[OffThaHorseCEO]

the other night i was on the phone while drivin home, and got home parked and decided to sit in the driveway and finish my convo with music playin, well i figured, im idling i better watch my voltage gauge, so i hit the buttons and navigate to voltage, its tellin me 15, at idle!! im like wtf tell the girl to hold on real quick, turn the system up, bass is hittin hard as hell, still @ 15!!

is somethin wrong here, usually im at 14.6 if im accelerating with the system playin moderately

 

[Kdirk]

OTHCEO,

Man, that is running hot. I'm surprised you DIC didn't pop a "battery voltage high" or "charging system problem" error at that level. The ceiling must be somewhere north of 15VDC to trigger the warnings.

Anyway, I'd suspect a faulty voltage regulator (integral to the alternator) if you're getting that much juice especially under heavy load [tunes pumping]. Better keep an eye on that, you could start letting the magic smoke out of the on board electronics if it keeps up.

Keep us posted.

KDirk

 

[weister42]

Remember the DIC's voltage meter measures AVERAGE voltage level, so you'll only notice a voltage dip if you play a song with constant bass at a stoplight at night. My car's voltage goes up to 15.1 volts in the winter(not sure why) and comes down to ~14v when the car's warmed up. If I turn on most of the car accessory the voltage dips to about 12.8v.

 

[MUGSANDLUKE]

Just F.Y.I. - the alternator will push out higher voltage when it's cold. As the temp climbs the efiiciency of any electrical generating device drops proportionately. You can expect the lowets voltage mid summer with AC running and highest voltage in mid winter with only a few accessories running. Hence the reason for all the blown alternators as the weather gets warm each summer. My DeVille DHS runs at 14 - 14.4 most of the time except in warmer weather when it may drop a half volt or more.