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Re: Volts vs Amps

To: Bwfox@aol.com, triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: Volts vs Amps
From: twakeman@scruznet.com (TeriAnn Wakeman)
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 06:47:53 -0700
I'm not sure what your question really was but I take a stab or two at answers.

Choose one of the below:

A. The starter motor is on a different circuit than the amp meter.  The amp
meter can not read the large amount of cuttenr that the starter motor
draws.  The motor circuit consists of batt to solinoid, to starter motor
with ground return to the battery.  Be sure that you have a ground strap
between the engine and frame. All the charging and all other loads go
through the amp meter.

B. The most common cause of a battery not getting properly charged is dirty
battery posts.  They can look fine and still have an insulating oxide
causing problems.

C. A healthy charging system puts out about 14.5V as long as the load does
not exceed the output of the dynamo or alternator.

D. Amp meters are good at letting you know that you are leaving your lights
on after you turned off the ignition, or if you have a high current drain,
but thats about it.  A voltmeter tells you the state of your charging
circuit.
I tossed the ampmeter in my Land Rover years ago and put a volt meter in
the hole.  I'd do it in the TR3 except I'm trying to keep it showroom stock
outside the engine bay.

I hope one of these answered the question that you were trying to ask.



TeriAnn Wakeman            For personal mail, please start subject line
Santa Cruz California      with TW.  I belong to 4 high volume mail lists
twakeman@scruznet.com      and do not read a lot of threads..Thanks




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