Quote:
White Rim previously said:
While the load can causes the change in voltage, it is often the state of charge of the battery.
The voltage regulator will command the alternator put out a 13.8 volts, up to about140 amps. But if the state of charge of the battery is such that it draws high charging current, the alternator will back off the voltage until the battery is charged to a point where 13.8 volts can be applied to it without huge charging currents.
SO it is a combination of the load and the state of charge of the battery.
You could have almost no accessories running and have the state of charge of the battery be low enough that it would eat up almost all the alternator current, causing a say 13.2 volts to occur. On the other hand, you could have the battery at a higher state of charge and have tons of accessories running and that would reduce the available voltage also, again due to the current limit.
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White Rim, this is true and if you think about it, we're actually saying the same thing. The battery would in effect be the increased (still varied) load in that instance.
If the state of the charge on the battery is low, the battery is at a lower potential than the alternator is putting out and thus, the current is going to flow from the higher potential to the lower potential.
By "varied" load, I don't mean the load you're necessarily putting on the system. I'm referring to the system as a whole and the battery is inclusive in this system as well. The battery in a charging state is considered an electrical load.
Great input, I didn't even think of it!
