Traxide dual battery system

[Hoppy11]

Hi guys, had the Traxide dual battery system fitted to the D4 today. Anyone else have this set up !, thoughts on it ?
59394

[scarry]

Had mine for a while seems fine,works well.

one thing i do keep an eye on is the battery does not rub on the coolant tank,and the other is i fitted a low voltage cut out to the Engle fridge as it did not have one.Optima advise it should cut out at 10.5V minimum or the battery could be damaged.

[Hoppy11]

Had mine for a while seems fine,works well.

one thing i do keep an eye on is the battery does not rub on the coolant tank,and the other is i fitted a low voltage cut out to the Engle fridge as it did not have one.Optima advise it should cut out at 10.5V minimum or the battery could be damaged.

Cheers. The new kits come with a low voltage cutout

[AnD3rew]

Are you asking about the Traxide system in general or your actual installation specifically?

I have a D3 but my Traxide system has been flawless so far, very happy.

[WhiteD3]

I had the traxide kit in my D3 and in the current D4 with the battery in the 2nd battery box on the driver's side in both. Works a treat.

[Hoppy11]

Are you asking about the Traxide system in general or your actual installation specifically?

I have a D3 but my Traxide system has been flawless so far, very happy.

The Traxide system in general

[CaverD3]

Great bit of kit never caused a problem. :BigThumb:
Specifically made with D3/4 in mind.

[go-disco4]

I had mine fitted into the second battery box three years ago

no problems

always worked

my ARB fridge has a low voltage cutout

GD4

[Drafrete]

X2 for the comment about watching out for the battery rubbing on the coolant bottle. Especially on heavily corrugated roads. Other than that it's a great bit of kit. Set and forget in my case. Has worked flawlessly running a fridge in the car and powering the caravan fridge.

[drivesafe]

Hi Folks and yes I have had a fair bit of feedback about the battery tray and the hold down bracket.

There were only a small number that were supplied with the crap bracket and why the supplier changed to that bracket is beyond me.

While I tried to get the original bracket supplied, they didn’t see a problem with the new one, so I finally bit the bullet and designed my own stainless steel battery tray, which is now supplied with a plastic hold down bracket that sits well clear of everything around it.

The new tray is easier to fit and has been specifically designed for use with an Optima D34 Yellow Top battery and this also sits well clear of everything in the engine bay.

Also all kits supplied from now on, that come with the additional rear power socket, are now supplied with my new 30 amp Low Voltage Cut-Out unit, the BG-25.

I have been planning to add the BG-25 to all my kits some time ago but while I have had test units in operation for about 4 years, I just didn’t have the time to get the new unit into a production version.

The reason I finally got the units into production was because of a number of events that occurred since Christmas.

One arrogant new D4 owner, and not one of my customers, ranted about how he was not happy with the way his fridge didn’t run as long as it did in his previous LC100 before the battery was flat, which had the same D34 battery.

This was a load of crap as the D4 set up gave his D34 twice the capacity but trying to tell him running the D34 flat was not the best thing for his battery was a waste of time.

Then in a matter of a few weeks, I had a number of customers running their auxiliary batteries flat, but didn’t know it was a No-No to this, they all thought the battery was like a fuel tank and you could “empty” the auxiliary battery.

So to save people from damaging their auxiliary batteries, the kits now come with the BG-25.

All the new kits are now easier to fit as more of the kit is supplied as a pre-assembled Plug-N-Play install.

[scarry]

Tim,what voltage does the low voltage relay cut out at?

Thanks in advance

[drivesafe]

Hi Paul and the BG-25 is shipped set at 11.6v, but the user can select between 4 different cut-out voltage settings using the two dip switches inside the BG-25.

The settings are 11.6v, 11.8v, 12.0v and 12.3v

The BG-25 has an LED that shows when the unit is on and the battery power level is still reasonable.

The LED constantly fads brighter and duller to warn the user that the battery voltage level is getting near the cut-out point.

And the LED gives short flashes once it has cut-out.

