The Ford Barn - View Single Post - OT: "An Alternator is a Battery Maintainer, -NOT a Battery Charger."

40 Deluxe · 05-13-2020, 12:24 PM

The first thing to keep in mind is that you were talking to a battery "salesman". They seldom understand the technical aspects of their product, but will say whatever it takes to make a sale! If they can impress you with meaningless gobbledygook, all the better. So if "an alternator is a battery maintainer...", that means that it maintains the battery at 100% charge. To do so, it has to recharge the battery after startup (or after accessory use), as you say. Thus, it is also a "battery charger".
It would interesting to ask this salesman to explain the difference!

05-13-2020, 12:24 PM	#5
40 Deluxe Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: now Kuna, Idaho Posts: 3,779	Re: OT: "An Alternator is a Battery Maintainer, -NOT a Battery Charger." The first thing to keep in mind is that you were talking to a battery "salesman". They seldom understand the technical aspects of their product, but will say whatever it takes to make a sale! If they can impress you with meaningless gobbledygook, all the better. So if "an alternator is a battery maintainer...", that means that it maintains the battery at 100% charge. To do so, it has to recharge the battery after startup (or after accessory use), as you say. Thus, it is also a "battery charger". It would interesting to ask this salesman to explain the difference!