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[Neil (Cardiff)]

Just a quick question really - last night my ignition light came on very very faintly (so faint you could only see it in the dark). Now I did have both heated seats, rear window, headlights and the wipers on so all the electrics were going. As soon as I turned everything off it went out.

So really I'm just asking if this is normal on your cars. I know it was under heavy load but find it a bit off really for such a modern alternator.

Wanted some comments before digging out the multimeter and doing some proper checks!

[davethediver]

Id get it checked out mate had the same a few years back in an old transit, good old RAC even tow you hame at 3am 

[steverubberduck]

I used to have a similar problem on my old mig, but it was only under heavy use.
Problem used to go away when i turned off certain items 

[Andy H]

such a modern alternator.

1994-2009 so its only 15 years old.

The brushes wear, the field current connection corrodes, and the regulator can burn out. Also the cables to the battery tend to break at their connectors.

Take it as an early warning and start checking on what your options are if it should get worse (service it yourself, good secondhand, recon, new) (and check out the prices.)

[Neil (Cardiff)]

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Think I'll start looking in to it. I've had similar in the past but on old cars so was hoping it was normal on these things. Never mind eh! 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Not unusual....thats probably consuming more than the 120A output of the alternator.

[KillerWatt]

Just a quick question really - last night my ignition light came on very very faintly (so faint you could only see it in the dark). Now I did have both heated seats, rear window, headlights and the wipers on so all the electrics were going. As soon as I turned everything off it went out.

You've obviously not heard of diversity then 

All joking aside (or rather, semi joking...because although diversity is a factor that needs to be taken in to account), I wouldn't have expected the alternator lamp to illuminate unless you were ticking over with the brakes on (and even then, just a dim glow).

If the alternator warning lamp still illuminates at 2000rpm with the same load, it's time to think about sorting the alternator IMO.

[I_want_an_Omega]

You could try a test when parked up somewhere safe.

I know that xenons take 7amps between then when warmed up, heared seats take about 5amps each.