Alternator

[Quinny34]

And to throw more fuel onto the fire... we use wind turbines on some of our trailors to recharge batteries for some of the tracking systems... I havent seen them but this may be an option for those with a canopy... basically when your driving the wind spins the turbine which spins a small alternator and by magic... it trickle charges a battery.... not sure about car batteries though...

[olcoolone]

Mmmmmm.....


"At idle it fluctuates between 13.6V - 13.9V, whilst driving it charges at about 14.2 - 14.3 volts for about 30 min then slowly comes down to 14 volts and stays there for at least another 20 minutes, I haven't driven for longer than that. I reckon this shows that I shouldn't have too many problems charging to close to 100% SOC."


What was the state of charge of your aux battery to start with, what was the ambient temp and where is your battery mounted?

Why did they say a Piranha DBE180S battery management system was better then a DC-DC charger and do they sell DC-DC chargers or know what they are?

Many things can alter alternator voltage output but the two most common are load and temp compensation.

Our figures came about with many hours of data logging under different conditions.

The 13.2 volts you measured at your aux battery may of been a surface charge, use a 100w spotlight and connect it to the battery for about 5 minutes and then let the battery rest for 5 minutes and then test the voltage.

Most deep cycle battery's like 14.5 to 14.8 during the charge phase. 14 volts will not be sufficient to charge the battery to 100%soc.

The other thing is it pays to try and do is limit the supply current to an aux battery to about 20-25 amps, I don't think the Piranha has in rush current protection.

[Alby]

no it will not be cheaper, you will need alternator, custom made brackets, possible brive belt pulleys, alternator to be wired. Much simpler and easier to use dc-dc charge system

Yeah fair enough, I was just thinking that there might be one that would fit with out too much complication that could be sourced from a wrecker as opposed to the cost of a DC-DC charger and a RanOx type system and given that with all that I have read on this issue that it is still quite a complex and complicated issue I thought that this might be a simple alternative?
Not my area of expertise so was just throwing it out there.


Quinny, I am looking forward to seeing your Hiluxcopter with the wind turbine on it.

[rodw]

Olcolone, good to see you got back from your moss gathering expedition in one piece

Just a question though. My AUX battery is stuffed after 18 months(as per Hydrometer after full charging with Oz Charge charger) and I think this might be becasue it was overfilled at a service and boiled over loosing some acid and also by general abuse of it. Is it likely that a DC-DC charger will extend the life on an AUX battery because it produces a high enough voltage and is smarter with it charging management?

[rodw]

Quinny, I am looking forward to seeing your Hiluxcopter with the wind turbine on it.

Hmm, would be a good upgrade mate. Quinny, I never did transplant the rocket engine out of my VW, maybe if you did his modification, the turbine at the back might negate the need for the roof mounted one on the Hiluxcopter



Just a thought mate, but looks like it will also solve any limp mode problems.

[Quinny34]

Climbing back into my box!

[Batman]

Olcoolone answers in red...

What was the state of charge of your aux battery to start with, what was the ambient temp and where is your battery mounted?The battery started at 12.9V then went to 13.2V. Is now up to 13.5V after doing a few short trips to drop kids off ect. The ambient temp was in the mid twenties celcius. The battery is located under the bonnet, along with the battery isolator.

Why did they say a Piranha DBE180S battery management system was better then a DC-DC charger and do they sell DC-DC chargers or know what they are? No-one I spoke to said that the Piranha was better than a DC-DC charger, I wanted something simple that I could wire up, that had reasonable warranty support and would be under bonnet mounted, within my price range.The Redarc website states that the DC-DC charger shouldn't be mounted near the engine.I contacted Redarc to get info on their DC charger and they didn't reply, which says enough about their level of support for me... With installation Ranox was above my budget.

What voltage would a fully charged battery display?

Time will tell if this set up does what I need it to do - that is power a 60l Engel fridge for a maximum of two or three days without running the motor.

I would love to have put in a DC-DC charger but dollars, simplicity and practicality meant I didn't.

[olcoolone]

Thats cool, a DC-DC charger is a different thing to a glorified battery isolator.

