Intermittent battery discharge on warm-up
02-12-2007, 11:23 PM
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Intermittent battery discharge on warm-up
Greetings,
Not sure why this occurs, or if it's normal so I thought I'd poll the forum for feedback. Whenever I first start the battery will discharge a few times briefly - batt-meter dives, lights (if on) dim, etc.,. Is this normal and, if so, what exactly is pulling that much juice from the batteries (& why not from the alternator) in that interval. It only goes thru a few quick cycles of this ~ has me a little curious.
TIA,
Dane
Not sure why this occurs, or if it's normal so I thought I'd poll the forum for feedback. Whenever I first start the battery will discharge a few times briefly - batt-meter dives, lights (if on) dim, etc.,. Is this normal and, if so, what exactly is pulling that much juice from the batteries (& why not from the alternator) in that interval. It only goes thru a few quick cycles of this ~ has me a little curious.
TIA,
Dane
02-12-2007, 11:34 PM
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Thx for the rapid reply AggieJustin! I should have put "voltage" as opposed to "battery" in my search! 
I might have even noticed it pegged at the top of this forum, lol! 
Grid heaters - makes sense now... I thought it may have correlated with the colder temps but, rig being quite new, wasn't sure. I'd prefer to delete the whole thread to conceal my shame
but, since that's apparently not an option, guess I'll paste the info from that link in this thread in case someone else misses it on search. 
I might have even noticed it pegged at the top of this forum, lol! Grid heaters - makes sense now... I thought it may have correlated with the colder temps but, rig being quite new, wasn't sure. I'd prefer to delete the whole thread to conceal my shame
but, since that's apparently not an option, guess I'll paste the info from that link in this thread in case someone else misses it on search.
The Cummins uses a pair of 12 volt grid heaters in the intake tract
(imagine two large toaster elements glowing bright red)
that preheat incoming air for easier combustion.
The Ford & Chevy use glow plugs inside the combustion chamber.
As the relay cycles the grids on & off, the large amp draw causes the volt meter reading to drop, and the lights to dim when the relay turns on the juice.
The relay timer will turn off the heaters when the intake temps hit a preset limit, or when the vehicle exceeds a preset MPH (usually between 15-25 mph).
(imagine two large toaster elements glowing bright red)
that preheat incoming air for easier combustion.
The Ford & Chevy use glow plugs inside the combustion chamber.
As the relay cycles the grids on & off, the large amp draw causes the volt meter reading to drop, and the lights to dim when the relay turns on the juice.
The relay timer will turn off the heaters when the intake temps hit a preset limit, or when the vehicle exceeds a preset MPH (usually between 15-25 mph).
02-13-2007, 12:21 PM
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I'd prefer to delete the whole thread to conceal my shame
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