Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
If the battery is going dead from EOC, you need to monitor voltage to decide when the charge is too low and you need to leave the engine on. (A $3 harbor freight voltmeter will let you do this.)
You probably already know that deeply discharging a conventional starting battery (eg. to the point it won't start the car) damages it, reducing its capacity even further each time it happens.
If you're trying to save money, having to replace your battery every year or so will cancel a big chunk of your gains!
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Well, out of all the areas I have driven too, so far where I live it just happens to be the best location I can find for using EOC to gain MPG, so I tend to want to use it a lot here. But I now feel whenever the outside temp gets cold I had best not use EOC at all without further damaging the battery. I run with a Stereo, CB Radio, GPS, Radar Detector, and sometimes a Cell charger all on WHILE the heat is on!! So, I think I can see what is happening here, and I don't think a volt meter (while a nice plus) would help me much. I find I can get away with driving this way on warmer days, but I can not keep by battery charged running so much electricity while using a lot of EOC on cold days with a battery located outside of my engine compartment.
I might get around to getting a volt meter for display some day. It may very well help me figure out just exactly where I'm pushing my battery too far.
Thanks