I think what you are seeing is surface charge.

You can mount the RedArc under the bonnet as long as it is away from engine heat, sorry to hear that RedArc didn't get back to you.

I would have to say RedArc are one of the best company's to deal with with their support on our behalf and for our customers plus their product knowledge is top notch, did you try phoning them back?

With warranty support I have not found a supplier who can or wants to match RedArc....they will go out of their way to help.

And it is ALL Australian designed and made

A battery 100SOC at rest should have between 12.6 and about 12.9v depending on battery and the environment.

You might be pushing _ _ _ _ up hill to get three days out of that size battery and the Engel.

Keep us informed.

[rodw]

My 35 litre Waeco draws about 4 amps when running and they say about 2 amps on average for 24 hours, so that is 48 amp hours per day. Your Engel draws more power than the Waecos, you'll be flat getting 2 days sitting still but mine can (but this might have lead to ruining the battery). I'd be going for a run every day. If Ranox was out of your budget, the smarter Redarc one is too.

One of the reasons I bought a good battery charger was to ensure the battery was full when I left home so I could get through a weekend with confidence. I try and go for a bit of a run every day to help charge the battery. The ranox is on the drawing board but it is not too critcal yet.

[olcoolone]

"Just a question though. My AUX battery is stuffed after 18 months(as per Hydrometer after full charging with Oz Charge charger) and I think this might be becasue it was overfilled at a service and boiled over loosing some acid and also by general abuse of it. Is it likely that a DC-DC charger will extend the life on an AUX battery because it produces a high enough voltage and is smarter with it charging management?"

Yeap back from the trip (nearly 2 months ago) but been to busy with work to spend time on the forum....we are doing 15 hour days 6 days a week to keep up and we are looking for 4 more staff for our workshop.

A battery can become stuffed for a number of reasons, to lower charge, to higher charge, discharging to low (below 12 volts), under bonnet temp and vibration.

If you battery had battery acid on top it may be overcharged but battery acid on top will also causes tracking that will discharge a battery quickly.

You have to remember a deep cycle battery is designed for controlled environments for stand by use only and not automotive.

A DC-DC charger will help but by how much...don't know.

[Batman]

Thats cool, a DC-DC charger is a different thing to a glorified battery isolator. Absolutely, I may end up with one yet...

I think what you are seeing is surface charge.Yes I am sure that I am seeing surface charge, I just noticed it goes up and down between 13.1 and 13.5 depending on when i check it.

You can mount the RedArc under the bonnet as long as it is away from engine heat, sorry to hear that RedArc didn't get back to you.Wish I new that a week ago...

A battery 100SOC at rest should have between 12.6 and about 12.9v depending on battery and the environment.

You might be pushing _ _ _ _ up hill to get three days out of that size battery and the Engel. I probably wont get three days but hopefully will be able to get two nights out of it, so effectively one full day without running the car...

Keep us informed.Will do.

My 35 litre Waeco draws about 4 amps when running and they say about 2 amps on average for 24 hours, so that is 48 amp hours per day. Your Engel draws more power than the Waecos, you'll be flat getting 2 days sitting still but mine can (but this might have lead to ruining the battery). I'd be going for a run every day. If Ranox was out of your budget, the smarter Redarc one is too.Yeah the Redarc and Ranox are about the same price, I was looking at a cheaper Redarc that probably wouldn't have been big enough anyway...

One of the reasons I bought a good battery charger was to ensure the battery was full when I left home so I could get through a weekend with confidence. I try and go for a bit of a run every day to help charge the battery. The ranox is on the drawing board but it is not too critcal yet.I have a charger that I will use to charge up the auxillary fully before we go on a trip to ensure it is lasts as long as possible

[Antz]

Hi olcoolone,
Have you seen the CTEK D250S DC-DC 20A Battery Charger. Are these new? I have already purchased the Redarc unit and it is working great. I saw these whilst looking at the 12v25Amp charger. Heres a link but there is only a picture. Thought somebody may be able to provide some more info.
http://www.bainbridgetechnologies.com/i ... 48&lang=en

