Those cheap electric stabilzers work.

[black86glhs]

Still can't believe how something so cheap works, lol.

Your a prime example of that statement!!!!!!

[turbovanman²]

Your a prime example of that statement!!!!!!

Wow,

[black86glhs]

You know I'm just busting your beans.

[Force Fed Mopar]

I'll report if it fails,

I see a "*%$#^% $7.30 voltage stabilizer left me stranded today" thread in the future...

[Vigo]

Looks like the Accuvolt from Jacob's Electronics... It's basically a transformer that will pull current (amps) to make voltage.

Id be pleasantly surprised if you could get something like that for $10..

[turbovanman²]

I see a "*%$#^% $7.30 voltage stabilizer left me stranded today" thread in the future...

Hahaha, most likely,

[zin]

Not adjustable.

I/we know its a capacitor of some sort because as I mentioned, the LED blinks for like a minute after you disconnect it.

I'm sure it has capacitors in it, I was thinking that it was also using a solid state rectifier/regulator as well, but seeing how it hooks-up, it's not quite like the Accuvolt, but seems to do basically the same thing...

Only thing that bothers me a bit it the fact it's hooking-up to both sides of the battery, so it has potential to short it out, and with that many amps to work with, could induce Car-B-Q... Hopefully it has proper fuseable links, etc.

Mike

[black86glhs]

I would think he is smart enough to put a fuse or CB on the B+ wire of the voltage thingy.......I hope he is.

[Force Fed Mopar]

I would think he is smart enough to put a fuse or CB on the B+ wire of the voltage thingy.......I hope he is.

Dude... it's Simon...


































lol sorry man, had to

[black86glhs]

Knew if i said it...........

[turbovanman²]

Geez, no respect today,

The way I see it, a fuse won't do squat if it melts down, but maybe a breaker would be a better idea.

[Force Fed Mopar]

I would think he is smart enough to put a fuse or CB on the B+ wire of the voltage thingy.......I hope he is.

Dude... it's Simon...

lol sorry man, had to

Knew if i said it...........

Geez, no respect today,

The way I see it, a fuse won't do squat if it melts down, but maybe a breaker would be a better idea.

Your hopes were in vain, he doesn't have any safety measures installed....

[MiniMopar]

Heh...those things. They are a bank of capacitors. They actually aren't all that big, but they don't have to be. Are you sure your alternator doesn't have a dead diode/winding?

If anyone cares about the nitty gritty: they work because they can bridge the gap between the pulses coming from the alternator. The alternator doesn't put out a steady voltage at all. It's a series of current pulses that come and go as the diodes and armature inside switch between coils. Those get smoothed-out by your battery and by the electrical loads of the car (which is why it's a really bad idea to run a car without a battery). The problem is, a lead acid battery can't store a charge higher than its cell voltages: 12.6V. So your line voltage kind of buzzes between 14.something and 12.something volts, depending on the engine RPMs. The lower the RPM, the longer those gaps between pulses are. Capacitors can hold whatever charge they are exposed to (up to their rated maximum), so they will discharge at the highest voltage they can achieve. I guess I can see why an UD pulley would make this worse.

BTW, heat shortens the life of electrolytic caps and they don't really generate any heat of their own (if they do they are probably about to explode). I say that because it's pretty stupid to put them in a finned aluminum housing. It will just pick-up the ambient heat from under the hood faster, but I guess it gives it a look of quality. It's ironic that this cheap thing made in China would be better off in a plastic box.

Sorry about the rant...had an argument about these with somebody at work recently....

[turbovanman²]

What rant? That was a great explanation, I kinda figured something like that.

Nothing wrong with my charging system, its just the UD pulley and all the accessories on at idle or around 1100 rpm drop the voltage too low,

[turbovanman²]

Thought I'd update a bit more, still doing its job and then some. The only time my CEL came on was after being stuck in traffic for 45 mins, idling, a/c on, fan on #3 out of 4 settings, lights, wipers etc on, I guess it discharged enough and once in awhile, the voltage would drop. So far, pretty amazed,

[RoadWarrior222]

I've got a capacitor the size of a mini can of coke I keep meaning to hook up, I think it's a quarter of a Farad... (250,000uF) .... supposedly it can get you better gas mileage too because your sensor readings are steadier.

[glhs0426]

I put one on my Magnum and it has helped the headlamps/dashlamps flicker very little.

i.e. very little improvement.

[turbovanman²]

I put one on my Magnum and it has helped the headlamps/dashlamps flicker very little.

i.e. very little improvement.

What type, the same one I used or something else?

[glhs0426]

What type, the same one I used or something else?

Same thing. The Magnum/300 have a known issue with lights flickering. It didn't help this one. We are putting it on my friends Beetle to see if he can get more than 45 days out of headlamp bulbs. It will pop one every 1 1/2 months.

[turbovanman²]

Same thing. The Magnum/300 have a known issue with lights flickering. It didn't help this one. We are putting it on my friends Beetle to see if he can get more than 45 days out of headlamp bulbs. It will pop one every 1 1/2 months.

Gotcha, guess every vehicle is different.

Sounds like my customers Kia,