[T3] Keith's T4 Charging Dilemma

[Jim Adney]

On 1 Jun 2020 at 22:29, Keith Park wrote:

> Drove it home from camp on Sunday, but before dark this time.
> Startup it kept 14v even at idle, wandered down to 13.9 at times but held
> right around 14V for a half hour or so on the secondary roads till I got
> on the interstate, then after 8 minutes it went down to 13.6 where it
> stayed for the rest of the hour home.  No headlight use.

Hmmmm, indeed. Not sure what this means, but it doesn't sound right. 
Where did you install your VR? They often have a temp coefficient, so they 
should be installed in the same space as the battery. Did you put yours 
under the back seat, in the usual Type 3 location?

If it's back in the engine compartment, that could be the problem. They were 
installed in the engine compartment of 914s, same as the battery, but I don't 
remember where they were on Type 4s. Type 4 batteries were under the 
driver's seat, which always seemed like a poor choice to me.

I believe the temp coefficient is just a bit negative, so that the battery gets 
charged higher in cold weather, when it might be needed more, and charged 
less in hot weather, to reduce the stress on the battery when it is hot.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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