[Kurt in NJ]

The dimming pretty much went away when i put in halogen bulbs ---
when I had 50 cp regular bulbs I would crank the 3rd brush to 18 amps when driving at night, when the generator went 'off charge" at idle it seemed like they almost went out

wen i put the halogens in I cut the charge rate to 14 amps, it has been there for the last 14 years, on long daylight drives i put the lights on to prevent overcharging ---the length of lights on depends on how long it sat and previous use ---last optima lasted 16 years

there is no set amp charge for everybody, it has to be adjusted for your use ---or you have to use a maintainer to makeup for low charge rate, or add too much water for high charge rate or cook a sealed battery---the seat of the pants method with a relativly high charge rate works for me, combined with total neglect of looking at battery or additional charging

the owners instruction book says that there will be a discharge at idle, and with headlights on, and it goes on to describe adjustment with basic amp guidelines

I usually take more midnight rides than daylight rides, a lot less traffic