What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
94 1.4 fitting a bigger capacity battery - amphibianalf
hi all.........
i have another car thats been off of the road for a while .....
the battery went flat so i keep it on charge ...
would it be ok to use it in the clio to keep it conditioned, it's a 76ah from my frontera, i know it's alot bigger in power, would the altenator cope....
i would rotate the batteries to keep them both ok ........
CHEERZ........AL..........

Edited by Webmaster on 16/03/2009 at 09:38

94 1.4 BIGGER BATTERY - Peter.N.
I don't think using a larger battery would be problem, the alternator can't give more than the maximum output it was designed for.
94 1.4 BIGGER BATTERY - amphibianalf
i'm not sure how the charging system works exactly....i thought the larger battery would need more work to charge it ....so the alternator would have to work harder ..
if i understood what your saying.... the alternator cant be overloaded by the bigger battery...... will it then charge the battery to it's full capacity but just take longer.....
sorry for the questions i'm just trying to understand ........
CHEERZ...........AL.........
94 1.4 BIGGER BATTERY - mfarrow
i'm not sure how the charging system works exactly....i thought the larger battery would need
more work to charge it ....


It will just take longer to charge - the actual charging current is quite small compared to the rated output of the alternator.
if i understood what your saying.... the alternator cant be overloaded by the bigger battery......


Correct, as I say the battery charge current is regulated. The rated output of the alternator is how much current it can theoretically produce to power active circuits, i.e. ECU, ignition, light, HRW etc.
will it then charge the battery to it's full capacity but just take longer.....


Yes.