"okbran" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi,
I don't know much about batteries and I am simply curious about the
regular 12V car battery.
Everytime I go to the store, I see all these batteries labeled with
number of Cold Crankcing Ampere or Cranking Ampere, etc. I understand
the definition of CCA and CA but,
My question is:
1. What about the average output current? What's the common output
current(A) for a 12V car battery? How come they don't label the
current output on these car batteries?
2. If I have a jumper cable made of 16AWG copper wire with current
rating of 10A. What happen if I connect the jumper cable to a battery
gives 13A output current?
3. Similar to question 2, if the cranking ampere is 540, will anything
bad happen to jumper cable made of 16AWG copper wire?

I would really appreciate your feedback.
Thank you,


Motorcycle batteries are rated in Amp/HRS. A fully discharged 14A/H battery
will take 14 hours to charge at one amp. Starter motor current is ~50amp.
Obviously they can put out much greater current than their A/H rating.
They're rated this way mostly to keep them from being over charged. A car
battery is used for starting only so cranking current is all that's really
needed. Theirs no good reason to short either type battery. A 10A rated
cable means it's rated to carry 10A, not that 10A will flow when shorting
across a battery.

If you want to now what happens, hold the ends of paper clip on to a fresh
D-cell battery with your fingers.;0)