voltage drop?

[LARRY70GS]

I have a digital voltmeter gauge in my 86 Regal. I was wondering what the voltage drop should be with all the accessories going(full load), in gear, foot on the brake. What should a healthy alternator maintain? Sometimes it drops as low as 13.2 volts. I'm wondering if the original alternator is getting tired.

[gstewart]

nothing really wrong with 13.2 v under load. where u at idle ?
gerry
72 gs 350 ht #s

[LARRY70GS]

Gerry,
That would be at idle. Sometimes it will drop below 13.0, depending on how many things i have on (w/wipers, blower full blast, ect.) I was just curious what was normal??

[bobc455]

13.2V is fine for idling like that.

-Bob Cunningham
bobc@gnttype.org

[LARRY70GS]

Thanks Bob,
I was just kind of curious. I had a 2 year old Die Hard Gold drop dead on me about 2 months ago. Sears offers free replacement within 3 years on the Gold, so it didn't cost me anything except time. The new battery is fine. I just wanted to make sure the charging system was up to it's task. Without a load it reads from 14.1-14.4 volts.

[Skyhawk]

Larry, it shoulds like it is working fine. If you want to double check it you can stop by the shop one day and we can throw it on the vats machine.

[LARRY70GS]

Thanks John,
I'm sure it is fine. If I have any more battery problems, I'll bring the car up.