Thread: 16 volt battery w/ No Alternator

I dont know how many will have experience with using the 16 volt batteries on their drag cars. I kinda want to get some pros and cons of using it vs a 12 volt and alternator. With my last setup and a stock b13 alternator with all my electronics, dual fuel pumps, flexalite 1250 cfm fan on all the time, mezier electric water pump, all my gauges and electronics and cdi box and at night the headlights and running lights the b13 alternator just seemed like it couldnt keep up and was getting worse and worse quickly to the point it would only put out a max of 12.9 volts and even lower when under heavier load as in high rpm and so on. This was bad as the point it wouldnt keep the battery charged because it didnt have enough amperage left over so eventually the battery would run down to the point it would be dead.

Ive been reading alot about the 16 volt batteries and no alternator and it seems like all the big drag cars are going this route as under even heavy electrical load during a pass they are seeing 15.5-16.0 volts constant and can usually do 10-15 passes between charges.

Downfall would be the price of the battery and a good charger to go with it and then having to charge up to be safe every 5-6 passes or so.

Again as far as electronics go on my car and their current draw:

AEM EMS: 4-5 amps max
AEM Twinfire CDI box: 7 amps at full load
Mezier Electric WP: 10-12 amps
Flexalite 1250 cfm fan: 10 amps
Weldon Fuel pump: 15 amps max
AEM gauges (4) maybe 2-3 amps total
Headlights and running lights together: 4-5 amps

From what ive read I should have no issues just dropping in a 16 volt battery, the lights and all my electronics should have no problem handling the 16 volts and there seems to be only benifits from it

More pros to it:

Remove alternator and bracket to clean up the front of the motor and make more room (not that its needed) and saves some weight from the alt and bracket

Avoid throwing the belt off at 10k rpms I plan to rev to

Frees up some power not having to drive the alt.

For those that have ran the 16 volt battery, any recommendations?

From what ive seen the braille and XS Power batteries seem to be the best ones. As for chargers they recommend a couple and discourage others that have issues with overcharging and not automatically shutting off once fully charged.

I've been looking into this aswell. Really seems like a good option, especially for you and all out drag guys. I would possibly be putting my alt back in for street use. That 5-10 whp would be nice.. I'm also wondering though if the tune would be thrown off by the 16v vs 12v... wouldn't we need to re tune and adj everything for the voltage?

are the electronics rated to take 16 volts?

Yes, Cory your tune should be fine, the Ecu has a voltage regulator built in.

There are some variables in the AEM that need to be changed as far as the injector battery voltage correction chart that makes adjustments to how the injectors fire with different voltages. I believe the stock ecu uses this same principle as well and has a range from 0-24 volts from what ive read that it will correct injection timing based on voltage.

Other than that the injectors and fuel pump really are the only two major things affected by the voltage increase that you might have to make changes for. Like you said at worse case scenario for you, you might have to fine tune again but should be fairly simple and easy.

But yes all the electronics as far as the ems, twinfire, gauges, and stuff are all input voltage range from 9-18 volts DC

I thought about this as well Ashton, actually did it for a while on a 12v, but it's such a pita that it really wasn't worth it for me. Besides that, the car ran ten times better with the alternator. Your injectors are made to handle around 13v anyways, that's why mine ran so much better with the alternator. Add another pound of boost and skip the alty delete.

I have a thread up on honda-tech as well and there are a couple sfwd and true street cars as well as outlaw cars running the 16v battery setup, no alt, no stepdowns and havent had a single problem with anything. Not even a lightbulb going out.

If you get a decent sized battery they can hold a charge for 120 minutes of constant use. One guy ran a whole day on the dyno and only had to charge it once. Thats what im looking for.

Under full load for 15-20 minutes of straight use the lowest voltage people are seeing is 15.5 volts. That is what im looking for, your injectors, your ignition, and especially your fuel pump will all run better with the higher voltage. Plain and simple.

You cant do this with a 12v battery as your electronics and especially your fuel pump like to see 13.5-14 volts to run their best.

With a 16 volt battery you get that and more. I really see no downfall to it other than having to put it on a charger.

Cory, for you I would recommend the Kinetik 12/16 volt battery, its got 3 posts, a ground and one post for 12v and one for 16. You could still run your car off of the 16 volts and when your done at the track put your alt belt back on and connect your alternator connection to the 12v post. Even while charging the 12 volt side it will still keep the 16 volt side charged up as well as it will feed off the voltage from the other cells to charge up the extra 2 cells. Just have to make sure your alt positive feed that powers the coil in the alt is also fed off your 12 v which on a b13 it is tied in with the same main power wire back to the battery from the alt so you should be fine. Just gotta double check to make sure your not supplying the alt with 16 volt primary voltage.

how do u plan on charging it at the track thats the only downside

Next time I'm at the dyno ill drop the alt belt and throw the charger on it for a pull or two and see how much power is really freed up by loosing the alt...

Battery is mad expensive. I'll turn up the boost some more lol