What are the pros-cons of using a 16 volt battery, i understand the voltage needing to be regulated, seems most of the electronics in the car are rated up to 16 volts, looking for response to weither the 16 volts keeps the car consistent after first pass, or does it still slow down after 1st pass on a fresh charged battery. Have been hearing alot about battery temp-and-the battery being weak after run #1 because of it. o No: Thanks.
Im not an expert on this application but I play alot with high voltage and amperage with another hobby and I can tell you this - If you are running without an alt. and soley depending on your 12v battery to supply your electrical needs, the total amp draw of your car will probably cause your voltage to sag below 12v which will probably NOT be good for electronic ignition (MSD) or fuel pumps etc. that may require a constant voltage. As you drain your battery (amp/hours) the voltage it will be able to sustain under load will also drop. By using a higher voltage battery (say 16v) and a switching regulator to maintain, say, 12.5V, you are in effect providing more voltage than is needed and then shunting the un-needed portion (usually to heat) and that system would be able to maintain your needed 12.5V for a longer period. Another way around this problem is to use a 12v battery with more amp/hour rating so that the voltage under load is maintained at a higher level. There will always be voltage sag UNDER LOAD - you can optimize this by minimizing the load placed on the system as well as reducing the resistance as much as possible, i.e., short battery leads, heavy duty cables ...etc. I would be hesitant to just throw a 16v batt in the car and hook it up - there may be several components that are not rated for the additional voltage and could fry.
I believe in most applications the battery has 3 terminals. Ground, 12v, 16v and the 16v is used for the starter to spin the motor faster and make it easier to start. A special transformer is used to charge the 16v terminal. I have a 526 motor with 13-1 and starting was a pain. I used to use two batterys a timed relay and a Ford starter solenoid to put 24v to the starter when cranking and then it would switch both batteries back to 12v when you let off the key. Pretty wild sounding when cranking but it worked.
Go to www.yellowbullet.com, click on "Forum" and then look in the electrical section. There are lots of threads about 16v batteries from people that have LOTS of experience with them. There is some excellent info there! Have fun.
Thanks for the feedback, i was at the track last weekend, and there was an issue with a 12-v gell cell. So there were alot of guys with alot of different opinions-solutions-and knowledge...and of course MONEY. Money and knowledge are wonderfull...but given any point in time i may have neither. I also hear about an Optima battery that is special order..with alot of operating amps-volts, they say it is what the "big guys" use.
