16V vs 12V for Stocker?

[Strawboss]

If it was a EFI car you would see a little ET help after slight tuning with 16V. Both EFI and Carb you would see a change in idle and moving forward in the staging lanes with 16V but very little ET help. Starting is better with 16V but not as much reserve life over 12V. The bad side if you have problem with the charger it is hard to find another one quick and expensive. We had a problem at Atlanta last year with a 16V charger but we had a spare charger and battery and that is really what you need if you go to 16V.

[Mark Markow]

the only concern I might add, is on a stocker that's required to have an alternator. it would charge a 16 volt system at 18 to 19 volts? that may cause some issues with 12 volt items as well as the efi. I am not sure how the factory ecu,s handle it . but I know the holley efi doesn't like it.

[Dave Ribeiro]

rboyle,

Listen to Painter , he knows what he is talking about & has gone Fast with those cars for years !!! You can spend the 16V battery /charger money somewhere else and go FASTER ? Hope you are doing well...

[TSDenver]

I will agree with Chris Barnes and most of you for that matter. 16V helps out a lot when you have a big high compression engine, it does typically have less reserve capacity than a big 12V battery like a Optima, but the trade off is how much quicker it will spin the motor over. If a motor is spinning slower then the engine typically have trouble starting and the longer you hold down the starter then button the faster you are using up that reserve. Also if you are running a 12V without alternator or have drained the battery during cranking some of your components do not like to work at anything less than 12V. Constantly running a 12V down and making the alternator do all the work will either cause the battery to swell and over time become very weak or simply work the alternator to death. Switching to 16V allows a larger window of consistent voltage. Even when a 16V is low it still has 13.7V in it which your ignition, EFI and other components will like much more that 10.5 from a low 12V. Also our NEW CHG25A charger will charge 12V/14V/16V batteries so one charger will now do it all. Also our 16V AGM batteries recharge quickly. As a matter of fact I tell most customers you only need to use our charger at 15A between rounds. If you are in a real bind and not much time between rounds then charge at 25A. Charging at a lower AMP will prolong the life of the battery and not cause swelling from charging to quickly when the battery is already warm.

[Ed Wright]

In my testing, my car ran no faster on 16 volts. It did require tuning changes to the air/fuel ratio. The injectors open faster on 16 volts, making it a tad richer. My electric water pump and electric cooling fans run faster on 16, making it cool back down quicker on the return road. Starts a little quicker too. Ran no quicker ether way. I tried 12 volts with & without an alternator. I like two 16s.

[Dan Wilson]

I use 2 8 volt starting batteries in Series for more reserve. I also convert the mini alternator to 16v from 12 for my 5 hp charger and engine alt. If you need more reserve use 8v golf cart batteries. you can mount one in front stock location and one in trunk.

Dan

[Strawboss]

If you go with 16V the cost of a 16V alternator is another thing or you can just disconnect the hot wire on the alternator and it is free wheeling. However you have to charge after each run. Also while charging don't turn on the ignition because the charger may be putting out over 20volts at some times.We turn the main power switch off while charging and have a separate connection for the fan and water pump run from a spare battery. This way you don't damage other parts. Most after market components have no problem with 16V, but if needed you can purchase a voltage reducer and wire into certain components like a real high speed fans.

[Ed Wright]

^^^^^^ I do that also. Turn off the main battery switch on the back or your car to charge it! I found out the hard way. I used to download my FAST ECU's internal data logger while charging the battery. Killed an MSD box & a FAST ECU doing that. I found my 16 volt charger was putting out over 20 volts AC! Bought another charger, same thing.

[TSDenver]

Yes for sure turn off main power when charging. If accessories are running while charging you are just defeating the purpose. Also FYI S16VL and CHG25A combos are on special this month. 10% and free shipping. Use promo code Sweeter16 @ turbostart.com