Date:         Fri, 22 May 2009 18:49:33 -0700
Reply-To:     Roland <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Roland <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Charging voltage is 12.5v : Is this enough?
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Hi folks,

Had a dead battery in town ('89 Syncro).  At home I have now recharged it
and did a test.  With the engine running (charging) the meter show 12.5
volts at the battery both at idle and at 2K RPMs.  I read many archives, and
it seems something like 13.8 volts is more normal, or typical.  Recently I
haven't driven it much, maybe 1-2 trips into town per week, about 5 miles
away, usually with 2-4 short stops / restarts.  So I was thinking that maybe
with this low charging voltage, and many engine restarts, the battery simply
didn't get enough recharge from driving.  I think it will recharge at 12.5
volts, but could this mean that many consecutive short trips won't be enough
to keep it charged?  Or this voltage indicative of a bad or failing
regulator?

Thank you for any comments.

Roland