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Not true at all...your alternator is designed to run the entire electrical system after the vehicle is running. The battery simply holds a charge while the engine is off to start the vehicle and run the radio and **** while it is not running.
Once it is running, your battery is no longer a battery, it is a capacitor to prevent voltage spikes from entering sensitive computer circuits and causing power surges.
Don't believe me, get your car running and remove the positive battery cable...it will continue to run.
I just got the "gold" whatever from my local auto parts store. Its got I think a 3 year replacement warranty so thats all I really care about... dont have to spend a dime if it goes out. I think you get a 3 year warranty with Optima as well but they cost a little more. Last year I forgot to unplug the battery during winter storage and I guess it got drained so bad it wouldn't take a charge... this was a 1 year old battery... lucky for me i got a replacement for free.
my 68 mustang, 72 vette, 00 vette, and 03 ford explorer all use the same model wal mart battery. replaced them all a few years ago and even the old cars which get cranked just a few times a year fire right up every time.
I know this is an old thread, but I am very impressed with my energizer battery. I have never had it on a tender, and the car sits all winter in a garage or under a cover. Year after year the car starts right up without issue. I cannot remember when the battery was put in, but it had to be at least 10 years ago.
While this may be technically true, I've jump-started many cars with dead batteries and in time, the car fully charged the battery.
This places a large, unnecessary load on the alternator, may wear the alt out more quickly, and it may affect the lattice of the battery's internal solid components over time.
If you discharge two different battery several times, and fill one back up using an alternator, and the other using a high quality charger, the one that gets charged with the charger may last longer.
This places a large, unnecessary load on the alternator, may wear the alt out more quickly....
There's nothing electrical to "wear out" an alternator. It will only put out it's rated current.
Originally Posted by kingtal0n
and it may affect the lattice of the battery's internal solid components over time.
While this is true, I don't think batteries are often taken down to stone cold dead. Maybe once in the life of a battery?
A properly functioning battery can be brought back to full charge from stone cold.
When somebody has a dead battery (they left their lights on or something) you give them a jump start and tell them to drive the car without shutting it off for a half hour. That's enough to get enough charge to start the engine.
There's nothing electrical to "wear out" an alternator. It will only put out it's rated current.
You are telling me that if I have two alternators, and I run one constantly at full capacity, and the other at barely a trickle of output, they will both have the same life expectancy? I find it hard to believe.
While this is true, I don't think batteries are often taken down to stone cold dead. Maybe once in the life of a battery?
A properly functioning battery can be brought back to full charge from stone cold.
Well, there is your caveat. You can get away with it... once or thrice~. But do not expect to fully charge a stone dead battery every single day without some loss of function.
You are telling me that if I have two alternators, and I run one constantly at full capacity, and the other at barely a trickle of output, they will both have the same life expectancy? I find it hard to believe.
There are rotating parts in an alternator that wear regardless of electrical load on the alternator. Bearings & brushes. After much use over time, these parts will wear and fail. Again, with or without electrical load.
A well made alternator has quality coils wound properly and a matched rectifier set. All electrical items today have a power supply with rectifiers to convert to DC voltage. Rectifiers are semiconductors that have no moving or wear parts and don’t go bad from normal use. Rectifiers don’t care if their electrical load is light or heavy. How many items do we own that have rectifiers in them that last for years, even decades?
Yes, alternators do go bad-but not from using them more heavily than normal. If they did, they would blow up when you turn on your air conditioning, headlights, seat heaters, window defroster and wipers at the same time with radiator fans running while stuck in traffic at in-gear idle speed.
Putting a heavy load on an alternator will not shorten it’s life.
Originally Posted by kingtal0n
Well, there is your caveat. You can get away with it... once or thrice~. But do not expect to fully charge a stone dead battery every single day without some loss of function.
Exactly how many times do you totally discharge your car battery to stone cold dead status?
Before I'd spend top dollar on Optima I'd get a Braille, Odysey or other lightweight battery and drop 20+ lbs. That's an easy weight savings on a necessary component. Roadrace, autocross, HPDE enthusiasts do it often...I'd think every little bit of weight you save increases performance by some small margin.
There are rotating parts in an alternator that wear regardless of electrical load on the alternator. Bearings & brushes. After much use over time, these parts will wear and fail. Again, with or without electrical load.
Thanks for taking the time to respond and helping me understand what is going on, I have taken your information to heart and will use it in the future.
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May 5, 2016, 05:44 PM
