Here's a cross post from the FlyChallenger forum about the charging system.
Since it seems to explain things well, I'll cross post it here for the
edification of us naïfs. Ed
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Subject: FlyChallenger: Re: electric turn and bank indicator ,need some help
Bobby,
Just for a little clarification and future reference, 12V is
a "close-enough-for-the-government" number that almost everyone uses
to describe the electrical rating in many applications like the
automobile and many airplanes for example. So why the 14v?
A 12v battery will have a surface charge (a car battery for example
just sitting under your hood without anything turned on or the
engine running) of about 12.2V give or take, now if you turn on your
headlights for about a minute or so the surface charge is "used up"
and you would get a slightly more accurate reading of the battery
charge state (but not a true condition of the battery that's a
whole `nuther story). If you ran all of your electrical goodies
without the engine running the battery would eventually discharge to
a non usable voltage.
Now if you start your car or plane and the charging system
("charging system" being the KEY words here) is in working order a
voltage reading should go up to about 13.8v which is enough voltage
to run your goodies and push extra juice into the battery since a
battery needs a higher voltage to charge it. Now since the charging
system will run at about 13.8v to 14.2v it is just called a 14v
charging system. Called that by very few I might add, mostly
engineers and of course the aviation community, just to confuse the
crap out of the rest of us. So, although the electrical system in
the car (or plane) may be a 12v system it takes a 14v charging
system to keep it all running and charge the battery.
This is an extremely simplified explanation and I am sure that
others more knowledgeable than myself may jump in here and make it
even clearer than I can but if you would like to fully understand
the electrical system in your plane, and most other DC systems, let
me know and I can point you in some interesting and educational
sites.
Suffice it to say that if someone like Aircraft Spruce or Sporty's
is trying to sell you something and they ask you if you want that in
14 or 28 volt you now know that 14v is the charging rate of a 12v
system so now you can simply say "I'll take the 14v flavor please".
Ta Da! Nothing really magical about it.
Hope this helps,
Chris
--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "BOBBY" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> I was looking at a RC Allen electric turn and bank indicator. It
is a
> 14V DC unit .will this work in a challenger.i am brand new at this
kind
> stuff.i no my battery is a 12 v .thanks for any help
>
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