Charging Question

[chevyconvert]

Hey gang ! (short story...skip to bottom for questions only)
My Challengers home in the garage is right under my pull down ladder to access our storage above the garage.
So I teach the wife how to start my Challenger, finesse her into reverse to back out of the garage so she can get at her stuff.
Pretty soon she figures out it's pretty fun to drive so she adds cruisin' the neighborhood to her little routine.
So about the 3rd time she calls me at work and says "how come your  car is dead?".
 I never had a problem with the car since I've owned it (starting wise).
Of course it didn't die in the garage...it's parked out at the curb.
So I get home from work...sure enough the battery dead. Attach my
portable jumper and start her up. Remove it and start walking away and the car dies. Have to leave the booster attached to the battery in order to drive up into my garage.
The battery was in it when I bought it so after looking at it closer see that it's six years old...so I go get a new battery and install it.
Haven't gotten to drive the car hardly at all since putting in the new battery but my wife says it sounded weak the last time she statrted it.
So I finally have a moment on Sunday to go for a putt and she's dead as a door nail.
So I charge the battery 1.5 hours (maybe not enough).
Questions:
1. with the car running I pulled the negative off the post to see if it would keep running. I seem to recall that this would confirm if the alternator was charging...well it keeps running. The weird thing is the engine revs up noticeably... maybe +3-500 rpm. Is this normal? If not what does the increase in rpm's indicate?

2. Also should the battery put out 14.2 volts when it's fully charged?

3. It seems the 60 amp alternator is the lowest amp one readily available.
Is that too much and is it going to overload my old stock wiring and overheat the stock ammeter in the dash?

[Chryco Psycho]

sounds like a bad battery to me , even the new one , remove the battery from the circuit & rpm increases due to lack of load , possibly the car is getting started enough to kill the battery & no run long enough to recharge ti causing it to run down on power

[Aussie Challenger]

  A fully charged battery can read 14 volts, but usually around 13 volts unless the engine is running.
  A 60amp alternator should be no problem, electricity is lazy, the alternator won't put out that much if it is not needed.
  The wiring on our 30+ year old cars is suspect, the amp guage is a known source of high resistance, there are several threads about by-passing the amp guage and cleaning up terminals that go through the firewall.   

[ted]

removing the cable while running is a good way to fry your electrical system.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Do you run and drive this car often enough that it can get a good charge? Do you have a clock, or anything else, that could drain the battery if the car sat for a while? I installed a battery disconnect recently. After a month, the Rally gauge clock will drain the battery quite a bit.


  Mike

[6packCuda]

removing the cable while running is a good way to fry your electrical system.

The battery helps to absorb voltage spikes in the electrical system. Without it in the circuit, these voltage spikes can do a lot of damage.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

The battery helps to absorb voltage spikes in the electrical system. Without it in the circuit, these voltage spikes can do a lot of damage.

Yep, and try that on something with a computer or two on it (if its anything 'new' try about 60-80 computers) you can fry those too!

[chevyconvert]

Thanks for the replies though I'm not sure if the consensus is that I need a new alternator or not.

Not sure what I could fry...definitely no computer etc. on my car.

CP suspects the new battery.

Everyone agrees the original wiring/ammeter can handle 60 amps?

[Aussie Challenger]

  Don't disconnect the battery while the engine is running.
  Check with a good volt meter what the charge rate is, should be between 13.5v & 14.2v with headlights on and motor running. Try increasing engine speed to around 1800 - 2000 if voltage is reading low and it should have above readings, if below then alternator or regulator need attention.
  If you are just starting car up and driving out of garage or just up the road and back that will not be enough to top up the battery.
  If you have a clock still working in the car then that will also drain the battery in a couple of days.
  Disconnecting the battery while it is being parked for any lenght of time helps, and putting a trickle charger on the battery once a week for a couple of hours would help, modern car batteries don't like to be flat.
     Hope this helps.   

[6packCuda]

Thanks for the replies though I'm not sure if the consensus is that I need a new alternator or not.

Not sure what I could fry...definitely no computer etc. on my car.

CP suspects the new battery.

Everyone agrees the original wiring/ammeter can handle 60 amps?

It doesn't sound like an alternator problem to me. Doesn't seem like the car has been run enough for the alternator to to it's job. Try putting a trickle charger on it on low. Let it charge all day. The 60 amp alternator is fine. It only produces as much as the electrical system asks for at any given time. Whenever I buy a new battery, I always put a slow charge on it before I even put it in the car. They can discharge over time if it was sitting on the shelf for a long time.

[ShelbyDogg]

I once had my battery out while all of my lights were on.  High beams, dash lights, tail lights. I had to put a good battery in to start it, then move it back to my other car, so I left mine running for the lights.  Next thing I know, all the lights were off.  The system had burned every light bulb out in my car. Good thing I still had low beams to drive home with.   Without a load (battery), the voltage regulator and alternator don't have a reference voltage to keep it down.

Run a long wire around from the alternator post to the starter relay post using a fusible link or 100 amp fuse in series with it. That will bypass your amp guage and the cheap arcing connector at the bulkhead.  Use a #10 or larger wire.    You may now want to get a voltmeter to replace your amp guage, made by Redline.

Rob

[Chryco Psycho]

you definatly don`t need a new alt it is working