Now consider the MSD alone needs 13-14 volts to operate at 100 percent and it uses a little over 1 amp for every 1000 rpm. This is what I did to convince myself I needed an alternator: I took my digital voltmeter from Radio Shack and made two new wires that hooked to the positive battery cable where my ignition and accessories were hooked up. I mounted the voltmeter by the tach on the dash and I watched it start at 12.6 volts in staging lanes to an unbelievable 11.50 volts at the finish line. Think the ignition was weaker and fuel pressure falling? YES.

The battery will recover and show about 12.4 volts back in the pits but it continually goes downhill.

DRO: TALK ABOUT PROPER BATTERY CHARGING. HOW TO PROPERLY CHARGE A BATTERY, WHEN CAN YOU TELL YOU ARE OVERCHARGING YOUR BATTERY. PROBLEMS CAUSED BY OVERCHARGING THE BATTERY OR BATTERIES.

Battery Experts: There were a couple different opinions in details but here it is in a nutshell. There are basically two types of battery chargers, battery burners and battery chargers.

Most automotive people use battery burners. A good 20-amp voltage regulated multi-stage charger sells for between $200 and $300, and they can be found in marine catalogs or RV accessories catalogs. Most automotive chargers are just a transformer in a box. These simply provide amperage and increasing voltage until you turn them off. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if a top quality automatic 20 amp charger cost upwards of $300, what you are getting in the "box" for 100 amps and $100. The ONLY low cost charger a racer should use is a 15/2 amp or a 10/2 amp AUTOMATIC charger which tapers back as the battery reaches a fully charged condition. Even then it is necessary to monitor it and remove the charger once the battery is charged.

Some name brands of chargers with an "automatic" function are Schumacher, Associated and Solar. Schumacher makes a very nice unit for racers who charge at the track, it is model number SE-300-30. It is a 10amp/ 30amp/ 200amp boost hand held charger. If you use or purchase a 16-volt battery you will need one of their 16-volt chargers. According to Turbo-Start, they have a couple models and both are fully automatic and designed for racing service.

My Experience: I have found out one of the most critical times to fully charge a battery is right after the races. I use a 6-amp multi-stage charger on my dry cell battery in my dragster and it is plugged in all week. It keeps the battery at about 90-95 percent charged and maintains this level of charge through a "float mode" rather than locking in a certain voltage. When I ran wet-cell batteries I used a similar charger but you must keep the plates in a wet-cell battery covered with electrolyte at all times.

If you need to add to a battery, use "distilled water ONLY", do NOT use tap water as the chemicals in tap water will shorten battery life.

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