I have read about this being the proper way for the alternator to work on our cars. Long story short according to my voltage gauge ive installed my battery sometimes sits at 12.5-12.6 while cruising. That seems really low to me,I am used to older vehicles charging at 14.4 constantly with no fluctuation. I am building a pretty decent system 4 8's in a blow thru 4th order in the rear deck,only running about 2k RMS and two batteries. I am wondering is there a way to run a switch to the regulator to force the alternator to charge while playing music?

cliff notes ; alternator doesnt constantly charge,any way to use a switch to make it charge? at what voltage does it start charging again? Thanks

 

The alternator should constantly provide power to the battery and in turn the car while running

 

No, most people with cobalts on SMD make sure to turn their lights on and the computer sends the exciter signal to the alt. It works on my 06... Although thinking of it, you could probably run another signal wire while removing the stock one but you will trip a battery light.

 

hmm,so turning the lights on makes the alternator charge? what about the DRL system,wont it just kick the lights off during the day anyways?

 

I just did some research u are correct (didnt doubt you) about the turning lights on,since its a computer controlled voltage regulator. Im guessing that improves fuel economy since your alternator isnt under a load 24/7.

 

IDK about the drl's. And ofcourse I am right. lol. I wouldn't just spout **** about something I didn't have knowledge of.

 

its supposed to charge 14.4 for 10 seconds at startup and 13.8 after that

 

^from all the info ive gathered depending upon if the lights are on,ac cranked etc it can go down to 12.6 which is practically resting point. Last night driving home with headlights on it was 14.5 cruising down the road and didnt go lower than that all the way home (8 miles). Before I got my volt gauge with my last system i habitually turned all lights off when demoing which was why i had horrible light dimming.

 

hmm idk i havent researched it too much but thats what i saw on my car when i was looking into it a long time ago. i metered it a few random times

 

Yeah,mine is hit or miss,sometimes it charges 14.4 sometimes 13.8 sometimes just keeps battery at a resting voltage of 12.6. sometimes with ac sometimes without,sometimes with lights on sometimes without lol. I wish I could determine exactly what trigger it needs to kick in.