16 volt vs. 12 volt

[10secondranchero]

Can anyone give me pro and cons of switching to a 16 volt system? Please no answers that you get 4 more volts. Any help is appreciated.

[ed hess]

cant tell you about 16 volts but i can tell 14.5 works pretty good.

anyway from what little i know.

I wanted to get my voiltage up but make it totally flat line. meaning consitant.

we got this box that changes the incoming 12v to 14.5.
its adjustable to whatever you want. I think sound guy types use it.

anyway this allows the following to get a flat line 14.5 volts with no spikes, peaks or valleys regardless of the load"

injectors <--- faster you run the more they are gonna draw
dfi computer <---- why not we were allready doing this anyway
big honkin fuel pump<---- no brainer need for this
msd box<--- you can never have more spark than you need

So i guess you could take what i'm saying and apply it to the 16 volts conversion, but the way i did it its flat line and cannot vary, which for tuning purposes i think is better than just raw power since even with a 16 volt system your still going to have peaks and valleys.

I think jacobs (div of holley) makes the box.

works well go check it out.

ed

[adamsvega]

most 16 v systems req. a dedicated 16 v alt which is going to cycle depending on load just like a 12v system . they have a dedicated 12v term in the batery post to run 12volt sensitive stuff .. any electric motor will work better on 16v. motor cycle guys would run a small 6v high amp battery in line after the starter selniod to turn over the big /high comp. engines . you will need a 16v charger too!!!!

[PONY GUY]

I was thinking about changing over as well but I can maintian a full 14.5 with eletric fuel pump , water pump, mds, and eletric fan . The key to maintaing good voltage with little to no voltage drops it to have a big enough feed line to have to following

1. A good battery to suppy power to all your acessories and have enough cca to turn over a big engine

2. A big enough alternator to charge your battery to keep up with you cars needs

3. Feed line if you have a battery in the trunk you have to up grade you battery cable to make up for lost energy . The longer the distancts the more power will be lost in the thinner line . I use 1/0 welding cable for my hot and negative cable.

4. Make sure you have clean and tight connections

these are some simple things I follow and I have no charging or power issues

[HonkIfPartsFallOff]

If you can afford a battery, alt, and charger.... then it's a good upgrade. If you have a system that works well now, then it's money not well spent. Every electrical component on a race car will like the extra voltage.

I use late model GM 105 amp alts and Optima batteries in the door cars and they Idle at 14.7 volts. They are not 1 wire alts, I use rebuilt alts from carquest, and wire up an idiot light in the dash. Since going to this setup i can go an entire season without hooking a battery charger up. If my setup didn't work well, i'd spend the money on a 16 volt setup.