Gel Battery AH Size

Finally pulling the cover back off this project, & after falling off my roof putting up Christmas lights this past year, fracturing my heel bone... 16 screws & steel plate later ... here I am again... putting the finals on the wiring..... I am running a 16 amp 200 watt alternator,
with podtronics HP-200... My question is, I also want to run a Small Mighty Max Gel Battery do you think a 3 AH battery is to small of a battery for the 16 amp alternator or should go a bit bigger 6AH... I mocked up a cardboard battery with the 6 amp dimensions it fits but tight

I would rather use the smaller 3AH if possible with out cooking anything


It's not how you ride the storm out, but rather how you dance in the rain...
Tripower

Podtronics or any other electronic voltage regulator does not care what battery amp hour capacity is. It only responds to battery terminal voltage which is not amp hour dependent.

Slick

If you don't have any kind of electric starter system and (as in your case) you have good condition electrical system all the battery needs to do is fire the engine up then the charging system can take over. If you have also fitted energy efficient LED type lights then this takes much of the load off the charging system which helps at lower engine speed. So you should be ok.

I could be wrong on this but I will throw it out there anyway. From reading past posts it's my understanding the the Podtronics shunts the excess voltage ,thereby producing heat. There are some other units that use a switching system that does not produce heat when there is excess voltage. Jeandr (forum member) spent a lot of time on this. I would probably use a good heat sink on the Podtronics or look into the unit Jeandr is using. If I can locate Jeandr info I will follow up.

Pete



EDIT:
Got it.
voltage-regulators-t22113-15.html

Do not use a Gel Cell, the vibration will kill it. You want an 'Advanced Glass Mat' or AGM battery. Amps don't matter much if your charging system is good. The article by Jeandr was good but it requires a different regulator than the Podtronics, someone will come up with the link I'm sure.

Deets is right to point out the distinction between switching type and shunt type regulators.

Shunt to earth types have an easier life if there is a reasonable amount of current being consumed which is where Led sidelights etc are pointless

However concerning battery size, assuming they are more or less charged most of the time then there would no appreciable difference seen by the charging system.

i think the information you are looking for can be found here

voltage-regulators-t22113.html

i bought a series RR based on the info that Jeandr provided

That thread by Jeandr is great. The difference between the podtronics 'short the alternator' method and the shunt to earth or the zener methods really only amounts to this - in the podtronics unit the regulation is guaranteed to work regardless of a poor earthing scenario. The load on the alternator is the same to my mind whichever way you do it.