> If you can measure any voltage difference between the battery positive
> terminal and the alternator output terminal, you have either
> dirty/corroded
> connections or a bad wire. There should be no resistance to speak
> of between
> these points (and therefore no voltage drop).
Even if it's wired with 10 AWG wire directly to the battery (which it isn't,
there are connectors and on some cars an ammeter, all of which have
resistance); 10 AWG copper wire has a resistance of about 1 milliohm per
foot. If it's 6 feet from the alternator to the battery "as the cable
lies", that's 6 milliohms. 43 amps (full output) times 6 milliohms is .258
volts.
Sure, this isn't much, and you can ignore it if you like. I'm the sort of
person that wants every last candlepower of light on the road (and then
some).
Ok, now, everyone run out and measure it on their cars. I'll bet it's over
0.5 volt ...
Randall
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