The cut-in voltage is 12.5v. This level stops oscillation but allows the unit to cut-in even if there is a heavy load elsewhere in the system that might be causing a voltage drop after the motor is started. Like low house batteries in a camper trailer or caravan.

The BG-25 has a 30 second delayed shutdown to over come load spikes caused when things like fridge motors start up.

The units come wired with an in-line fuse holder and fuse, so the installation is pretty simple and straightforward.

The BG-25 measures 50mm x 50mm x 20mm

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/04/570.jpg

[AnD3rew]

Does anyone with a Bushman fridge know if it has an automatic cutoff? I have read the instructions and it doesn't mention it.

[Ferret]

.... So to save people from damaging their auxiliary batteries, the kits now come with the BG-25.

Drivesafe, you mentioned in another thread the USI-160 controller has a low voltage cut-out setting.

Does the low voltage cut out on the USI-160 controller serve the same purpose as the BG-25 low voltage cut out switch?

[AnD3rew]

Drivesafe, you mentioned in another thread the USI-160 controller has a low voltage cut-out setting.

Does the low voltage cut out on the USI-160 controller serve the same purpose as the BG-25 low voltage cut out switch?

X2, I have a USI 160 and was wondering this as well.

[drivesafe]

Hi Ferret and Andrew, both the SC80 and the USI-160 have a cut-out voltage of 12.0v NOT 11.6v.

The cut-out voltage of the SC80 and USI-160 is specifically designed to protect the cranking battery while the BG-25 cut-out voltage levels are designed to protect the auxiliary battery(s) after the cranking battery has already been isolated.

A word of caution, the cut-out settings on fridges are there to protect the fridge motor voltages from getting down to a point where the motor will stall, they are not designed to and will not protect your auxiliary battery from being over discharged.

[AnD3rew]

So with the USI 160 the cranking battery will be isolated and protected at 12 v. But can still run the aux battery flat and the fridge cut out wont protect it?

Can the BG 25 be retrofitted to a USI 160 system?

[drivesafe]

Hi Andrew and the BG-25 can be fitted to any system.

They will be $75 when I get some extras ready and post them up on my site.

They are being added to the kits for $50 and will be available to anyone with one of my kits for the same price.

[alpick]

Hi Tim,



A word of caution, the cut-out settings on fridges are there to protect the fridge motor voltages from getting down to a point where the motor will stall, they are not designed to and will not protect your auxiliary battery from being over discharged.

My ARB 47 ltr fridge has multiple cutoff voltages selectable depending on how low you wish to allow your aux batt to discharge, the lowest being 10.5 v.

So It would appear the ARB voltage cutoff is for the batt not the fridge?

Also can you explain how your sc80 almost doubles the Ah of the aux batt?

I am used to a 100Ah aux batt in my D2 and the 55Ah that came fitted in my recent D3 purchase is a wee bit under powered for my uses.

Cheers

Al

[drivesafe]

Hi Al and 10.5v is way to low for most deep cycle batteries.

The lowest you can safely take most deep cycle batteries is 11.58v which is 20% State of Charge ( SoC ) and many battery manufacturers state either 20% SoC or 11.58v as being the lowest you can discharge their specific battery.

Have a look at the Supercharge Battery web site, they specifically state 11.58v is the lowest you can cycle their Allrounders.

Optima Yellow Top batteries are one of the exceptions but I never discharge my Yellow Tops below 11.58v.

Next, if you have a 100Ah deep cycle battery and any other type of isolator, you have a maximum of 80Ah available.

Because my SC80 and USI-160 isolators allow accessories power to be drawn from both the auxiliary battery and the cranking battery, until the common voltage of both batteries get down to 12.0v, which is 50% SoC, at which point the cranking battery is isolated.

You then draw from your auxiliary battery until it gets down to 11.56v which is 20% SoC.

So with your D3 90Ah cranking battery, an Optima 55Ah and one of my isolators, you have a total of 89Ah ( 45 from the cranking battery & 44 from the auxiliary battery ), which would equate to needing a 111Ah battery with any other isolator, instead of your 55Ah.

