16 Volt batteries

[Dave Vince]

Have a couple of 16 volt turbo start batteries that have been sitting 3-4 years. Put them in the 68, tried to charge them and they will not take a charge. Does anyone know if the battery acid goes bad after sitting for such a long time, and will replacing it cure the problem?

[MN6WS6]

Um, the first question is why would you put 16 volt batteries in a car? You take a risk of blowing electronics, as anything over 14.6 or so can be dangerous.

[Dave Vince]

16 V

16 volt batteries are used in many high end racing applications. In this case my 68 Camaro. As you may know most charging systems will bring the operating voltage of even stock cars to around 14 volts. The extra couple of volts helps start the car and no ill effects have ever occured from running the extra couple of volts to any electronic component. The electical components all seem to actually work better with this setup. Mind you this is a car that does not use an alternator and is charged externally. This particular car has a big motor, big cam with almost 900 lbs of open spring pressure and very high compression. Even a high quality 12 volt battery struggles with this kind of motor. It takes about 80 lbs of torque to turn the motor over without spark plugs in it.

[PontiacFan]

thevbattery.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index.php&cPath=1

Just sharing some info I have on the batteries for anyone interested.
This happens to be a guy I know in Nebraska who has good history withe the product.

Not sure if there are any sponsors who sell this product, that's why I did not note this above as a direct link.

[MN6WS6]

Even on the above posted website, they specifically say that some components may need the voltage stepped down. I know that water pumps, fans, and anything else that is not solid-state designed can benefit from increased voltage, but when you are talking about ignition systems, nitrous controllers, and anything else with circuit boards inside, 16 volts will fry them. If they problem is needing more amps, it would seem to me it would be more efficient to go with a battery with more CCA's than it would be to go to a 16 volt setup. If you are worried about voltage loss during a pass, go with an Optima Blue Top or some other deep cycle battery that is designed to be run with no continuous source of charging, perhaps even two of them.

[Dave Vince]

Mind you I would not put one of these batteries in a modern car with all kinds of computer components. One of the batteries has a 12V tap on it but I have never had to use it. I have many solid state components in the car and have run these batteries without trouble in my Pro Mod car as have many others. I also have had about 25 years as an electronics tech and I have some knowledge of it. Most critical solid state components are regulated internally so that if the external or supply voltage varies somewhat the internal voltage remains the same. More important my experience with them tells me it works. Like I said these cars run strictly on battery so by the time a run is over it is probably down to 14 volts anyway. The company is trying to cover themselfs so as not to have anyone with electronic problems blame them. At a higher voltage you do not need as many amps to get the same results. Thats why in the 50's they switched from 6 volts to 12 volts.
I also have one of the Optima batteries and that battery will not crank the car like the 16v will.

[MN6WS6]

I don't want to get into a pissing match here, as this is not the place for it. I have 15 years experience as a car stereo installer, several of those as the head installer for a couple of different shops, so we both know how 12 volt electricity works. Volts X Amps = Watts. You either increase voltage or increase amperage to increase overall output. It just seems to me that increasing amperage is a lot safer than increasing voltage, as a 12 volt component will only pull as much amperage as it needs (or is available) to operate at it's maximum output. Being in the car field, I've seen what an alternator that puts out 15 or more volts can do to a cars electrical components either rapidly or over extended periods of time (depends on the durability of the component in question).

It seems to me the best option would be to run all of the non-solid state electronics off of the 16 volt battery (starter, water pump, fuel pump) and the solid state stuff off of a second 12 volt battery, or have a voltage reducer on the 16 volt to put it down to 14.4 or so. Then you eliminate any possibility of something frying. But we all know that theory and the real world sometimes don't match up.

[Dave Vince]

Believe what you will. Higher voltage and less amperage is more efficient.
I am telling you it works in real life and you want to argue.
No more replys from me you have your mind made up.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Dave, what happens to the batteries is that they become sulfated and won't take a charge. Some of the newer electronic automatic chargers can read the state of the battery, and if it is not taking a charge, they will pulse it with higher voltage like 16V (on a 12V battery) for a while and retest it. Then if it seems to be reversed and is taking a charge they will switch to a low trickle charge for 24 hours or so and this might bring the battery back. the problem for the 16V racing batteries is that you will need a similar charger that can work with the higher voltage batteries. I would think they exist, but I haven't actually loked for them, so don't know for sure.