Alternator/charging information

[AlexD333]

Now i know every vehicle is different.

I am used to old skool bikes that charge up taking em for a run (20 mins)

But i imagine the terranos are a bit different if the battery gets low?
(assuming they need a good charge up with a charger?)

After being at Ricks place on Sunday, we started the terrano 7-8 times for short periods of time just to move it, unfortunately when I went to leave the battery was flat.. :doh

We jumped it, I drove home and then next morning started good as gold.

When I get to work I have to turn off, then one of the techs turns on and drives a short space into a garage for me (so no charge time then) then at the end off work they get it out for me and drive it up (again very short) and then when I want to leave the battery is flat again...

We gave the battery a good days charge on a pro battery charger but this made no difference, still same symptoms last night.

Knackered battery I hope and not a weak charge from car.

Any general info or thought welcomed :thumb2

 

[Banshee]

Now i know every vehicle is different.

I am used to old skool bikes that charge up taking em for a run (20 mins)

But i imagine the terranos are a bit different if the battery gets low?
(assuming they need a good charge up with a charger?)

After being at Ricks place on Sunday, we started the terrano 7-8 times for short periods of time just to move it, unfortunately when I went to leave the battery was flat.. :doh

We jumped it, I drove home and then next morning started good as gold.

When I get to work I have to turn off, then one of the techs turns on and drives a short space into a garage for me (so no charge time then) then at the end off work they get it out for me and drive it up (again very short) and then when I want to leave the battery is flat again...

We gave the battery a good days charge on a pro battery charger but this made no difference, still same symptoms last night.

Knackered battery I hope and not a weak charge from car.

Any general info or thought welcomed :thumb2

You handy with a multimeter?

When the car is started check the voltage across the terminals, it should be reading around 13-14v

If it's not then your alternator might be a bit duff, make sure that the alternator belt is the correct tension as a slack belt can also sometimes cause the alternator not to output the right amount of juice.

Battery is more likely though, this is what I've replaced mine with from these guys as well, they looked after me as I told them I'd advertise the company on the forum for them, real experts, very well priced batteries, 3 years guarantee, and a smoking hot bird on the desk

http://www.batterybayuk.com/batteri...ies-boat-batteries/lucas-12v-100ah-xv-surpeme

It's a Marine Leisure battery so measured in MCA (Marine Cranking Amps) and not CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) don't listen to the nonesense people will try and feed you about leisure batteries not being powerful enough and durable enough for constant cranking. Extra terminals are useful as well for attaching extra goodies such as spotlights etc

I've been running mine forever now and it's a beast!!!!!

 

[terrano bob]

hi go and buy a multimeter :thumbs

 

[Fez_uk]

Battery is more likely though, this is what I've replaced mine with from these guys as well, they looked after me as I told them I'd advertise the company on the forum for them, real experts, very well priced batteries, 3 years guarantee, and a smoking hot bird on the desk

http://www.batterybayuk.com/batteri...ies-boat-batteries/lucas-12v-100ah-xv-surpeme

It's a Marine Leisure battery so measured in MCA (Marine Cranking Amps) and not CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) don't listen to the nonesense people will try and feed you about leisure batteries not being powerful enough and durable enough for constant cranking. Extra terminals are useful as well for attaching extra goodies such as spotlights etc

I've been running mine forever now and it's a beast!!!!!

£73.50 with free delivery on ebay :thumbs

Looks exactly the same as the Numax CXV27MF battery which is £68.50 with free delivery.

 

[Banshee]

£73.50 with free delivery on ebay :thumbs

Looks exactly the same as the Numax CXV27MF battery which is £68.50 with free delivery.

Numax is tat though, the Lucas brick is way better quality :clap

I think they do sell via eBay as well

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

numax and lucas are the same batteries, made in the same factory, numax just pay Lucas to use the brand name hence the slightly higher price :thumb2

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

oh, and I have the same problem and the same new battery didn't fix it, alternator is fine, no drains on the system - but if I use it for a few short runs or leave it standing it's dead :nenau

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

The rules are the same for every vehicle, just look at the Amp hours (Ah) of the battery, usually around 100 on a car, give or take a bit, usually around 10 on a bike.

Look at the output of the Alternator, again, somewhere between 60 to 110 amps on a car, not sure on a bike, but I would guess around the 20 to 30 amp mark.

In best case, a 100 amp alternator will fill a 100Ah battery in 1 hour.

It's not quite that simple, as the car and bike will be using a bit of the 100amps from the alternator to run pumps, fans, lights, ignition (if not diesel), etc, so often you only have half of the alternator output left to charge the battery, so in the case above, it would now take 2 hours.

Proportionally, the bikes alternator is a lot bigger than the battery, so charges much quicker.

The other thing is, it depends on how long the starter motor is running, when starting, as it can draw 800 or so amps, which means that on a 100Ah battery, you only have 7 1/2 mins of starting a car on a fully charged 100% perfect battery, but again, other things, like solenoids, and relays are pinching power as well.

That is very heavily simplified, as there are other bits and pieces that also have an impact like realistically, a car battery can only actually run down to 50%, the temperature, etc, but those rules still apply to both cars and bike.

In the case of the T2, it only has a 70amp alternator, and a 95Ah battery. If you then drove back with your lights on, which draw a minimum of 10 amp, radio, 5 to 10 amp, heater fan, 5 to 10 amp, wipers, 10 to 15 amp.. blah blah blah, you probably only have 20 to 30 amps maximum to recharge the battery, which means it will take at least 3 hours of driving at sufficient revs to keep the alternator generating at maximum power.

Hope that helps explain it a bit.

 

[Fez_uk]

Numax is cheaper and the same battery. I've run numax on all my 4x4s without issues, As Well as others I know.

 

[Banshee]

numax and lucas are the same batteries, made in the same factory, numax just pay Lucas to use the brand name hence the slightly higher price :thumb2

So I keep being told, have you ever seen inside them both?

You'd be shocked

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

So I keep being told, have you ever seen inside them both?

You'd be shocked

No, but I spoke to a nice battery technician who had when I chose the battery for mine, I did a thread on it on here :thumbs

 

[AlexD333]

im going to stick a multimeter on it at the end of work this evening. fingers crossed its a good reading although the battery will possibly be weak already from a short start this morning (if short starting is the main issue)