Pioneer CT battery setup
Submitted: Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 08:04
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25710
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Rusrob
hy all, looking for advise on CT battery set up.
We have just purchased a Pioneer CT argyle model. It has a 130amp per hr dry cell battery with a voltage sensitive relay charger connected in front box of CT and is hooked up to a anderson plug..
I have a navara 2004 and have a duel battery paranha system set up with a normal heavy duty battery.
My question is do i feed the CT battery set up direct from my main battery or from my secondary battery (piranha) and what gauge wire should i use.
Any advise on the matter would be apprecieated
regards
Russell
Reply By: GaZZZaa - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 08:52
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 08:52
If the Pioneer has a voltage sensitive relay and your dual battery setup has the same then it won't matter were you take the feed from as the relay won't activate until the alternater raises the voltage above a pre determined level which is the level at which the batteries start to charge and the main battery is substancially recharged.
Also have a look at www.outbackaccessories.com, they have a battery monitor device which is new and I have been looking closely at, it is expensive but if it does all it claims is the best of it's type that Ive found, they tell me they have a dual battery monitor coming as
well expect to have a prototype for display in
Melbourne in early Oct.
GDF
AnswerID:
125865
Follow Up By: Member - Matt Mu (Perth-WA) - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 13:47
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 13:47
Gazz are you talking about the OX DBS and IBS systems?? Im very interested too and like to keep upto date with whats available etc and Im pretty sure those two have been around for quite some time!
Do yhey have something newer? I like the IBS sytem but I would like it more if the link was more permanent..ie allowed you to use both in parallel with low voltage cutout, but at the moment you can link them but it will drop out again to AUTO after about 15 mins.
Love to hear what you have found.
Matt.
FollowupID:
380621
Follow Up By: GaZZZaa - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 14:15
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 14:15
Matt,
I have a Redac device fitted to my Prado but they all are designed to work in a similar way.
1) The voltage at the main battery is sampled and when it reaches a pre determined level a relay is activated to couple the main battery to the auxillary battery to recharge the auxillary (be it an auxillary in the car or the camper or both)
2) A filter across the switch ensures that harmful spikes are suppressed to stop the spikes from destroying very delicate 9and expensive ECU's)
3) when the voltage drops below a certain pre determined point (usually about 1 volt lower that the "on" threshold) then it opens the circuit and isolates the batteries so that the main will not be drained running fridges and trailer lights etc.
The quality of the design and build may vary but that is what they are designed to do (in general)
Where this system usually fails is where the cars accessories that run off the main battery are left on (radio, interior light etc) and the the main battery is run flat. This is why with this setup you still need jumper leads!!
GDF
FollowupID:
380622
Follow Up By: Member - Matt Mu (Perth-WA) - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 15:10
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 15:10
Gazz
Yeah Im familiar with the Redarc kit, but thats not the outbackaccessories unit you are referring to?
Is the new one an IBS system?
Thanks
Matt.
FollowupID:
380625
Follow Up By: GaZZZaa - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 15:22
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 15:22
Matt,
The outbackaccessories unit is a monitor only, it check voltage, cranking capacity and charge rate it is designed to mount on the dash and tell you whats happening with your battery.
See
http://www.outbackaccessories.com/index2.html
GDF
FollowupID:
380626
Follow Up By: Member - Matt Mu (Perth-WA) - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 16:09
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 16:09
Ahh yep Gazz, Im with you!! I have used a hand held Battery Tester that does the exact same thing as that, very gucci, very expensive!!
I think I will go with the IBS system for battery management, very easy to operate and I like the link function even if it drps out after 30mins!
Thanks Matt.
FollowupID:
380633
Reply By: Jagg - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 09:09
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 09:09
Rusrob,
I also have the Argyle CT by Pioneer; I am not totally familiar with the Paranha system.......if it uses any diodes their will be a small voltage loss (approx 1 amp) to the aux battery in which case you are better to come direct off the main battery; if it is a heavy duty solenoid you can come off either battery. The key is to minimise any voltage drop to the Anserson Plug you fit to your vehicle.........I recommend a dual run of 6mm cable or one size up from the 6mm cable size will suffice (approx 7.5mm2..see your local sparky for correct detail). Also provide the same cable size for the return circuit, the negative side of the connection. The set up Pioneer use only allows the CT battery to charge after the vehicle batteries are charged; it does not allow CT battery current to flow back to the vehicle battery system when plugged in to protect the wiring circuit.
cheers Jagg
AnswerID:
125872
Follow Up By: GaZZZaa - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 11:59
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 11:59
Jagg,
"A small voltage loss" will be measured in volts not amps and the fact is that it is usually in the order of .5V but will vary depending on the diode used.
You are certainly correct in suggesting HD cable to minimise the loss from the source to the battery in the camper.
I am interested in your feedback on the Pioneer campers as I am considering an Onyx purchase, i recently took a Trak Shak to fraser Island and it was fabulous but just too big for two of us.
FollowupID:
380605
Reply By: Jagg - Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 14:23
Friday, Aug 19, 2005 at 14:23
Oops, sorry guys yes that must be volts not amps; from experience .5 of a volt is a little conservative, I usually find it is around .9 voltage drop (& have seen as high as 1.2v) which does make a difference to the charge rate dropping it from approx 14.2v to 13.3v.
Anyway, onto the Pioneer Argyle; for the money they are quite good.........I have highlighted a number of minor things to the manufacturer that are annyoying though and I think they have addressed at least some of these as they continue to make improvements. email me at geoffmat@bigpond.net.au if you want more specific info and I will forward a reply when I have a minute over the weekend.
cheers Jagg
AnswerID:
125915
Reply By: Mike DiD - Saturday, Aug 20, 2005 at 08:09
Saturday, Aug 20, 2005 at 08:09
If you are putting a power connector in the back of the vehicle and you plan to use wire to the battery for the Earth/Black side, then you will need to use ATLEAST 10mm OD (21mm sq) to get LESS voltage drop than using the bodywork.
Using 6mmOD 8G (7.5mm sq) cable I measured 0.3 volts drop at 10 amps. Between Battery Negative and the chassiss at the rear I measured 0.13 volts drop - nearly 1/3rd.
You can see why people have trouble keeping their CT battery charged !
AnswerID:
125995
Follow Up By: Mike DiD - Saturday, Aug 20, 2005 at 08:28
Saturday, Aug 20, 2005 at 08:28
That should have read -
"Between Battery Negative and the BODY at the rear I measured 0.13 volts drop - nearly 1/3rd.
"
FollowupID:
380705
Reply By: Rusrob - Monday, Aug 22, 2005 at 07:49
Monday, Aug 22, 2005 at 07:49
Thankyou to everyone for your thoughts and advice.
I have ended up using 8 B & S wire from main battery through a 40amp
C/ breaker and have earthed on chasis at the rear of vehicle. I hope this will be ok.
cheers
Russell
AnswerID:
126246