Electric question

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sergeant diessel
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Electric question

Post by sergeant diessel » Sun Feb 04, 2018 5:22 am

So my grand cherokee battery was dead as is normal when it gets super Cold didn't want to mess with the charger so i used the mule it fires up easy in cold weather so hooked the cables up high idled the mule them when trying to start the jeep the mule does? Being a magneto and the battery electrical system independent I didn't think it would do that. Any thought on to why it might ?


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Re: Electric question

Post by muleman7 » Sun Feb 04, 2018 6:30 am

Please clarify I do not understand what happened to the running mule when you tried to jump start the Cherokee? The magneto will not be affected when jump starting another vehicle.
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Re: Electric question

Post by abbylind » Sun Feb 04, 2018 8:59 am

I think he meant to say "when I tried to jump start the jeep the mule died..."
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Re: Electric question

Post by Grummanflyer » Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:15 am

Not uncommon for the vehicle doing the jumping to bog down it's engine when you try to start the other vehicle. Thats because of the huge current demand of the dead vehicle. More than likely, the engine on the mule didn't have enough horsepower to keep spinning it's alternator. If the mule alternator belt was a little loose you would have heard it squeal when the belt started to slip.

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sergeant diessel
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Re: Electric question

Post by sergeant diessel » Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:16 am

Yes when I jumped the jeep the mule died. I do believe that shouldn't happen but it did twice I was wondering if anybody had any thoughts to why

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Re: Electric question

Post by abbylind » Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:23 am

Average car battery uses 850 CCA your mule battery has maybe 450 CCA. Add the cold weather and a dead battery and the poor mule cant keep up. Think its the equivalent of starting your jeep with a riding mower or motorcycle battery....not enough juice!
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sergeant diessel
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Re: Electric question

Post by sergeant diessel » Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:28 am

Thanks puts my mind at ease I was thinking maybe some wire or something was wrong or something I've always used a battery box or another vehicle never ran into the problem so didn't know it would happen

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Re: Electric question

Post by Auto Shop teacher » Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:57 am

Alternators are great in that they only pull power from the belt is when they are working. Remember that mule engines are only rated at 10 to 14 horsepower at high RPM, so if your mule is idling, it is only putting out a fraction of it's rated power. I imagine, the alternator was pulling more power out of the belt than your mule was producing, so your engine stalled out.


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