I would add..
it's not good for batteries to be discharged ....
and .....probably not a real problem ..
but alternators on cars are not deisgned to charge up discharged batteries.
  if you want to be really 100 % kosher ..
you have a battery charger to charge low batteries ..
and you start your car with a mostly fully charged battery .
  the newer the vehicle the more important that is ( like 2000's and
newer ) ..

jump starting is a good thing to avoid too.

When I do check charging voltage at the battery ..say I got 13.5 volts
running there..
first I like to see that ifit holds that level with the high beams on
..it should, or nearly ..
and if I get only 13.5 at the battery,
then I check at the alternator.
  I have seen a whole volt lost between alternator and battery ..which
sure should not be happening.

scott

On 1/18/2013 12:10 PM, Tom Hargrave wrote:
> Richard,
>
> Re-thinking my advice, 13.5V is probably OK for a low battery but you should
> see your battery slowly increase while running. A fully charged or even 80%
> charged battery should not be so low when running.
>
> You need to compare your static non-running voltage to your charging voltage
> & charging should be higher.
>
> Thanks, Tom Hargrave
> www.stir-plate.com
> www.towercooler.com
> www.kegkits.com
> www.grow-sun.com
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Koller [mailto:kollerr@helix.nih.gov]
> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 1:45 PM
> To: 'Tom Hargrave'
> Subject: RE: Electrical Gremlin
>
> I'm getting this voltage reading through the ecu not directly off the
> alternator so it's probably has a bit of a drop, but I'll check the
> alternator directly with my VOM.
> Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.
> Rick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Hargrave [mailto:thargrav@hiwaay.net]
> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 2:26 PM
> To: 'Richard Koller'; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: RE: Electrical Gremlin
>
> 13.5V running is too low - I believe your alternator is not charging.
>
> Thanks, Tom Hargrave
> www.stir-plate.com
> www.towercooler.com
> www.kegkits.com
> www.grow-sun.com
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
> Richard Koller
> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 12:54 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Electrical Gremlin
>
> Greetings all,
>
>                  My '90 syncro westie has a voltage leak somewhere. Battery
> goes to zero after 2 days of the camper not being driven. Van runs normally,
> shows 13.5 volts while running through my digitool. I recently replaced old
> battery thinking it was the culprit without checking it. It was about 5
> years old so I presumed it was at fault. New battery now gets drained. My
> question for you electrical gurus on the List, where would I start to track
> down this evil gremlin. Everything seems normal but obviously is not. The
> only constant drain is a car alarm LED that has been in the camper for 22
> years.
>
> Thanks for any words of wisdom.
>
> Rick
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