Dual battery question

Dual battery question

Postby Adictv on Wed Feb 28, 2018 5:51 pm

Ok so just to open another can of worms.
I have been ba k and forth from intervolt and australian battery direct and cant reslove this issue so...
I have a triton exceed 2017. Intervolt dcc pro and a kickass 120ah agm battery now from what we can see is that after a 2hr drive home i turn the car off and aux battery is at 13.2v ( car off, isolator off). In the morning its at 12.4v now im only running a waeco cf50 at 2 degree C. So as you can imagine over a weekend my aux battery drops to 12.2v.
I have done some testing and found my alternator only produces 13.2v max so the alternator does not produce enough power to charge the aux and starter. I drive 2hrs to work and 2hrs home each day what is everyones thoughts?
Oh and yes i have had the battery tested and tried a new battery had same issue. Everyone is saying onlineline no the dont have an ecu controlled alternator but i bed to differ in the 2017 exceed
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby NowForThe5th on Wed Feb 28, 2018 8:07 pm

Ok, let's look at some facts.

Firstly, the Triton has a fixed voltage alternator. You can verify this by checking for a Hall Effect sensor on or near the negative terminal of your starting battery.

A fixed voltage alternator should produce around 14V. At 13.2V yours seems to be a little low. How did you check the output voltage?

In theory your frig uses 0.86amps/hour. But, this is an average and is based on 5 degrees C inside and 32 degC outside. When running it uses closer to 5 amps. To start, setting the internal temperature to 2 degC will increase its power usage, quite considerably. Other factors will include ventilation to assist heat exchange and location, where heat soak from other items, including the body, may have an effect.

An AGM at full charge will show 12.8 volts. The 13.2 that you see when you turn the car off includes some surface charge, but this dissipates quickly. Check the battery voltage after maybe 30 minutes of turning off, without anything connected and, fully charged, it should show 12.8 volts.

So, a drop to 12.4 volts overnight is not quite as bad as you seem to think it is. Remember, with the settings of your frig you may be using an average around 2 amps/hour. Try increasing the interior temperature to 4 deg C. This will use much less of your battery's capacity and is quite satisfactory for food storage.
Chris

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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Adictv on Thu Mar 01, 2018 4:42 am

Thanks for the reply.
So this morning my aux battery is down to 12.2v now after driving for an hour and a half my charger was in agm boost charging the aux battery at 14.2v supplying 25amps.
Car is off and aux battery is at 13.0v and main battery is at 12.7v...
So from what i can see using a multi meter and the intervolt gauge my starter battery never gets over 13.3v so being a fixed voltage alternator you would have to say that there is something wrong
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Adictv on Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:54 am

Just spoke to mitsubishi and they have said its ecu controlled
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Duck on Sun Mar 04, 2018 2:04 pm

What sort of fridge & are the temperature readings from a thermometer in the fridge ?
Is the fridge full or empty, does it have a fridge cover, is it in full sun ?
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Adictv on Tue Mar 06, 2018 4:41 pm

Its a weaco cf50 and the temp is set to 2 deg c. Reading at the top is 3-4 at the bottom its 0-1. Just to note im a refrigeration mechanic and have checked the fridge its fine. The fridge is in my canopy (yes it can get a bit hot in there through the day some days) the fridge is half full with bottels of water 24/7 with cover.
Me and my mate (mechanic) seemed to have found the problem the alternator IS ecu controlled and the problem lies with the output max's out at 13.8 unlike the 14.2 other cars do so this seems to not be enough to charge both batterys so im looking into a relay that will up the output voltage from thw alternator. Will this work i dont no but at the moment its worth a shot
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby bigboots on Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:42 pm

