oslouie

If someone can measure their voltage for me that would be great because I'm only sitting at 13.6 and need to know why?

sung35

12.6 - 13.8 is normal. Your is 13.6 and you complain?

oslouie

No, normal is 14+ in case you didn't know, unless these cars are different. The numbers you posted should be with the car off.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Factory specs is 13.2-14.5. Within that range is fine

RLGS300

^^^^^^^agreed!, mine usually runs at 13.8 and it varies

sung35

I was a "battery technician" once at Sears auto, which is a very long time ago. I agreed that I might be off a little with the number due to age, but 13.8 is perfectly normal. Again, not sure why you are complaining about. Do you have problem with your car electrical system?

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

If you are curious, go to an auto shop have them check out ur charging system.

oslouie

Working at O'Reilly Auto Parts for 6 years, I have never seen a healthy charging system go below 14 volts when throwing a load on it. I'm not experiencing any problems with my electrical but I am trying to get the most out of my 3k RMS amplifier and it would be nice to be sitting higher than 14 volts but with no music on or anything, I'm only at 13.6, which means I'm not getting all the power I should be. With a strain on the electrical, I'm prolly dipping into the low 12's, high 11's even.

AMSMIKE

iTrader: (40)

I call BS on charging system not dipping below 14v. But i am not going to argue because by your posts I can you see you have no idea.

and btw...if you work at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Why are you asking here? instead you should use their equipment and test your battery and your alternator



and GS4 gave you the answer, whether you want to believe it or not, thats up to you!

oslouie

BS? You obviously don't know anything about the charging system so thanks for the ignorant post. Sure, on a heavy/noticeable draw you'll go under 14 volts and it should stabilize right back up but how the hell is it that my charging system is only sitting at 13.6 volts with no accessories running? Most car batteries sit just a bit below that voltage without an alternator. I understand that there's a range where it would be considered acceptable but last time someone I know had an alt charging at 13.5, it went dead. I'm not doubting GS4's statement but I've also mentioned that I've never seen a vehicle sit below 14 volts with absolutely no accessories on. O'Reilly's equipment won't tell me any more than I already know. All I'm asking is for someone to measure the voltage on their battery with the car on and post it up so I can see how far off I am.

Spyder78

iTrader: (7)

You can listen or ignore whats being stated but Mike is right. Your car has many computers so there is always a load present even if you do not have any accessories turned on. At rest my car used to sit at 13.6-14.2 with an optima battery and 0 gauge wiring. At full load with accessories and my system I would dip to 11.8. Honestly it is normal. You can test your car electrical system and they will verify that is in working order. If you want better power, consider doing 0 gauge wiring, better battery, and upgrading the alternator.

oslouie

I'm not saying that he's wrong. I'm saying that in my past experiences, I have never seen a vehicle sit lower than 14 volts without a load. Anything I've seen sitting lower than 14 volts has always been a bad alternator. You do realize that 13.6 to 14.2 is a good difference. I guess if it's normal to be at 13.6 volts then this is the end of this thread. I'll just have to find a way to try and bring it up to 14+. I do have 1/0 wire running to the battery in the rear and my battery up front is better than what most of these guys have. Only thing left is finding a high amp alternator but I'm not going to go that route yet as I never had problems before running 2k rms on a stock 80 amp alt. I've been doing car audio for over 15 years and always monitor my voltage but this is something I've never seen before.

Spyder78

iTrader: (7)

I meant doing the big 3. If you been in car audio for that long that is something that comes first. BTW the stock alternator put out 90 amps so not much. At what rpm does your car idle at in drive? In park?

YviE

iTrader: (3)

On average, my GS3 runs at 13.5v (which is normal). No fancy stereo or anything else.

oslouie

I have the Big3 done in 1/0. That was done before I even started tearing the dash apart. I'm idling at 650, IIRC.

Thank you guys for the response though. After more reading, I understand it a bit more. I'll have to find out a way to stabilize my voltage.