# Is my alternator fine?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [December 21, 2022, 11:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053 "2022-12-21T11:28:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053/21 "2022-12-23T00:11:41Z")

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Wow. Do they have exposed cell connectors also?

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**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053/22 "2022-12-23T00:21:19Z")

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I have never seen those except in old photos, but removable caps (used to be 6, now more often 2 wide ones) have been very common until the last few years - a desirable feature because you can measure each of the 6 cells’ charge before and after charging a battery. That gives a level of detailed info that is missed when taking measurements from only the + and - terminals.

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**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 12:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053/23 "2022-12-23T00:29:35Z")

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> [@shanonia](#):
>
> a desirable feature because you can measure each of the 6 cells’ charge before and after charging a battery.

Mechanics now use battery conductance testers to do the same thing in a very short period of time.

[https://cf.linnbenton.edu/eit/auto/krolicp/upload/conductance\_test.pdf](https://cf.linnbenton.edu/eit/auto/krolicp/upload/conductance_test.pdf)

Tester

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**Author:** ![asemaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@asemaster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asemaster)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053/24 "2022-12-23T02:07:21Z")

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> [@shanonia](#):
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> prefer batteries that have removeable caps because I can measure the state of charge in each cell. I regret that that design is on the way out.

30+ years in this business and I’ve never understood that. Either a battery is good or it’s not. What good does it do to know if one cell is bad? It’s not like you can replace one cell.

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053/25 "2022-12-23T20:22:46Z")

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Or, for that matter, knowing if a battery died due to calcification or one dead cell?

[Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-my-alternator-fine/188053.md?page=1)