What you may need is to connect a DC-DC Charger to fully charge your auxiliary battery. As I understand, it will increase the charge voltage to the auxiliary battery to fully charge it as the car system will only charge the auxiliary battery to about 80% capacity. CaravanWorld magazine (on-line) has a DC-DC Battery Chargers Explained article which basically tells you all about it.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby yeahbutnah on Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:41 am

the OP stated he has a "Intervolt dcc pro" which is a DC-DC charger...
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Maxiy on Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:05 am

Hi All

A quick question for the brains trust.

i installed an anderson plug behind my back seat to charge my baintech powertop (100ah battery) and recently i have noticed that my crank battery is quite low on start up (i dont have my baintech connected at the moment, only when i go away)

Based on my EDS the battery sits at around 12.2 when i turn the key on one click, and then drops to 11.6 when i go to fire up the engine, which normally results in the engine having trouble turning over.

Now this only happens in the morning, or after it has sat for 8 hours or so. during the day it is fine, and when the car is running the EDS says i'm getting around 14.3 for a period after starting the engine, and then sits around 13.6 most the time.

Another symptom i have noticed, which may or may not be related, is that my dash lights at night time are much dimmer than normal

I have the following hooked up the battery
- LED driving lights, through a relay and a fuse
- Winch directly connected
- Anderson plug to the back of the car, connected to positive through a kill switch and a 30a fuse, grounded at the anderson plug end to the chassis

1st question - Is there anything wrong with my battery or should i be looking else where for the reason it is having trouble turning over ?
2nd question - could i just need to upgrade my battery
3rd question - do i have something wired up completely wrong ?

Thanks for the help guys
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Joel on Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:40 am

Do you still have the original battery? Mine has started to struggle on first start in the mornings aswell but figured it must be due for replacement as getting on to 5 years old now.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Maxiy on Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:44 am

Joel wrote:Do you still have the original battery? Mine has started to struggle on first start in the mornings aswell but figured it must be due for replacement as getting on to 5 years old now.


Yeah it is the original battery, the same thought crossed my mind
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Duck on Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:41 pm

You may find your battery is tired. Gets worse the colder it is. Battery shop can put a batt tester on it & give you some idea of its health.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Maxiy on Wed Mar 28, 2018 6:21 am

Duck wrote:You may find your battery is tired. Gets worse the colder it is. Battery shop can put a batt tester on it & give you some idea of its health.


Thanks Duck
That was my next point of call. I will swing past battery factory today.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Joel on Wed Mar 28, 2018 7:44 pm

Id be interested to see how your battery tests out. Might have to ask if they can do a deal on 2 new batteries for the both of us if its clapped out.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Maxiy on Thu Mar 29, 2018 6:25 am

Joel wrote:Id be interested to see how your battery tests out. Might have to ask if they can do a deal on 2 new batteries for the both of us if its clapped out.


Yeah good idea. Car wouldnt start this morning :shock: had to jump it.

Not a great outcome considering i'm heading to the vic high country this afternoon :oops: :cry:

If it plays up on me today i will probably have to swing past battery factory and pick up a new unit.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Duck on Fri Mar 30, 2018 3:35 pm

Yes 4bying is better when you can start your ute.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Maxiy on Wed Apr 04, 2018 7:40 am

battery seems to be going ok, though is definitely on the way out.

i wil wait for it to fully die, then get a new one
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Joel on Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:42 am

I picked up a century after reading up some info round here as mine died on the weekend. 220 bucks for the 850cca at the soupy cheap sale on the weekend.
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby NowForThe5th on Wed Apr 04, 2018 5:02 pm

$220???!!! Haven't I told you Canberra blokes to talk to me before you buy batteries?
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Maxiy on Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:01 am

NowForThe5th wrote:$220???!!! Haven't I told you Canberra blokes to talk to me before you buy batteries?


hahaha well i know who i will talk to when i need a new one
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Re: Dual battery question

Postby Joel on Thu Apr 05, 2018 12:03 pm

NowForThe5th wrote:$220???!!! Haven't I told you Canberra blokes to talk to me before you buy batteries?


If you did I dont recall.
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