Volts

[Lignum]

http://184.72.239.143/mu/62f72ee0-c98f-a410.jpg
After I flashed the sct tune in my volts have stayed around 15. What is going on?

[Blackened300a]

My tuner did something to increase the output of the alternator in my tune and it gave me a higher reading as well. I also lost the feature when the field shuts off at WOT. Did you put it back to stock and see what it does?

[Lignum]

My tuner did something to increase the output of the alternator in my tune and it gave me a higher reading as well. I also lost the feature when the field shuts off at WOT. Did you put it back to stock and see what it does?
Not yet. Will try that.

[Blk Mamba]

Mine reads just about there all the time, and I don't have a tune, or tuner, wasn't untill I cleaned the battery terminals.

[Lignum]

Mine reads just about there all the time, and I don't have a tune, or tuner, wasn't untill I cleaned the battery terminals.

Well, I did disconnect the battery when I put the cai on. Maybe I didn't get a good connection afterwards. But the terminals were really clean.

[babbage]

analog can be hard to read accurately. My xcal2 obd2 tool usually reads 14.1 to 14.2

[Lignum]

It read 12 before I did anything to it.

[babbage]

It read 12 before I did anything to it.

14 to 15 is where you want it, 12 is actually low. Problem solved!

[Lignum]

Why would I want it at 14-15? Isn't everything engineered to run at 12....since like 1950?

[babbage]

Why would I want it at 14-15? Isn't everything engineered to run at 12....since like 1950?

12 is more like the minimum you ever want to see. You want the vlt to be average at 14, so when other systems in car engage you never drop below 12. Trust me 14 volts in a panther is what you want

[Lignum]

Sounds good. I rest assured.

[fastblackmerc]

Why would I want it at 14-15? Isn't everything engineered to run at 12....since like 1950?

The voltmeter is measuring the OUTPUT of the alternator. If it says 12 volts then your alternator isn't working.

[musclemerc]

The tuner upped the idle RPM's that's all. 14.5VDC is OK. My MM has pullys and this helps with the voltage drop

[RF Overlord]

Why would I want it at 14-15? Isn't everything engineered to run at 12....since like 1950?"12 volts" is a nominal level, to distinguish between that and other battery systems. The open-circuit voltage per cell for a lead-acid battery is 2.1V, so with 6 cells you actually get 12.6V. With 2 batteries in series, like in some of the standby generators in my work sites, the open-circuit voltage is 25.2, but it's called a "24 volt" system.

To charge a battery, you need to have higher voltage than the open-circuit reading. 14.1 to 14.4 is considered optimum for a 12V system, while my generators run around 27.2 to 27.9.

You also can't depend on a gauge like the one in the car to be highly accurate...it's more of a "reference" so you can see if something changes a lot under normal operation, indicating a possible problem. You need a decent digital voltmeter to get a valid reading.

[Lignum]

Thanks for the explanation. I guess I was assuming the reading from the volt gauge would be after some sort of a voltage regulator. I just didn't want to start blowing fuses or something. I'm not super keen on electrical.

[Got_1]

i've owned my MM nearly 3 years and my volt gauge has always shown 11-12volts. if these gauges are indeed accurate, i'm assuming i have some built up resistance in the wire that supplies the voltage reading.