This is only one of the many advantages my isolators provide, that no other isolators can offer.

[gghaggis]

Hi Andrew and the BG-25 can be fitted to any system.

They will be $75 when I get some extras ready and post them up on my site.

They are being added to the kits for $50 and will be available to anyone with one of my kits for the same price.

I'll be ordering a few!

Cheers,

Gordon

[drivesafe]

Good to hear Gordon.

BTW, keep an eye on my web site, some time in the next week or two, I will be posting up details of the upgraded D3, D4 and RRS kits, of which there are now 21 different kits.

This includes 4 new kits that may be of interest to you.

These are 4 new Triple Battery kits, designed to put two Optima D34 55Ah Yellow Tops under the bonnet.

This is what they look like when fitted.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/04/544.jpg

[Guppy]

Good to hear Gordon.

BTW, keep an eye on my web site, some time in the next week or two, I will be posting up details of the upgraded D3, D4 and RRS kits, of which there are now 21 different kits.

This includes 4 new kits that may be of interest to you.

These are 4 new Triple Battery kits, designed to put two Optima D34 55Ah Yellow Tops under the bonnet.

This is what they look like when fitted.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/04/544.jpg

Nice Tim,

But on a side note - do you instructions have detail to shift the "bits" in the rhs battery compartment.

Interested from another aspect

Thanks

Gup

[drivesafe]

Hi Gup and while my intended market was for D3s, so far, of the 5 test/pre-production kits supplied, every single one of them has been installed in a D4.

So the market is wide open.

I have never relocated the gear a D4’s auxiliary battery compartment but I will be providing pictures of how it’s done, compliments of Sniegy, and there is a link below to a USA Land Rover WorldForum thread with an excellent description of what to do and some great pictures to follow up on.

Here is the link.

LR4 Second Battery Install - Land Rover and Range Rover Forums (http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php't=23254)

[Guppy]

Hi Gup and while my intended market was for D3s, so far, of the 5 test/pre-production kits supplied, every single one of them has been installed in a D4.

So the market is wide open.

I have never relocated the gear a D4’s auxiliary battery compartment but I will be providing pictures of how it’s done, compliments of Sniegy, and there is a link below to a USA Land Rover WorldForum thread with an excellent description of what to do and some great pictures to follow up on.

Here is the link.

LR4 Second Battery Install - Land Rover and Range Rover Forums (http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php't=23254)

Thanks Tim

Gup

[Tsesebe]

I have a Traxide dual battery system with a isolator on a D4.
My vehicle is very low use except on infrequest long trips.
I am having serious flat battery problems when at home.
Even though the isolator cuts out the second battery both batteries are too weak to start the vehicle.
The isolator draws about 0.3 ah. This in combination with the calcium battery seems to cause a rapid loss of charge after a few days.
If you are using the vehicle every day should be no problems.
If you are leaving the vehicle for a long holiday you should consider disconnecting the battery isolator or setting-up a trickle charger.

[CSBrisie]

We have Traxide kit in our D4 and have noticed if we leave the 47 l ARB bridge running all the time (which SWMBO likes to do) we run the batteries down very quickly indeed (we have a dash mounted dual battery guage - Autron LED - which flashes red frequently on start up; we have noted we have to use the car at least every 2nd day or we strike flat battery issues very easily; we will be keen to upgrade to the BG-25!! :D

[drivesafe]

My vehicle is very low use except on infrequest long trips.

Hi Tsesebe and this type of non use is proving a big problem and more so in the UK.

A simple but not always convenient fix is to mount a 10 watt solar panel somewhere in one of the vehicle’s windows, if it’s parked out side.

If the vehicle is parked under cover then place the solar panel outside and run some twin cable to the vehicle.

Whether you use a battery charger or an external mounted solar panel, here is a little trick to jar your memory when you go to get into your vehicle.

Make the lead from the battery charger or solar panel long enough so you can hang the lead over the driver’s side mirror and then you can’t forget you are hooked up.

