> If you drive your generator-equipped car through the winter, and your
> commute
> begins and ends with darkness, you'll either need to take a spirited
> drive over lunch
> or attach the car to a trickle charger to keep the battery charged.
As noted in the owner's manual !
To amplify a bit on Steve's comments, the stock TR2/3 generator is rated at
19 amps output. I measured the load with sealed beam headlights (as
original), heater and wipers on a 59 TR3A at 21 amps! So, with a properly
adjusted control box, the battery literally runs down slowly, just driving
down the road at speed. Plus of course any stops mean heavy discharge,
especially with the added load of the brake lights.
There's also the issue of putting back what it took to start the car.
That's a bit hard to quantify, it obviously depends a great deal on things
like how hard it is to start, how cold it is, etc. But for the sake of
argument, let's say it takes half of the stock 40AH battery's capacity to
start the engine twice from cold (once morning, once evening). Ignoring
efficiency issues, that's 20AH to be replaced, with a generator that can
only spare about 16 amps for charging even without the headlights, heater
and wipers. So, that "spirited run" needs to last for well over an hour,
every day you drive the car to work. Don't forget, that's no lights, heater
or wipers ... heaven help you if it's snowing at noon!
Now of course, there are very few people who drive their TRs to work every
day; and many have expressed horror at driving them in the snow. So most
people will likely do fine with the stock generator. But IMO cars were made
to be driven, and I'd rather push my TR than drive a mini-van !
Randall - who got thoroughly sick of having to push-start the car every
night. Shoulda bought a crank, I guess <g>
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