Hi there,
It has been said that charging a car battery at a voltage that is higher than usual for a short time period will help the battery store charge better. This means a longer useful life as well as a longer allowable idle period before it needs to be recharged. I think the auto industry has recognized this fact over the years as newer alternators are said to put out a higher voltage than older ones. Some of the older ones may have only put out 13.8v but that's not enough.
Using a charger circuit to do this is no problem, simply raise the voltage level. But what if you want to use the alternator to do this instead? This would mean you would not have to remove the battery or have the car close to a 120vac or 230vac line to power the charger.
So have you tried this, and if so how did you modify your alternator or associated circuit in the automobile? We dont need a lot more voltage, maybe from 14.5 up to a max of about 16v, but i'd be more apt to limit it to 15v.
It has been said that charging a car battery at a voltage that is higher than usual for a short time period will help the battery store charge better. This means a longer useful life as well as a longer allowable idle period before it needs to be recharged. I think the auto industry has recognized this fact over the years as newer alternators are said to put out a higher voltage than older ones. Some of the older ones may have only put out 13.8v but that's not enough.
Using a charger circuit to do this is no problem, simply raise the voltage level. But what if you want to use the alternator to do this instead? This would mean you would not have to remove the battery or have the car close to a 120vac or 230vac line to power the charger.
So have you tried this, and if so how did you modify your alternator or associated circuit in the automobile? We dont need a lot more voltage, maybe from 14.5 up to a max of about 16v, but i'd be more apt to limit it to 15v.