BTW, up to a 10w solar panel does not need a solar regulator.

[gavinwibrow]

Tim, PM sent

[scarry]

Wish i knew about the BG-25 as i have recently bought something similar at J car,and made a nice box for it,damn.

The Optima site says 10.5 volts absolute minimum,so probably what Tim says gives a good margin.My Optima went down to 8.0V once and has never been the same since,and i have tried charging it on a bench charger designed for these types of batteries,still no good.

As for low use vehicles,mine will often sit for days at a time(i have a company vehicle),and have never had any battery problems.Maybe the 2.7l is affected less than the 3l,but i wouldn't think so.

[go-disco4]

Hi Drivesafe

I have a Traxide SC -80 in a Disco 4 2.7L and after a long trip, the battery would still start the car after 2 weeks or so of non use, but would no longer start it after that.

Thinking of getting the solar panel. How do you connect it to the battery?

Can I just connect it straight to the battery terminals?

Does the negative goes to the earth nut?

Which terminal do you connect first?

Many thanks

GD-4

[JamesH]

What do people mean by very low use?

My 3 litre regularly sits for around three days without being used as don't use it for work and shopping errands. When it goes out it is rarely for a very short trip, no issues with the battery so far but it's only 6 months old.

I'll be getting a Traxide installed very soon, just for peace of mind and so I can run an Engel and Versalite when I do go away for trips.

I didn't know the Traxide used power when the car is off, and hope it won't be an issue if I go away and leave it for a week or ten days. Another battery should be a good thing, right?

[drivesafe]

Hi Folks and there is always going to be a problem with the cranking battery in any vehicle that is not driven regularly and/or for only short periods when it is driven.

There is no way around the problem short of using an auxiliary mode of charging, like solar or a battery charger.

This is not a Land Rover specific problem, it’s quite common in many makes.

With the old SC80 isolators, which have only just been replaced with a more energy efficient version, the old SC80s draw about 0.26 of an amp until the common voltage of the two batteries drops to 12.0v.

This means that if your batteries are fully charged, it would take around 300 hour or 12.5 days before the SC80 discharged the batteries down to 12.0v, at which point the SC80 would turn off and then only draw about 0.008 amps ( 8 ma ).

At 12.0v you still have heaps of reserve capacity in your cranking battery to be able to start your vehicle.

The new SC80 isolators now only draw 0.16 amps which means you will get close to twenty days before the batteries reach 12.0v or 15 days if you also have the BG-25 installed.

If your batteries are not fully charged, which is going to be the case if you don’t drive often enough and/or long enough, then you have to make allowances for your driving habits.

Plus there is a knock on effecting in that because if the cranking battery is never fully charged, it very quickly starts to loose the capacity to be fully charge, no matter how you try to charge it.

But there is a flip side to the scenario in that because the SC80 keeps the batteries connected and the fact the Optima is a fast charging battery, even short drives will allow you to put enough charge in the auxiliary battery for it to be able to raise the charged state of your cranking battery a bit when the motor is turned off.

But infrequent driving will still eventually cause your cranking battery’s charging capacity to diminish, even with the SC80 install, it will just take longer for the effects to become a problem.

Fitting a solar panel dramatically improves the charged state of your batteries if you don’t do enough driving to keep your batteries in a good charged state, no matter what set up you have.

[VK3GJM]

For longer idle time, you could put an isolation switch between the taxidermist controller and the black earth wire going to the chassis terminal, thus stopping the controller from sucking 260ma from the system. When you need it, switch on.

Has anyone tested current drain of vehicle while idle and locked? I wonder if the LR have a hibernation mode which is activated after long periods of no activity?

Regards

Gerald

[ADMIRAL]

What do people mean by very low use?

My 3 litre regularly sits for around three days without being used as don't use it for work and shopping errands. When it goes out it is rarely for a very short trip, no issues with the battery so far but it's only 6 months old.

