Something is draining my battery

[Amskeptic]

Twinfalls posted THIS little gem:

...Car Batteries Are Not 12 Volts. Battery technology evolutions and their optimum charging regulator voltage...

http://www.landiss.com/battery.htm

Big round of applause for that link =D>
hat's off everybody to Twinfalls for posting the link!

I want to "adjust" my OEM 13.4 regulator up a volt for my gel Optima battery.
WhadduIdoo?
Colin
(edit - found procedure at a BMW motorcycle forum)

[Hippie]

Mechanical? Since I can't find any instuctions for the Bosch so far, I would say just find the voltage coil (if there is more than one coil) should be the one with the finer turns of wire...and the general procedure is to g-e-n-t-l-y bend up or down the metal tang that overhangs the top of the coil. That regulates spring pressure and therefore the contact vibration rate.
Play with it.

Electronic? Not a clue. get a spare and mess with the transistors bias resistors and try not to let the smoke out of it.
Elecric stuff won't work anymore once you let the factory installed smoke out of the little parts.

[Westy78]

Twinfalls posted THIS little gem:

...Car Batteries Are Not 12 Volts. Battery technology evolutions and their optimum charging regulator voltage...

http://www.landiss.com/battery.htm

Big round of applause for that link =D>
hat's off everybody to Twinfalls for posting the link!

I want to "adjust" my OEM 13.4 regulator up a volt for my gel Optima battery.
WhadduIdoo?
Colin
(edit - found procedure at a BMW motorcycle forum)

Care to share? I have an Optima too and never thought about it. Although I have a new regulator also. Haven't checked charging voltage since I installed it.

[hambone]

While "kosher" this seems a strange thing to do...
Stock batteries and stock volts have been running our humble Volkswagens in 12v for 43 years in all kinds of climate and conditions.

[Mr Blotto]

OK - back on topic. Today I replaced my "original" voltage regulator (Bosch - made in Brasil???) with a new Bosch (made in Spain), and notice a few things.

1 - Instead of getting 12.6V @ idle, I am now getting 13.4 (I didn't check it while reving but 13.4 seems more like what it should be).

2 - The old one is weighs a lot more than the new one

3 - They have managed to get the same electronics to fit into a smaller space

OK - just wanted to tell everyone that the VR was for sure the problem - in fact, it seems that my bus has more power now. Is it possible that the old VR was putting out a weak spark? I swear that my bus had more "umpf" now.

[Hippie]

Well, I've never heard of a VR causing a weak spark...but in theory, the better the voltage, the hotter the spark could be...

What say you experts?

...anyway, glad you fixed it. Yay.

[twinfalls]

Well, I've never heard of a VR causing a weak spark...but in theory, the better the voltage, the hotter the spark could be...

What say you experts?

...anyway, glad you fixed it. Yay.

X2 in theory, the better the voltage, the hotter the spark
I had bad batteries that made starting awkward: Cranking but no go as if no spark. My only explanation was enough amps to crank and not enough voltage for good sparks.
The trouble desappeared with good batteries and good points.

I suspect, in your case something is marginal in your ignition so that little battery undervoltage has a noticeable effect.
Normally there is far enough good spark to allow some not so good parts ( plug gaps, points dwell , weak coil, poor condenser, leaky wires )
If affordable, I recommend a test on the ignition at a specialists who have the right test bench. They can see stuff we cannot with our multimeters.

[Emily's Owner]

While "kosher" this seems a strange thing to do...
Stock batteries and stock volts have been running our humble Volkswagens in 12v for 43 years in all kinds of climate and conditions.

Be a rebel.