF it ever happens that is), and an expolding battery is not something you will want to experience...... I have and it aint pretty.......
So I guess they can be mounted upside down, but if the regulator dies so will alot of other stuff. Your choice but dont try and claim a warranty for that.
"Almost any position" means exactly that.