Alternator upgrade

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by 940volvoman

So tell me,then,if my alternator is producing 14.5 volts and a a silver calcium battery needs 14.7 before it starts charging what happens to the 14.5 volts receives?

It sulphates the battery causing loss of capacity, non-charging and other problems.

[940volvoman]

Thanks again Dave.I wonder if I should try and return mine under warranty as it clearly isn't suitable for my car,despite being registration number suitable.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by 940volvoman

Thanks again Dave.I wonder if I should try and return mine under warranty as it clearly isn't suitable for my car,despite being registration number suitable.

You can try! Has to be worth a go!

[TonyS9]

Dave, where does the calcium battery theory come from. According to Yasua the (trickle) charging tolerance voltage is higher, but they are just another form of lead acid battery so you 'can' have a high charging rating. They should perform the same chargingwise as normal lead acid in a car designed for older lead acid.

https://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/technic...ium-batteries/

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TonyS9

Dave, where does the calcium battery theory come from. According to Yasua the (trickle) charging tolerance voltage is higher, but they are just another form of lead acid battery so you 'can' have a high charging rating. They should perform the same chargingwise as normal lead acid in a car designed for older lead acid.

https://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/technic...ium-batteries/

The fact is, they DO NOT PERFORM THE SAME!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_calcium_battery

First point of reference, Then do like i did and go through all the others from this search :

https://search.yahoo.com/search?p=ca...l&type=default

[Ian21401]

Have been following this thread with interest but..........
My present battery is a Bosch type 96 S5 008 and the case is a silver colour. Some of the literature regarding this battery refers to it being a “silver” battery.
My previous battery was also a Bosch type 96 S5 008 but it was marketed as a Bosch Silver battery and I seem to recall “calcium” was mentioned somewhere in the paperwork. It served me well for 11 years.
My present battery does not have any indication that it is silver or silver/calcium.
Is it fair to expect that a silver/calcium battery will have this information on it’s labelling?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Ian21401

Have been following this thread with interest but..........
My present battery is a Bosch type 96 S5 008 and the case is a silver colour. Some of the literature regarding this battery refers to it being a “silver” battery.
My previous battery was also a Bosch type 96 S5 008 but it was marketed as a Bosch Silver battery and I seem to recall “calcium” was mentioned somewhere in the paperwork. It served me well for 11 years.
My present battery does not have any indication that it is silver or silver/calcium.
Is it fair to expect that a silver/calcium battery will have this information on it’s labelling?

It is Ian, some people are lucky and the tolerances in various things mean they get away with calcium batteries, a lot don't and that's when the problems start.

[940volvoman]

I'm pleased to be able to report that since I upgraded the big three cables, with the main additional alternator feed going direct to the battery, together with the new alternator voltage regulator that the battery is coping well with the winter starting requirements. I only use the car for very short journeys and use a maintenance charger to top up once per week. The aftermarket voltmeter which is hard wired to the battery shows a tad under 15 volts, so all seems well so far.....

[griston64]

Bit of a thread hijack here but..... I've removed the alternator from my breaker 940 ( 1998 with aircon and everything else ) to keep as a spare. Will this be a heavier duty version compared to my own 1996 940 without aircon ?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by griston64

Bit of a thread hijack here but..... I've removed the alternator from my breaker 940 ( 1998 with aircon and everything else ) to keep as a spare. Will this be a heavier duty version compared to my own 1996 940 without aircon ?

Easy way to answer that is look on the labels on the alternators Mark. If they're Bosch, there should be a green label on them giving the output in A and V, along the lines of "14V/80A".

If it's the Nippon-Denso alternator, if memory serves they're 120A so worth fitting if it's on your breaker.