newexplorerguy
Member
- Joined
- April 7, 2001
- Messages
- 41
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Vacaville, Ca.
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1997 limited (gone)
Hi Folks;
Well; I got 5 years out of the old motorcraft battery in my 97. Not bad. Unfortunatelly, it died at work. I had to have a co-worker come from another site to give me a jumpstart. And; I still had 7 hours of my shift to go! I had to charge the battery with the alternator. That took a while!
Contemplate this picture:There I was, all alone, sitting there in the middle of one of the projects in San Francisco, (this place takes up ten city blocks) I'm sitting right smack-dab in the middle of it with a dead battery! Damn; there is only one other white guy here; and he's a tenant! Oh; wait a minute! I'm the one in a uniform! Lots of these folks here don't like me. (funny how people seem to hate your guts when you arrest them!) Man; talk about sphincter pucker. Good thing we carry guns! (yes, legally)
I went straight to Sears the next morning and had them install the best battery they had on hand for my truck. I also had the guy test the output of the alternator right in front of me.
According to his test equipment, my alternator puts out 1-2.5 amps at idle; and 70-75 at 1500-1700 r.p.m. Is this normal? The guy at Sears said "yea, that's about right". I can understand the amp figure at higher r.p.m's, but what about at idle? I spend a lot of time idleing. I use my truck for my job, and on cold nights, I spend a good part of the shift idleing.
I need more amps than that at idle. I will be running my laptop, a printer, cellphone car kit, and a radio while sitting at work. I am sure these items will require more amperage than 1-2.5 amps.
Question 1: Is this normal for what I assume to be a 90 amp alternator? Or should it be doing better than this?
Question 2: Would the 130 amp alternator put out more amps at idle?
I am already pretty sure I will be getting the 130 amp alternator soon. I just need to know if it will keep up with my accesories at idle.
Question 3: Is the battery guage in my 97 similar to the oil pressure guage? By that, I mean; is it just a glorified idiot light with a needle on it? When the battery was dead, and while i was running it at 1500-2000 r.p.m's to charge it that night, it hardly moved at all. Is this normal for these?
Thanks;
George
Well; I got 5 years out of the old motorcraft battery in my 97. Not bad. Unfortunatelly, it died at work. I had to have a co-worker come from another site to give me a jumpstart. And; I still had 7 hours of my shift to go! I had to charge the battery with the alternator. That took a while!
Contemplate this picture:There I was, all alone, sitting there in the middle of one of the projects in San Francisco, (this place takes up ten city blocks) I'm sitting right smack-dab in the middle of it with a dead battery! Damn; there is only one other white guy here; and he's a tenant! Oh; wait a minute! I'm the one in a uniform! Lots of these folks here don't like me. (funny how people seem to hate your guts when you arrest them!) Man; talk about sphincter pucker. Good thing we carry guns! (yes, legally)
I went straight to Sears the next morning and had them install the best battery they had on hand for my truck. I also had the guy test the output of the alternator right in front of me.
According to his test equipment, my alternator puts out 1-2.5 amps at idle; and 70-75 at 1500-1700 r.p.m. Is this normal? The guy at Sears said "yea, that's about right". I can understand the amp figure at higher r.p.m's, but what about at idle? I spend a lot of time idleing. I use my truck for my job, and on cold nights, I spend a good part of the shift idleing.
I need more amps than that at idle. I will be running my laptop, a printer, cellphone car kit, and a radio while sitting at work. I am sure these items will require more amperage than 1-2.5 amps.
Question 1: Is this normal for what I assume to be a 90 amp alternator? Or should it be doing better than this?
Question 2: Would the 130 amp alternator put out more amps at idle?
I am already pretty sure I will be getting the 130 amp alternator soon. I just need to know if it will keep up with my accesories at idle.
Question 3: Is the battery guage in my 97 similar to the oil pressure guage? By that, I mean; is it just a glorified idiot light with a needle on it? When the battery was dead, and while i was running it at 1500-2000 r.p.m's to charge it that night, it hardly moved at all. Is this normal for these?
Thanks;
George
