[brucepick]

My discussions with Odyssey told me that the ideal charging voltage was somewhere above 14V. I didn't commit all the details to memory but I think 14.1V was the minimum for "successful" charging from an alternator, and 14.3V or 14.5V is better. I think your ~14V charge rate, and the weatherproof plug-in charger you mentioned earlier (not by Odyssey??) are likely the what are primarily keeping the battery from optimum performance.

Now, if your drive discharges the battery substantially and you then activate the alternator to charge it, you may well be giving it very high amperage, especially if you don't have many accessories running. That may not be a bad thing. Check the Odyssey specs for charge rate limits. I think that with a limit of 14V you're not gong to overcharge it, even if the alt has a 100A capacity. However as I noted above, they really like more like 14.3-14.5V for charging, not the lower 14V rate.

The alt's Amps rating is a capacity, not what it will constantly deliver. The voltage regulator keeps it very close to 14.0V (except when the Honda ELD circuit cuts out the alt temporarily for fuel savings) but the Amps will vary to meet whatever the car needs at the time. If you're running headlights + cabin fan + radiator fan the alt will deliver more amps than without those items on, up to it's max capacity of 70A. If you're trying to draw more than what the alt can deliver, the voltage will sag somewhat, depending on how much more amperage you're trying to draw beyond the alt's capacity.

In the scenario above, a discharged battery that's now charging will present a "load" to the alternator and it will provide amps to the best of its ability, up to the 70A capacity of the alternator, while maintaining its regulated 14V. I think it's quite possible the mostly discharged battery will soak up as many amps as the alternator can deliver.