I'll be getting a Traxide installed very soon, just for peace of mind and so I can run an Engel and Versalite when I do go away for trips.

I didn't know the Traxide used power when the car is off, and hope it won't be an issue if I go away and leave it for a week or ten days. Another battery should be a good thing, right?

Once the battery starts to get a bit older, you will have to watch how you are using it. I found once the battery was over 2 years old, even cold weather caused issues with low vehicle use. Once we changed the battery , everything was ok.

[Keithy P38]

Sorry to dig this up but I do feel the need to comment.

I have an SC80 and twin Supercharge All-rounders (105ah each). My P38 sits for weeks at a time and I've never had a problem. What I did was fit a toggle switch off the earth on the SC80 which allows me to turn off the SC80 and hence does not link the batteries. Weeks on end and I can still start it every time.

I also put a few 50amp circuit breakers and an Anderson plug on my setup so I can physically disconnect the two for peace of mind or if I need to remove the aux battery for some reason.

Cheers
Keithy

[Keithy P38]

I can also plug solar power in to my aux battery when it is disconnected from the main via the Anderson plug.

[VladTepes]

Oh and a tip: If you have a solar panel on the roof to trickle charge the battery, it won;t work while in the garage... :lol2:

[dswatts]

Oh and a tip: If you have a solar panel on the roof to trickle charge the battery, it won;t work while in the garage... :lol2:

Unless you fit a skylight;);)

[scarry]

Hi Folks and there is always going to be a problem with the cranking battery in any vehicle that is not driven regularly and/or for only short periods when it is driven.

There is no way around the problem short of using an auxiliary mode of charging, like solar or a battery charger.

This is not a Land Rover specific problem, it’s quite common in many makes.

With the old SC80 isolators, which have only just been replaced with a more energy efficient version, the old SC80s draw about 0.26 of an amp until the common voltage of the two batteries drops to 12.0v.

This means that if your batteries are fully charged, it would take around 300 hour or 12.5 days before the SC80 discharged the batteries down to 12.0v, at which point the SC80 would turn off and then only draw about 0.008 amps

At 12.0v you still have heaps of reserve capacity in your cranking battery to be able to start your vehicle.

The new SC80 isolators now only draw 0.16 amps which means you will get close to twenty days before the batteries reach 12.0v or 15 days if you also have the BG-25 installed.

If your batteries are not fully charged, which is going to be the case if you don’t drive often enough and/or long enough, then you have to make allowances for your driving habits.

Plus there is a knock on effecting in that because if the cranking battery is never fully charged, it very quickly starts to loose the capacity to be fully charge, no matter how you try to charge it.

But there is a flip side to the scenario in that because the SC80 keeps the batteries connected and the fact the Optima is a fast charging battery, even short drives will allow you to put enough charge in the auxiliary battery for it to be able to raise the charged state of your cranking battery a bit when the motor is turned off.

But infrequent driving will still eventually cause your cranking battery’s charging capacity to diminish, even with the SC80 install, it will just take longer for the effects to become a problem.

Fitting a solar panel dramatically improves the charged state of your batteries if you don’t do enough driving to keep your batteries in a good charged state, no matter what set up you have.

I noticed my SC80 flashing the other day after the car D4 was not used for 2 days.Standard traxide D4 dual battery set up with SC80.
Whether the batteries were originally fully charged,i don't know.
Voltage on both batteries was around 12.1Volts.There was nothing drawing current from the auxiliary battery.
i checked the neutral wire from the main battery and it was drawing .45 of an Amp.SC80 was drawing .26,as per what Tim has indicated.

So if my meter is correct,the D4 (sleeping not locked) plus the SC80 adds up to approx. .70 of an Amp.

My question is,do the calculations in red take into account the vehicle current while asleep as well as the Sc80.

If they do i will have to be more careful with the D4 and charge the batteries,as Tim has suggested.

We use a company car a lot so the D4 will sometimes not get used often.

Thanks in advance

[drivesafe]

Thanks for you e-mail and as long as your happy with your kit then my day is made.

Regards Tim.