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High Volatge Reading

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 3:52 am
by 38kronik00
Hello everyone,

It's been a while. I have a question for you though. Yesterday and today I noticed that when I scroll over to battery on my DIC that it is reading higher than normal. Never actually thought about this but while the car is running, whether in motion or stationary, it normally reads 14.7V. However, for the past couple of days it has been at 15.1 occasionally dipping to 15.0. I am not too big on the electrical portion of cars but that seems kind of high to me. I have no idea why it would be raised like that.

I have seen no issues with my headlights, interior lights, or any other electrical malfunctions. Not saying there isn't one but I have been paying attention since I saw the voltage raised and have noticed nothing.

For the major electrical components I believe the battery is roughly 3-4 years old. I am not entirely sure about the alternator, I know it has never been changed since I took ownership in 2010.

So, is this bad? Within tolerances? Idk...thank you for your help!

Heath

Re: High Volatge Reading

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 4:43 pm
by Evan0801
When the car is not running it should read 12.6v and While the car is running it should be above 13v and as high as 16v. I would say 15.1v is just fine.

Re: High Volatge Reading

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:15 pm
by ddalder
There are many factors used to determine what the system will regulate the charging voltage at. Technically, this is within the specs of the charging system but this is normally what the vehicle should charge at under ideal circumstances. If you had run the battery low for some reason then you would expect to see an (initially) higher charge voltage. If this level of 15+ is becoming your day to day norm then I would consider having the battery load tested. To do this correctly, you really need to remove it from the car, fully charge it and then have it tested. A simple voltage check is not sufficient.

Re: High Volatge Reading

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:13 am
by nos4blood70
I have a voltage booster from ZZP. My voltage is pretty much always 15.1. Has been for a couple years now.

Re: High Volatge Reading

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:21 am
by ddalder
nos4blood70 wrote:I have a voltage booster from ZZP. My voltage is pretty much always 15.1. Has been for a couple years now.
A little different though if you're intentionally boosting the voltage. In the absence of a booster, this isn't what would be considered normal.

Re: High Volatge Reading

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:48 am
by nos4blood70
Ah, for some reason I thought he had the booster installed and was worried that it was too high.

My bad, those late night posting sessions can make you see things. Hahaha

Re: High Volatge Reading

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 8:15 pm
by 38kronik00
Nope, no booster. However I noticed now that it seems to change daily haha. Sometimes it is at 14.7 and sometimes it is 15.1 and everywhere in between. Haven't noticed any issues because of it though.