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Old 11-05-2015, 02:01 AM   #28 (permalink)
RedDevil
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Red Devil - '11 Honda Insight Elegance
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile View Post
The alternator normally runs at 12.5v, this also eliminates the loss of efficiency as the battery reaches full (keeping a Pb battery at 14v is quite wasteful).
Mine battery voltage alternates between 12.6 and 13.8 Volt. Of course, it is fed by the DC-DC converter so that controls the behaviour.

Our 2nd gen Insight 12V batteries have a tendency to fail prematurely, typically one cell gets out of balance and gets worse and worse until the battery dies.
Keeping it at 14 Volt would prevent that - even if it wastes 20 Watt continuously...
So keep an eye on your battery voltage...!
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