Heater and battery drain

[soldave]

Question for you all: are the heaters in these things particular drains on the battery? Have been driving recently with the heater on and have noticed that when it's on power 1 my voltmeter drops right onto the 13V mark; on power 2 it drops a little below that. All of my other accessories can be on and make almost no difference to the voltage. First thought was the alternator not giving me enough voltage but it was rebuilt probably 12-18 months ago so shouldn't be that I hope.

 

It could very well be taking all the power of the car to turn the fan as it does seem to squeak and rattle a little when I initially turn the heating on!

[EXCEL V8]

A single fan on my early system draws 12A on turn on and 8A when running (full speed).  So:  2 x 8 = 16A.  16A x 12V = 192 Watts.  Like having two extra sets of headlights on!

Pete

[soldave]

Good point. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised then! Throw in a bit of a drain on the battery through less than smooth bearings on fan, bad earths etc and it all adds up.

[EXCEL V8]

I'm currently searching for a compact alternator with a higher output for just this reason.  Hoping for some feedback from a local rebuilding company soon.

Pete