BCM Battery charging rate >14.7 volts and aftermarket batteries

[dassaur]

After my recent electrical debacle (https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/electrical-help-wires-in-battery-compartment.290101/) I was looking into a potential new battery.
All the big boys like century, exide etc. list specifically that the charging rate of the battery must not exceed 14.7 volts.

I could not find the specifics for ACDelco.
The VF voltage reading is often enough >14.7.
Of course it's easy enough to say just stick in the same ACDelco (they are dirt cheap especially wiht trade price) and not worry especially since they last so long but l am interested in people's opinion on this voltage matter.

To be clear, I am not getting a new battery I got a new one last year - the ACDelco AGM one. Works well.

 

[stooge]

i have used century batteries in many ve and vf models for years and never had an issue.
i have a yuasa(century) agm in my zb and a century in my colorado and they will jump between 14 and 15 while driving and they are fine.
when i get a new/used vehicle i pretty much rip the battery out and put a century in within the first few days.

considering that many modern vehicles will charge between 13.8 and 15 and the battery from century is recommended for the vf then i would not worry about it.

 

[krusing]

I have also been using Century Batteries, they were always a little pricier than the bargain basement ones,
But you get what you pay for !
Both my VY & VE have Century batteries in them.

The older cars normally run at an average of 13.4 > 14.2 volts charge rate,
But also that depends on the Car and the Alternator installed, as they vary across the range of manufactures.
Where as my VE charge rate stays at 14.4 > 14.6,
I have an after market alternator in it also,
As I swapped it out to re-build it [new Bearings - Front and Rear] because it was the original one from when it was purchased,

I heard that the Mitsubishi Alternators [Brand Holden were using at the time] can/possibly fail after 140,000+ k's,
So I figured, I don't want to be stuck at BFN, as I travel the state for work.
That's when I swapped it over.
I have since replaced the Bearings and the Clutch Pully, and placed it on the shelf for a rainy day [so to speak].

I can not talk of a VF, but surely there would not be much difference between the VE & VF, one would assume.

 

[dassaur]

i have used century batteries in many ve and vf models for years and never had an issue.
i have a yuasa(century) agm in my zb and a century in my colorado and they will jump between 14 and 15 while driving and they are fine.
when i get a new/used vehicle i pretty much rip the battery out and put a century in within the first few days.

considering that many modern vehicles will charge between 13.8 and 15 and the battery from century is recommended for the vf then i would not worry about it.

It makes sense but why then do they put that warning on the battery.

 

[Skylarking]

It makes sense but why then do they put that warning on the battery.

Enhanced Flooded Batteries are cheaper than AGM batteries but both can handle repeated stop/start situations rat(r well. Adding calcium into the lead plate matrix allows higher charge currents as well.

The recommended ACDelco batteries for our VF’s are supposedly Calcium EFB and as such perform well ghe charging system which is optimised for such batteries. Thus these calcium EFB can handle the high charge voltages and currents the VF alternator may throw at the battery.

Curious what type of battery your referring to which warns against charging above 14.7 volts… Are these calcium EFB?

You can learn more about batteries and charging them by looking at the link/site below
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-403-charging-lead-acid

 

[stooge]

It makes sense but why then do they put that warning on the battery.

I am not sure why but i do know that the recomended century batteries perform well in the vf.
It should only raise the voltage under certain conditions and if the battery is faulty it could be getting a bad reading causing the rise.
It should settle down to mid 14s after driving for a bit if everything is normal.

 

[dassaur]

Enhanced Flooded Batteries are cheaper than AGM batteries but both can handle repeated stop/start situations rat(r well. Adding calcium into the lead plate matrix allows higher charge currents as well.

The recommended ACDelco batteries for our VF’s are supposedly Calcium EFB and as such perform well ghe charging system which is optimised for such batteries. Thus these calcium EFB can handle the high charge voltages and currents the VF alternator may throw at the battery.

Curious what type of battery your referring to which warns against charging above 14.7 volts… Are these calcium EFB?

You can learn more about batteries and charging them by looking at the link/site below
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-403-charging-lead-acid

Any of the exide and century/yuasa offerings e.g. DIN65LHX MF & Exide extreme XDIN55HMF

They are not EFB as far as I can tell.

Personally I am using ACDelco S57090AGM

 

[dassaur]

I am not sure why but i do know that the recomended century batteries perform well in the vf.
It should only raise the voltage under certain conditions and if the battery is faulty it could be getting a bad reading causing the rise.
It should settle down to mid 14s after driving for a bit if everything is normal.

Yes certainly that's what I experience - it's not often at 15v. Consider this a theoretical exercise if you will.
Apart from my unrelated electrical issue the AGM battery is performign well and only set me back $275 odd

 

[dassaur]

Enhanced Flooded Batteries are cheaper than AGM batteries but both can handle repeated stop/start situations rat(r well. Adding calcium into the lead plate matrix allows higher charge currents as well.

The recommended ACDelco batteries for our VF’s are supposedly Calcium EFB and as such perform well ghe charging system which is optimised for such batteries. Thus these calcium EFB can handle the high charge voltages and currents the VF alternator may throw at the battery.

Curious what type of battery your referring to which warns against charging above 14.7 volts… Are these calcium EFB?

You can learn more about batteries and charging them by looking at the link/site below
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-403-charging-lead-acid

I also doubt the stock batteries are EFB. ACdelco advertise stand alone EFB batteries. https://acdelco.com.au/our-range/batteries/
They certainly are calcium though. Stock battery is Acdelco S56838 (premium SMF as per above linked brochure)

 

[tommy_z]

I also doubt the stock batteries are EFB. ACdelco advertise stand alone EFB batteries. https://acdelco.com.au/our-range/batteries/
They certainly are calcium though. Stock battery is Acdelco S56838 (premium SMF as per above linked brochure)

The stock factory battery for the VE/VF is definitely not EFB. That must be purchased separately and the correct AC Delco one to use is the S57038EFB. I use this but I’ve said elsewhere on this forum that it’s a bit overkill for the car; the S57220 is more than adequate (slightly better than the S56838) but I have a dash cam that I need powered during parking mode and the EFB does a much better job at than compared to the standard ones.

My voltage readings according to the centre dash screen yo-yos between 12.6 volts to 14.9 volts as I’m driving. However I haven’t had any issues now in the past 2 years of having the battery and it still powers my dash cam without a problem.