Is my at/ battery working properly?

I have a optima yellow top...at idle it charges at 13.9...when the truck is off it is about 12.5...the. If I turn my radio on (no sub/amp) and led bar on and headlights it drops to about 11.6 ish. Then driving home at night I was monitoring the volts and all the sudden it dropped to about 13.7 (running) it does not change with rpm


Also I've gone through two alt 3 wire plugs... They are insanely hard to remove one plugged in..what's the deal?!?

 

looks all normal to me. that's how my truck runs. 13.7v running. rarely ever above 14. drops down to 11.6 cause of the draw. but that's cause you don't have an alternator picking up the difference

 

I put a lite coating of dielectric grease on the outside of the plug makes it much easier to remove in my case any how.

Your alternator seems to be in the correct range.

 

I literally click the button down and it doesn't budge at all

 

Fully charged battery should be 12.6v. Mine sits at 12.9v in the morning, 14.3v while the truck is running and right at 14v with my aftermarket stereo playing.

 

This morning was cold and it was charging at 14.1 and when I shut it off it was at 12.7


Before it rated it this morning though it was at 11.8 ish

 

Define Cold ??

Around 0 F is cold

 

With the engine running you should never be below 12v, and ideally somewhere in the 13.8-14.2 range. Anything below 13v and I'd start wondering.

 

12.5 with the motor off is fine, that's basically full charge. You should be high 13 to low 14v running. If your voltage changes significantly with RPM, you have an issue. Alts are (for the most part) either on or off. Once it's up to speed and triggers it should be putting out close to full voltage. It will fluctuate a bit at low RPMs.

 

California cold hahahha like 45 or so

 

Still Tee Shirt weather then.

You may have a slight draw that drains your battery over time.

Is your Alternator belt loose??

 

I have a supercharger and the belt and tensioner are brand new...I think I do have a draw...likely my stupid alarm

 

I charge with the engine running at about 14.6V and with the stereo bumping hard at about 14.3V. Off is about 12.8-13V depending on how long it is sitting.

 

Should I run the alt cable straight to the battery? Or leave the stock cable?

 

The electrical upgrade that BamaToy1997 sells has it go straight from the alt to the battery with 2guage cable so I'd think that is a good method