Battery voltage on new GS
 

I recently purchased new 2019 GS corvette and already put 542 miles on it.

I got my first oil change yesterday and dealership checked battery and it was fine.

However I notice that my battery voltage rarely goes above 13 and if it does, it quickly drops back to 13 and sometimes slightly below.

I have read other posts regarding battery voltage however most indicate normal levels between 13-14 while driving while mine is 13 or lower.

Car was at dealership since late November and I picked up in March (and drove 542 miles from New Hampshire to New Jersey).

I guess sitting at dealership for over 3 months and not starting might have drained battery?

Wondering if its a good ideal to use battery charger which came with car (CTEK 3300) and charge battery over night?

Or should the battery eventually be charged by alternator since this will be my daily driver.

Any feedback would be great.


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That's the charge going into your battery from the alternator. You're not seeing your battery's volts/charge level, you're seeing the volts/charge going into your battery from the alternator. That's why the voltage changes up and down, the alternator is doing it's thing and varying the charge it's sending into your battery as needed.

If your battery is healthy (and it should be, it's new), there's no need to put the charger on it. It's getting the correct charge from your driving it and the alternator charging it. And as it's your daily driver, again, there's no need to mess with the charger. Your battery will be properly charged each time it's driven. It's the cars that sit for weeks and months un-driven that need the battery tenders.

Basically, the lower the voltmeter reading, the healthier your battery is. And yours is perfect.

I plug in my battery maintainer after each drive and leave it plugged in until the next time I drive it. Will not hurt a thing and in theory should extend the life of your battery, certainly should keep it fully charged.

For what it’s worth, I leave mine plugged in months at a time during the winter. Keeps the battery fully charged.

That is what a battery tender is supposed to do. They are for long term trickle charge then shut down until your battery voltage drops slightly then trickle more charge in.
They are not like basic chargers and are not meant to charge a dead battery. Some can but will take a while and hard on the charger..So go ahead and leave it on as long as needed and if a good charger will last years doing that type of duty...

That means your battery is good and it does not need to be charged at a higher rate.. As it gets older and sits overnight the charging voltage will go up and it will start hitting 14 to 14.2 volts...

My 2016 C7 is connected to a Deltran Battery Tender when it is parked. I started using one back in 1989 and had batteries last 10 years. I now can check my battery on my phone with the Deltran wireless battery monitor.

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It's the OP's daily driver. He/she doesn't need to use a battery tender.

The OP was asking about the tender that comes with the car, because they didn't understand what the voltmeter registered.

I do the same. Does not hurt anything.

If you daily drive the car, you can probably get by without using the battery tender. But it takes just a minute or two to connect/disconnect the tender so not like it is a big chore.

Not doubting you but where can I verify this?

I ask because the owner's manual calls it "battery voltage" not "charging voltage"

My battery voltage is consistently between 14.6 and 15.6.

Key on engine off would be battery voltage, engine running is charging voltage.

Then what GLOCK22357 said makes no sense.

Here are a few simple tests you can run. The first is to test the battery and each individual cell. The second is an alternator check. I used these procedures for my wife's Lexus GX460. They should work for Corvette too (unless the battery is sealed).

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+...TF-8#kpvalbx=1

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The alternator will only put out the voltage that is needed to keep the battery fully charged. If you let the car sit for 2 or 3 days then drive it the voltage will be around 14 volts then drop as it brings the battery back to full charge.

Also, just because your car is a daily driver, remember that you need a good "run time" to fully recover from the amp suck of the start. Driving the car daily and taking 15 minutes to work or short trips will not top the battery off to a full charge. If it is convenient (mine is very convenient) the battery maintainer should be slapped on the car to keep the battery at the top of its game most every time you park the car. This will help lengthen the longevity of a happy fully functioning battery.


ELmer

C7 has variable charging, similar to the variable flow oil pump, in the name of better efficiency. It's all computer controlled. Pretty common to see voltage sitting in the mid-12's while cruising around. My 2014 has been functioning like this since new (April 2014, has 43k miles on it) on both the original battery and the replacement ACDelco Gold I put it a few months ago as preventative maintenance (factory battery was still working fine, but after almost 5 years I figured it was due).

This is correct. It is quite complex. I have not played with the vette's system as much as my CTS. On the CTS, if you bump the fan to high, or turn on the wipers, or turn on the lights, the voltage will rise to around 13.8 after about a minute. When I first start the voltage will come up to 14.5, It will drop back into the mid to upper 12's once the system decides the battery is charged. The first time I saw it at 12.8 I thought alternator was dead and did some searching to discover it was normal.

And yeah, after 5 years, smart move. A dead battery is a pain.

This is nothing new. Ever since the first generator was mounted on the engine, all cars have some form of "voltage regulator" to control the amount of charge. They used to be electro-mechanical, now they're fully electronic but the basic concept remains the same - control the field voltage of the alternator to control its output as needed