Electrical prob
Submitted: Sunday, Nov 12, 2006 at 21:55
ThreadID:
39378
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2365
Replies:
9
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3
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Member - extfilm (NSW)
just tried to start the ute and has got a flat battery????? The car is only 4 months old and has a duel battery set up.
I connected a waeco fast charger myself to the secondary battery which powers the fridge 24/7 on the tray. Have another fast charger connected to the secondary battery an Auto Elec fitted.
There are 2 cigarette lighter plugs attached to the Tray which was fitted when the tray was fitted. These are attached to the main battery and I have not had a chance to swap them to the secondary yet. Both have on/off switches on the dash. One powers an
orange flashing light and the other powers an external 200 litre fuel
tank, this has not been plugged in for at least a month. The
orange flashing light has not been switched on since 1pm sat.
As far as I can see the Factory fitted IPF spotlights are connected to the main Battery and of course the winch is connected to the main too.
I have 2 Hella 4000 on the roof connected to the secondary I fitted myself and today I was wiring up a set of Hella 1000 for the roof also.
My questions are? Do I have a faulty box between the main battery and the secondary batteries? How would I check to see if the box is faulty or not? Why would I have a flat cranking battery when the fridge has been wired to the secondary and has been the only thing that has been on? Oh and the beers are still very cold.... That is the main thing. :)
Reply By: disco driver - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 01:39
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 01:39
If you are running all that stuff at once no wonder the poor battery went flat
You may be using more than the alternator can supply.
Disco
AnswerID:
204575
Follow Up By: Member - extfilm (NSW) - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:46
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:46
Thanks Disco.......
The ute had been sitting in the backyard for a day and a half........ only the fridge had been running. Even prior I have not had the spotties on for a long time.
FollowupID:
464374
Reply By: Bilbo - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 03:02
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 03:02
Extfilm,
What were you doing before you found it to be flat? If you were night driving with all those spotties on, that's a big battery drain that yer alternator can't keep up with.
Is yer alternator OK? Have you checked it? Just because the charge light goes out doesn't mean the alternators giving out its maximum output.
Bilbo
AnswerID:
204579
Follow Up By: Member - extfilm (NSW) - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:57
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:57
Thanks Bilbo,
Was doing nothing out of the ordinary. Only the fridge was on. It stays in the back of the ute and is connected to the secondary battery. The fridge this morn is 6.6 degrees.......
Have not used the lights as I am city driving at the moment..
The alternator should be ok. The car is only 4 months old. My last trip was 6 weeks ago and had only 2 Hella 1000 on the roof.
FollowupID:
464376
Reply By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 04:37
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 04:37
Electrical systems are a supply and demand picture, your problem is too much demand and not enough supply.
That is at least 600 watts of spotties (~45 amps) + the normal high beam and other lamps (20 amp) + running the vehicle (EFI, ignition, ~25 amp) + other sundries (~5 amp). Now throw in the occasional winching drain......
You are pulling 95 amps from an alternator system that may only have an 80 amp or so capacity to charge (even that is at peak revs etc, far less at low - mid revs, possibly 40-60 amp), the remaining charge is drawn from the battery. You are probably drawing between 15 and 30 amps/hour from the battery, and given 5-6 hours your batteries will progressively go flat EVEN WHILE the engine is running.
Do yourself a huge favour, ditch at least two spotties, and install 42-50 w HID in each of the Lightforce 240's. Far better outcome all around (better penetration of light, less drain on batteries, less wiring, lower chance of bulbs blowing, less spotties to have stolen, etc).
If you really MUST keep all the spotties (why????), you are going to need a SERIOUS alternator upgrade to about 130-160 amp capacity, and no, yet another battery will NOT fix the problem.
AnswerID:
204581
Follow Up By: Member - extfilm (NSW) - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:13
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:13
Thanks Garyinoz,
Only the fridge has been on. The ute had been sitting in the backyard. The spotties have not been on for a long time and it is a diesel so should not really be drawing to much current.
At the moment I have only 2 Hella 4000 on the roof and I was wiring up the second set on the roof yesterday. The second set are still not mounted as yet. Reason for putting the 4000 on the roof is the factory fitted IPF's do not give off enough light. Even with 130 watt globes.
FollowupID:
464377
Reply By: Kiwi Kia - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:09
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:09
Alternators take a fair dollop of horsepower to run. Check that your drive belt is tight as there may be some slippage when drawing high current.
AnswerID:
204584
Reply By: Redeye - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:18
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:18
Check if the battery warning symbol appears when the ignition is turned on. If it does not you have either a faulty regulator or alternator brushes.
(This is weird Nissan logic. If the warning light does not come on there is a problem). Happened to me a month or so ago. If the light come on when the engine is running the voltage supplied by the alternator is outside spec.
Redeye
AnswerID:
204586
Reply By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 08:45
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 08:45
If you think the control for the 2nd battery is a problem, letting current drain from 1st to 2nd, wouldn't the batteries equalise overnight?. SO is the 2nd battery flat? Are the batteries the same voltage?
If the 2nd battery is OK, say above 12.5v, it points to the problem being in the 1st battery circuit, and the controleer working OK.
My 39l Engel still has the fridge reading at around 12.5v after a nights running.
AnswerID:
204597
Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 10:04
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 10:04
My guess is your "box" between the two batteries is only a solenoid that physically connects the two batteries together in parallel.
A simple solenoid will join the two batteries together but if one battery is flat, or stuffed, it will drag the other battery down to the same condition.
You need an auto electrician to check this out and perhaps upgrade to a "smart" controller that keeps the two batteries electrically isolated from each other.
AnswerID:
204611
Reply By: Bilbo - Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 14:20
Monday, Nov 13, 2006 at 14:20
From what I can gather, Extfilm, it seems that you have the fridge running off the second battery and this second battery is OK. It seems that you haven't driven with the spotties on for some time and the vehicle hasn't been started for a couple of days. This is what I'm assuming.
If this is so, then get a high rate discharge test done on the offending battery. This offending battery will need to be charged up to at least 80% capacity before the test. Then let the battery stand for say 12 hours at least. Then take it to battery
shop and ask them them to carry out a High Rate Discharge Test.
This will tell you better than anything if the battery is any use at all.
Watch the test being done. Battery shops could tell you it's goosed just to sell you a new one. When the test probes (the load) are apllied across the battery, the voltage will drop to about 10 volts. But it should hold that for at least 20 seconds. If the voltage drops to less than 9.5 volts immediately the probes are applied, then the battery's on it's way out. If it doesn't hold at least 9.5 volts for 10 seconds, then it's completely knackered.
Even if the car is "only 4 months" old it could still be a dodgy battery.
Get the battery checked before ripping into anything else. Do the easy things first.
Bilbo
AnswerID:
204654
Reply By: techo2oz - Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 at 06:51
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 at 06:51
Hi, you don't give any details of "the box" between the batteries. This could be the problem. However if the aux battery is ok and the main battery is flat, then it would be more than likely either main battery is faulty or maybe even while you were wiring your spotties in, if you had the radio and interior light on for a lengthy time it may have run it down.
If you can access a multimeter, check the voltage on the main battery and then the aux battery. if they are both read around the same voltage and both are less than 12.1 volts then it is highly likely to be the controller. If the controller is a relay type then it is either stuck on, or is being controlled from a source which is not switching off. If electronic, then it is allowing back feeding to the main battery which is a bad thing.
AnswerID:
204808