When a car battery has a load, is it simultaneously being ch

When a car battery has a load, is it simultaneously being charged by the running alternator? Explain.?
Sometime ago, somebody said that a battery can not be subjected to a load and charged simultaneously. If that's the case, what is happening then when you drive at night when the lights are on and the alternator is running??? Is the battery NOT being charged then? I'm really perplexed about this issue. I need some more enlightenment as I'm not a technical person. I have done some reading but it looks that it creates more questions than answers. Thanks a million in advance.

I think you need more help then you'll get here . go by a shop and ask if some one can explain what you want to know

Normally the Battery is only used to begin the car. Your alternator runns the lights and what ever else you have running. The battery is only a buffer or equalizer. The voltage regulator turns the alternator on and off when power is required or the battery is completely charged. I'm not sure what is behind the question. Being more particular in your question may help

thats why the alternator has a voltage regulator, it only charges the battery enough to keep it at 13.2 volts when the car is running and if it's somewhat discharged it'll charge it till it reaches 13.2 volts, then the regulator will keep it at that voltage.

Your car should charge the battery whenever it's running. Every car has an alternator that produces electricity whenever the car is running because a belt connects a pulley on the alternator to a pulley on the flywheel. If your battery dies while you're driving down the road, the alternator may not be producing electricity to charge the battery.

The voltage regulator takes care of how much charge is circulated around the electrical system.

Generally the alternator powers all the electrical systems and has enough left over to continue to charge the battery. If the engine is at idle for expanded periods of time like in stalled traffic and all the accessories stereo, GPS etc. and the head lights are on, the battery may not charge well enough caused by the alternator isn't turning fast enough to produce adequate power.

In the early 70's some cars came with an alternator gauge that could point to toward "C" when the battery charged and toward "D" when it discharged.

the batteries in a car have aload on them at all times. the altenator produces enough current to charge the battery and carry the load at all times if it's working right. if you have a gm car you may be able to prove this by discharging your battery leave the lights on for three hours or so use a new battery to crank the car, then hook your battery back up you'll hear the engine decrease in speed as the altenator loads the engine to charge the battery. do not attempt that with any other kind of car although. you'll blow the diodes and be purchasing a new or rebuilt altenator if you do. you may fry the computer chips and the engine control module if you do that to any other brand of car. I know because I used to be an auto mechanic and have seen batteries blow up in non gm cars with ecm's when this has been tried.

hi I am Robert : Good question the alt. has a circuit built to monitor and regulate power to the car and Battery. both at the some time, like when you turn the lites on. the alt. has no load till it seances a draw in the Battery. the circuit opens up the current to replace the draw on the battery. then supplies the accessories that's on. you have two currents voltage and amps. amps charge and voltage is current. it is like blood pressure, one is pressure and the other is flow or draw of flow. and generally remember POWER goes FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE on a negative ground car or chassis.

If you have a manual transmission as an example, you may be able to really unhook the battery, push the car to start it and drive it anywhere at night. So the battery's only job it to begin the engine. The alternator is accountable for everything as well as keeping the battery charged at all time.
In case the alternator fails doing its job battery light on, the battery will take over till it dies itself.
I hope this helped.

All these answers are good. Lets see if I can sum it up for you. A battery can not be both charged and discharged simultaneously. it's simply the load on the electrical system. If the demand exceeds the alternator output, then the battery discharges to help. If the load does not surpass the demand, the battery will charge, to the set bound in the aternator/regulator, and is then dormant. that is it.