Need help charging battery for altanator fix

1990_Tbird_SC

Registered User
im replaceing my Alt tomorrow and I need to charge my battery up to a full charge so i dont mess it up. I dont have a battery charger. Can i use my wifes car as a charger using jumper wires? Any info would be appricated


Thanks
 
I don't think that you have a lot to worry about with the battery. As long as it has enough juice to turn the car over a few times I think that you should be fine. One of the functions of the alt is to charge the battery.
 
letting the Alt. charge an almost dead battery is a good way to burn out a brand new Alt. Take the battery to a local Autozone or other parts store, most will charge it for you in 30 min. then it will have a full charge. Also get a lifetime Alt. it has been my exp. that the one year warranty alt. is junk, i should know I work at Autozone, make sure you get a lifetime warranty alt.
 
You would think that the alternator would be able to charge a battery up and IF you did in fact think that, you'd be????
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WRONG! ANNNKKK!! :confused:

I'm sorry. Jay what do we have for our parting contestants today?

Well Art, some of our contestants will receive the new edition of "rebuiling to maximize profits by using substandard parts" written by a group of chain store auto parts houses. And, for other lucky contestants, we have the home edition of "Can OEM parts REALLY be that much better?" written by Ford and Mitsubishi..


So.. Here's the skinny of it.. it takes a long time for the alternator to actually fully recharge a drained battery. Were talking many hours at engine running speeds. While thats happening, the alterntor is working hard and making heat. The problem is that it isn't getting rid of this heat as it would from a normal external electrical load. Remember, the mitsu is rated a 110A, but thats a short term peak, not a sustained rating, hence the substandard parts, IMO.
So, if you don't want to risk messing the new alt up, then you need to fully charge the battery. You can, but after going through 2 remans, I wouldn't take the chance.
Note also, if you ever fully kill the battery by leaving your lights on or something like that, jump it just enough to get it started, run it as little as possible, and then have it recharged. I'm talking about a deep discharge event, not just leaving the headlights on for an hour or 2. A shallow discharge isn't usually to hard on the alt.

OK, so where to get a charger.. most autoparts places sell a cheap 2A trickle charger which should work fine. Every car owner should have one, IMO.

You could use the cables, but you'd have to leave them on and the car idling for quite a while to get to a full charge. I wouldn't overwork it by revving the engine. That alt is generating heat too.

Hope this helps, and I wan't trying to pick on anyone, just making a little satire to weave a story. ;)
 
I take no offence. I have just never had that happen ot me. And I have killed quite a few batteries. Of course I only buy new alts now that I have killed so moany remans for other reasons. Guess you learn something every day.
 
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