Battery and charging system questions????

[Downey]

long story short
My battery light was on but the truck ran and started fine. so i replaced the cable from batter to the alternator. solved the problem then the truck sat for 3 month and never ran be cause of transmission problems. got it back running and now it needs a new battery. i was using a good batter out my wife jeep so i could use the truck till i get a battery.

Now my battery light is back on and it flickers some times and other times it goes out and some time it stays on.

i have an explorer 190 amp alternator on it.

now i have a mile marker 9000k winch now and obviously it has a decent draw when using it.

so i need some advice before i go out and buy a new battery.

what should i get? deep cell? run dual batteries?

i thought about an optima but it blows my mind to spend that much.

i also run have several sets of light i run on the truck during the night time and a small sound system that will be going back in the truck.

im thinking about changing all my battery cables out too.

what do you guys think?

 

[96Indyram]

Are you sure the alternator is working correctly? If its not i could see why your having battery issues. I have ran into alot of alternator problems lately on different vehicles.
They test good and put out the voltage/amps when they are cold, or have sat overnight. Go drive them around for awhile, and re-test..nada....dead alternator.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Ok....battery light on has nothing to with the battery. It comes on when the alternator is not charging. Have your alternator tested.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[Downey]

but why would i be able to drive or let it run for serveral hours with head lights on and 4 hellas and radio and not have any problems the voltage gauge never shows lower than "normally" where it runs

 

[RonD]

OK, battery light first.

If you give a light bulb 12volts it doesn't light up, you have to have a voltage difference for electricity to flow thru the bulb, so you also ground the bulb, 0 volts, and it lights up.
If you give a bulb 12v on one side and 10v on the other it will light up as well...because electricity is flowing from 12v to 10v thru the bulb

The battery light circuit is what "turns on the alternator", yes alternator has an on and off switch, otherwise it would drain the battery when engine was off.

When you turn the key on, 12volts runs through the Battery light and to the voltage regulator in the alternator which powers the brushes in the alternator(turns it on), but alternator is not spinning so voltage is 0, electricity is flowing so battery light is on.

When you start the engine alternator starts putting out voltage, when it gets to 12volts battery light goes out, no electricity is flowing thru bulb, both sides are 12v.

An Alternator actually puts out 13.5volts but battery bulb also has 13.5volts at that time because it is part of the electrical system.
If alternators voltage output drops below battery voltage, 12volts, then electricity flows thru the bulb and it lights up, flickering is when alternator voltage is going up and down around the 12v range.

There are a few things that go out in an alternator, voltage regulator, brushes, fields.
Or the wiring connecting the alternator to the system, ends can get frayed.
Make sure engine block is grounded to battery, the red 'voltage out' alternator wire is important, but it doesn't send voltage UNLESS alternator is grounded(0 volts)


Here is a diagram of charging system, right side is the battery light circuit, make sure the LG/R wire has a good strong clean connection at the alternator, a loose or corroded connector lowers the voltage, so...........light bulb lights
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/EDiagrams/files/Diagram_charging_1991_1.JPG




Bigger battery or dual battery.
A dual battery setup(regular and deep cycle) is better IF you use you electrics with engine off, say camping, you want some lights and/or tunes, dual battery is best because the engine will always start the next morning(after someone got too drunk and left the stereo on all night, opps, LMAO)

Or if engine stalls out and you need to winch it out of a mud hole, even if you drain the second battery getting truck out it will recharge as soon as you get the engine started again.
You also don't need a big amp alternator, you are storing the amps when not at full load, which is 90% of the time engine is running.


A bigger battery is less expensive than a dual battery setup, but a big amp alternator should also be used, calculate the load at max. usage to decide what you might need