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Date:         Sun, 29 Aug 2004 13:14:03 -0700
Reply-To:     Vince S <gipsyflies@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Vince S <gipsyflies@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: Battery LEDs = Useful life?
Comments: To: j.michael.elliott@ADELPHIA.NET
In-Reply-To:  <20040829133319.7C21C967F3@texas4.legendum.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Mike,

You are correct the three LEDs are not exactly precision indicator of the battery condition. However please bare in mind even with an accurate voltmeter monitoring the battery still requires some common sense and your knowledge of your own battery.

A sultfated battery can display the same voltage level (when lightly loaded) as a healthy battery but it may not be able to provide the current to turn the engine over.

For rough indication you should cut back on draining the battery if it reach amber. Definite start the engine to recharge the battery if the red light up. Please note that the alternator charges at very low rate when the engine is idling. It will only provide decent charging current at above 2500 RPM.

- Vince

http://gipsyflies.home.comcast.net 1989 Vanagon GL Camper 1993 Mazda Miata 1996 Land Rover Discovery 2005 Mini Cooper S (almost here)

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Rocky Squirrel Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2004 6:33 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Battery LEDs = Useful life?

----------------------------------------------------------- Use http://www.onspeed.com/?A=web2mail to transform dial up connections to near broadband speed. Reccomended by Web2Mail -----------------------------------------------------------

I hope this message gets through -- we're presently at the Red Lion Hotel in Spokane for my niece's wedding. Later today my lovely wife and I will fly to Oakland, CA, meet up with our new-to-us 84 Westy and begin a weeklong trip up the northern California coastline. It will be a longer camping trip than we've ever taken with our Westy. It has a single main battery and an automatic transmission, so I know that if the battery goes too low, starting the engine might require a jump from someone. The engine generally starts easily, not a lot of cranking required. To avoid needing a helping hand I will keep an eye on the battery LEDs. But three lamps are hardly a precision indicating system. Is there a rule of thumb about how to interpret the LEDs vs enough juice to start? I also have a digital voltmeter -- how low does the battery voltage go when we're looking at Danger Will Robinson?

-- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"


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