Charging battery with alternator

[Soundguy]

it's made to carry the electric load of the auto when driving and replenish the storage battery, which is used to start the vehicle, and supply power when not running..e tc.

it is good at it's job.

no need to abuse it when bat chargers are so cheap....

 

[BobRip]

I am not sure that the alternator will be damaged, but it is a lot cheaper on fuel cost to use a charger run from the power mains than to idle an engine or drive just for the purpose of charging.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Here's a picture of some Jerry rigs.

Bob's Homeade Battery Charger

 

[Soundguy]

at a tractor show a guy has a push lawnmower with the blade removed and am alt mounted face down into the deck with a belt/pulley on the mower shaft. it terminates in jump cables.. makes a push jumpstart/charger..

 

[JDgreen227]

I remembered earlier today about the alternator issue I had on my Olds 98 that had a digital dash, I had replaced the OEM alternator at about 100,000 miles, the rebuilt replacement had a lifetime warranty and after about 3 years, I was on the way to work and the digital gauge readout began flashing "Battery 14.9 Volts Overcharging" and the normal readout was supposed to be "Battery 13.7 Volts". Well when I got home I removed the alternator and returned it to the seller and asked for a replacement they gave me a hard time about that saying their tester showed no overcharging but the replacement I got went another four years and never read over the normal 13.7 volts. I always wondered just how many batteries get ruined when alternators overcharge batteries and the cars have only a useless idiot light that furnishes no real useful information.

 

[JDgreen227]

Here's a picture of some Jerry rigs.

Bob's Homeade Battery Charger

Thanks for the link, very neat setup !! You could probably make something like it with a vertical shaft engine if you wanted to.

 

[ctgoldwing]

Hiya Willl.. It's something I've heard about for many years. The typical alternator is designed to keep a battery fully charged, not to charge a dead battery..this puts a load on the diodes and can overheat them (at least that's what I've been told by the electrical motor sales representative from NAPA..(not the counter person, I run a auto repair shop and we get visits from representatives of part supplier main office)

Many alternator boxes from parts store state "do not use an alternator to charge a dead battery, use a battery charger"

This doesn't mean you can't get away with doing it, people do it all the time, but it's not recommended by the manufacturers.

I don't have time to do any real research.. but there is anecdotal info that's easy to find.

Will I damage my alternator by using it to charge a flat battery?

Hey if on the internet it must be true, right?

 

[BertZegers]

The best way to charge a battery is with the alternator in your car, it stops charging when the battery is full. The alternator in my Jeep interacts with battery temperature! Cheap chargers ruin your battery by overcooking. I think using the jump start function from a charger is realy bad for your battery.

If you need to jumpstart a car, let the helping car run for a while so that the dead battery gets charged thru the full battery and alternator of the helping car.

Then start and charge the battery in your vehicle. The alternator is your best charger. Your battery life is longest if you use your vehicle frequently.

This is my experience.

 

[MHarryE]

OMG I'm glad I learned about this now. I guess I have been super lucky because in the past 43 years since I got my first car I must have completely drained at least 43 batteries (avg 1 screw up per year), jumped them, and let the car/truck/tractor run to charge the battery and have never replaced an alternator. It's a miracle! Of course I have had lower life on a couple batteries that got abused too much.

 

[Hollow]

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Hey if on the internet it must be true, right?

:thumbsup: