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Hand held meters are availabe from Home Depot, Lowes, electronic shops etc that measure amp draw from a device. Additionally, most devices list their amp draw on their instructions.

If you have a 55 amp alternator and are drawing 70 amps then in most cases, you're depleting your battery by 15 amps per hour...
I'm sure that the engineers can jump in and give a better explanation, but some understanding of what volts and amps are might help you. What really matters is that it is all about power (P), which is that product of volts (E: emf...electromotive force) times amperage (I: the volume of electron flow), stated P = I X E.

Think of voltage as the "force" exerted on the flow of electrons and current, or amperage, as the amount of electrons flowing. For example, it will take a one amp charger much longer to charge a 12 volt battery than one with an eight amp capacity. The reverse is also true. If you are drawing 70 amps from a 12 volt battery and only replacing at a rate of 55 amps, your voltage will drop to the point that things will not work well or at all. A modern vehicle with electronic ignition and fuel injection drawing more power than it is replacing will, at some point, just stop running.

In short, you need to have ample and regulated charging capacity to keep the hummer humming. I hope this helps.
Hoss
Deane, What are you welding with that car? Is this a trivia question or do you have an issue?
These cars use next to nothing amperage wise?
Reading your second post above about charging amps. You don't "really": charge amps.
You charge a storage device(battery) that can provide you with a certain number of amps
per hour based on it's capacity. This is the reason you can't connect a 9 volt batt with two d cells and start your car. Same 12 volts but not enough "amperage output".
Why do you ask?
Thanks Guys
It was a theory question.
I have a c/d player and driving lights along with the usual lights,
but after reading one of the articles about replacing stock Bosche 55 amp alternators with upgraded ones with 75 and or 95 amps.
When I asked what would happen if I needed more amps than I was putting out no one seemed to know.
I have replaced 3 alternators and 2 batteries, so before I go with a lifetime NAPA 55 amp alternator, I thought I would ask.



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