[rodw]

Hi olcoolone,
Have you seen the CTEK D250S DC-DC 20A Battery Charger. Are these new? I have already purchased the Redarc unit and it is working great. I saw these whilst looking at the 12v25Amp charger. Heres a link but there is only a picture. Thought somebody may be able to provide some more info.
http://www.bainbridgetechnologies.com/i ... 48&lang=en

Antz, Have a look at the OzCharge chargers. Based on olcoolone's advice earlier in this thread, I purchased a 16 amp Ozcharge charger and it is great! I paid $199 for it which is below the list price. They also do a 21 amp charger. Check out http://www.ozcharge.com.au They are a lot cheaper than Ctek and are Australian made.

I have finally run my B&S 2 cable through the passenger chassis rail inside some 15mm convoluted conduit on the weekend. It was a B#stard of a job, so don't ask me to help do yours!

I used a 100 amp megafuse which has matching predrilled mounting holes on the ARB tray. I also replaced the stuffed ARB supplied Exide 80 amp hour battery for a 105 amp hour one which I had trouble squeezing in on Sunday so I took it back to the supplier who fitted it for me yesterday no worries, made it look so easy.

I took a few more photos, but have not got them up on Photobucket yet. I still have a bit of tidying up to do but my wiring is getting close to being finalised. I have some old wires runing to the rear to remove, and I am basically ready to fit another battery in the tub under my drawers if required. Maybe it will be charged by a Ranox or something when I get to it.

[3dhilux]

i have ctekd250s hoping to install over the holidays i will report on how it goes

[rodw]

Cool, I finally got mine sorted, today. I put the old battery under the drawers so I have 3 batteries in the rig now. I will add some pics to my buildup eventually...

[clae81]

Hey olcoolone,

I purchased a redarc BCDC 1220 after the advice on this thread. Where have you been installing these units in the Hilux? Would prefer under the hood where i can get easy access to see charge state ect, but just a bit concerned about the heat under the bonet. Just don't want the output to derate.

From your experiance how does it cope with the heat and does anybody know what temperture we could see under the hodd of a D4D under normal conditions?

Cheers

[3dhilux]

i installed the ctek i'll report how it goes.

[broke]

I have just read this thread and I think I am now dumber!!!

May have to read it all again so stuff will hopefully sink in as to what it all means and what I need for when I put a second battery in.

Started looking at this thread as this morning when I got a new battery put in here in town the fella tested the charging of the alternator with the new battery.

It was reading about 13.6v at idle and got to about 13.8v at revs. He then turned all the lights/spotties on at revs and it went back down to 13.6v.

He then informed me that the charging window he was looking for was 13.8v on the lower end and 14.4v at the higher end. He then looked at me and told me that mine was charging outside the lower end and suggested that my alternator was probably nearly cactus! I was very concerned as my warranty had just run out and I was thinking about how much a new alternator would cost.... Crikey!!

Anyway, after reading the first few posts of this thread I'm obviously elated to learn that mine is working as is normal for the diesel engine and am actually considering giving the battery fellow the link for this thread!

Once again this forum has saved the day for me!!

Daniel

[Twisty]

Hey olcoolone,

I purchased a redarc BCDC 1220 after the advice on this thread. Where have you been installing these units in the Hilux? Would prefer under the hood where i can get easy access to see charge state ect, but just a bit concerned about the heat under the bonet. Just don't want the output to derate.

From your experiance how does it cope with the heat and does anybody know what temperture we could see under the hodd of a D4D under normal conditions?

Cheers

I too was worried about it derated the output if it was installed under the hood. Ended up installing mine inside the cabin on the firewall up behind the glovebox . Can see where in this pic (glovebox removed in pic).



Did a week at fraser island with the fridge and stereo running most of the time, and had no dramas at all, am really happy with the Redarc.

[LeighW]

Hi all,

There is a Alternator voltage booster available on EBAY that solves the low charging voltage issue,
I read farther up to avoid this mod. However I can tell you that it works very well and a fraction
of the price of the DC-DC chargers.

Cheers

LeighW