Good point Eric. Using the alternator in this way shortens the life of the
unit. Dean
Eric Frisbee <efrisbee@charter.net> wrote:It's a VERY bad idea to charge your
battery with your alternator on ANY
car!!! Your alternator was designed for recharging the battery for normal
drains like starting and accessories, not dead batteries... and your wiring
isn't really up for the task either. It can and will overheat and melt.
Additionally, the alternator could ask for over 30 amps, which is all your
amp gauge (AKA, expensive fusing system) can safely handle. A battery
charger is a good investment and I think Sears will sell you one for $50 or
less? I bet you can't find a wiring harness or amp gauge for that...
As to your battery drain... does your clock work? Also, how old is your
starter? I have had problems with both... clock puts a steady drain on
the system. Also had an old starter that the insulation on the inside was
allowing minor arcing inside for a much faster drain.
Good luck!!!
Eric
>
> This is my first time posting to this list but I've been reading it for
> a while and it's been very helpful. I checked all around and couldn't
> find a good answer to my problem anywhere, so I'll ask here.
>
> I have a '69 1600 (with electronic distributor) that I bought last
> summer. I stored it indoors over the winter and fired it up about once
> a month w/out issue. However, I let it sit for the last two or three
> months without turning it over once (stupid). When I tried recently I
> found that the battery had about 1.5 V in it. So I jumped it and it
> turned over fine, while running the thing read about 14 V or so (I
> don't remember exactly but it seemed quite normal and ran without a
> problem). So I drove around for a long time to try to recharge the
> battery (and remembered again why I bought this car, man is it a blast
> to drive) and when I parked it I'd only charged it to about 10.5 V.
> So, I thought I just needed to run it longer. However, yesterday (two
> days after driving it) when I checked it the Voltage in the battery had
> dropped to 9.5 V (which is a pretty big drop). So here's the question,
> does this sound like a battery that won't hold a charge anymore as a
> result of being drained or like a really bad (and new, never had any
> problems in the summer...) parasitic leak? I think I'll take it into
> sears to get a charging test (free), but I'm not sure if they check for
> parasitic leaks. So does this sound like a stupidly familiar problem
> to anyone?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions,
> --Eric
>
> '69 1600
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