Dolium Battery Monitor in a D3 2.7

[Allan]

We fitted a Dolium duel battery gauge to my sons D3 a couple of weeks ago without drama’s until the engine was started. When it fired up both side of the monitor set of an alarm and the lights flashed like a Christmas tree. According to the instructions the cause is overcharging. We pulled the fuse on the main battery monitor but after a short time the second battery monitor follows suit. Has anyone else fitted one of these monitors to a D3? I have them on both my Defender Puma and TD5 with no problems. Any help would be great

Allan

[Ean Austral]

I had 1 on my D2 and the alarm drove me crazy..It would go off like you say even connected to a new battery not even in the car..

I threw it in the bin, after several calls from SWMBO complaining about a bloody alarm going off in the car and it flashing like a christmas tree as you say.

Cheers Ean

[Phil TDV6]

Hi Allan,

I looked at the Doium a couple of years ago for our D3 but gave it a miss. The D3 charging circuit often exceeds 14.7v, and I note the specs for the Dolium indicate the over-charging warning comes on at 14.65v. I was under the impression many vehicles will have a charge rate of up to 14.7v which means the Dolium is likely to come on freguently in some vehicles.

I have seen readings as high as 15.2v on our D3, which LR tells me is 'normal' as the computer controls the output from the alternator; not the regulator. This is supposedly why the D3 and RRS have a calcium battery instead of a standard lead-acid variety. I'm not a sparky and I may have been fed some misinformation, but given I have just replaced my original battery after five years, I can only assume this is 'normal' (for a D3). Most of the time, the voltage reading seems to sit around the low14s/high 13s, peaking at 14.7v+ as the computer deems necessary.

Phil

[Allan]

Hi Allan,

I looked at the Doium a couple of years ago for our D3 but gave it a miss. The D3 charging circuit often exceeds 14.7v, and I note the specs for the Dolium indicate the over-charging warning comes on at 14.65v. I was under the impression many vehicles will have a charge rate of up to 14.7v which means the Dolium is likely to come on freguently in some vehicles.

I have seen readings as high as 15.2v on our D3, which LR tells me is 'normal' as the computer controls the output from the alternator; not the regulator. This is supposedly why the D3 and RRS have a calcium battery instead of a standard lead-acid variety. I'm not a sparky and I may have been fed some misinformation, but given I have just replaced my original battery after five years, I can only assume this is 'normal' (for a D3). Most of the time, the voltage reading seems to sit around the low14s/high 13s, peaking at 14.7v+ as the computer deems necessary.

Phil

Thanks for that ,your advice seems to make a lot of sense.

Allan

[Ashes]

I got one of these off ebay to use as a dual battery monitor. Just got a small on-off-on switch and hooked up the +ve from each battery to the switch and used a common -ve. Epoxied the switch to the unit and velcroed the monitor to the trim between the steering wheel and radio (nicely out of the way). Works really well and a big benefit with using the switch is that I leave it turned off most of the time. It also comes with a temperature probe which I'll eventually extend and run it to the fridge. Search for "Battery Monitor / Car Alarm LCD Temperature Thermometer" on ebay

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1161.jpg (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Battery-Monitor-Car-Alarm-LCD-Temperature-Thermometer-/120774616264?pt=AU_AlarmClocks&hash=item1c1eba64c8)