D4 2nd battery charging

[cecilh]

Good day, I have a 2nd battery fitted in the engine bay of my D4 to power a fridge. Tried using a National Luna intelligent solenoid (modified for the "intelligent" D4 charging system) but it does not work that well - seems to get its knickers in a knot and eventually the 2nd battery is flat. Has any body used the CTEK DC-DC charger in the D4 - good/bad?? Thanks

[Redback]

Here ya go, specifically for the D4, he is a member of this forum also(drivesafe)
Discovery 4 DBS Kits | TRAXIDE - RV | Traxide - RV (http://www.traxide.com.au/complete-diy-dual-battery/land-rover-dbs-kits/discovery-4-dbs-kits/)

Baz.

[LandyAndy]

Im awaiting my kit for my D4.
Have put Tims gear in 3 vehicles,the D4 will be the fourth.
Andrew

[Bytemrk]

Totally agree with Andy and Baz,

I've had Traxide kit in my last 2 Land Rovers and recently installed a dual battery kit in the D4.

You will not get better assistance from any vendor and Tim's product is outstanding.

I may be wrong...but I believe here in Australia.... some Land Rover dealers are installing the Traxide kit as a dual battery option for clients... seems like a pretty good recommendation that they work..

[austeve01]

Hi cecilh,

I would also endorse the previous three comments re Traxide (drivesafe).

Recently I had fitted to my D3 the usi-160 after problems with both cranking & aux batteries. Not had a problem since.

You'd be hard pressed to find a better vendor or product(s) in my view. I'm a dummy when it comes to this stuff & Tim had the patience of Job when plied with seemingly basic questions from me about the operation of the batteries and charging system.

Steve

[RickO]

Another very happy fan of The Traxide DB kit - simply awesome. Had one in my old D3 and have just put one in the new D4.

RickO

[josh.huber]

Agreed. usi 160

[scarry]

Totally agree with Andy and Baz,

I've had Traxide kit in my last 2 Land Rovers and recently installed a dual battery kit in the D4.

You will not get better assistance from any vendor and Tim's product is outstanding.

I may be wrong...but I believe here in Australia.... some Land Rover dealers are installing the Traxide kit as a dual battery option for clients... seems like a pretty good recommendation that they work..

I have had the traxide kit for the last 3 yrs or so.

I recently had the main battery replaced under warranty.The local LR dealer won't use the Traxide system as they say the main battery should not drop below 12.5v.The traxide system lets it drop to 12v before isolating it.

Tims thoughts on this would be good.

[drivesafe]

Hi Paul and first off, your dealership, like any dealership, has mechanics in the workshop, not auto electricians, so they really have no idea of what the cranking battery can tolerate.

Next, and just to show how little notice your dealership takes, when it comes the cranking battery voltage levels. It is commonplace to have D3 and D4 cranking batteries with 12.2v on a regular basis.

NOTE, this is on vehicles without one of my dual battery systems.

Once one of my systems is installed, it is then commonplace ( after a short period of time ) for the same cranking batteries to have 12.5v or higher, when the vehicle is used around town.

As to discharging the battery down to 12.0v or 50%, this will have no effect on the battery and all modern vehicles can be started with cranking battery’s at 20% or 11.58v.

So taking the cranking battery down to 50% poses no potential problem what so ever.

Now for some battery facts.

The CCA rating of a cranking battery is constant from 100% State of Charge ( SoC ) down to 40% SoC ( 11.9v ). So even at 50% SoC ( 12.0v ) you still have the full CCA rating of the battery available for starting your vehicle.

Because my isolator allows the auxiliary battery to back discharge into the cranking battery, your cranking battery is always going to be in a higher state of charge than it would be in a D3 or D4 not equipped with one of my systems.

To validate this point, when the D3 and RRS were first fitted with displays, and error messaging, I had a number of customers, who had been having problems with continual messages of “ Low Battery, Start Motor” and a number of dealerships, including yours, could not fix the problem, even when these new vehicles had their new batteries replaced with another new battery.

But with in a week to three weeks ( depending on use of the vehicle ) of fitting one of my dual battery systems, the messages stopped and never returned.

So there is actually plenty of evidence that my systems solve charging problems that Land Rover can not solve!

Hope this answers your question Paul.

[drivesafe]

Rather than hijack cecilh's thread, I have moved this to a separate thread.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread.php?p=2233326#post2233326

Just as a point of interest, if you folks have the time, and a digital multi meter, can you measure the voltage of your cranking battery, at the battery terminals, to see what they are being charged to.

Please allow at least 12 hours from the last time the motor was on, as this allows the battery to settle to close to it’s actual SoC voltage level.

Note, this is a request for both those who have my dual battery systems fitted and those who do not.

It would be interesting to get some independent feedback, to see what the real SoC of cranking batteries are.

Thanks in advance, Tim.

[cecilh]

Thanks for all the interest and comments. My cranking battery (with the 2nd battery completely disconnected) is sitting at 12.1v.

Tim the issue I have with the D4 seems to stem from the intelligent charging system fitted to this vehicle.
I had a National Luna Intelligent Solenoid (http://www.nationalluna.com/battery_systems.htm) fitted along with the 2nd battery. This system appears to work similar to yours i.e. it couples and de-couples the batteries depending on certain voltage situations. The NL system fitted is supposed to work with the D4 but after a few days use the 2nd battery is at a low state of charge and drains quite quickly if a fridge is connected (about 3 hours). It would seem that the D4 system picks up this 2nd battery and does not charge it fully? Your thoughts and why should your system appears to work in the D4?

[Graeme]

I suggest that you talk to National Luna about the problem you have with their unit as it may be faulty or incorrectly installed for the D4. My voltage sensitive relay that cuts-out within seconds of the engine stopping keeps the aux battery well charged although the cranking battery runs down with too long between good top-ups.

[Epic pooh]

Tim, my cranking battery is usually at 12.1 - 12.3v. I have an sc80 system in my D3. Health check of the cranking battery shows it has 770cca @ 3 years old @12.2v. My vehicle sits around a bit and I charge it with a ctek 5.0a (or 20a if in a hurry) biannually. My car never throws up messages or any such thing unless the cranking battery falls below 12v (which sometimes happens if not used for a week or so) - any bizzare messages are dealt with by 24hrs on charge and then all is good. HTH

[Redback]

Tim, my cranking battery is usually at 12.1 - 12.3v. I have an sc80 system in my D3. Health check of the cranking battery shows it has 770cca @ 3 years old @12.2v. My vehicle sits around a bit and I charge it with a ctek 5.0a (or 20a if in a hurry) biannually. My car never throws up messages or any such thing unless the cranking battery falls below 12v (which sometimes happens if not used for a week or so) - any bizzare messages are dealt with by 24hrs on charge and then all is good. HTH

Hi Mick, I'm not sure if the V8 D3 has the same alternator as the TDV6 D4, but my battery is 3yrs old as well and has the USI160 DBS, my main battery sits around 12.7v as does the second battery.

Is 770cca a bit low?? shouldn't it be up around 900cca that the original battery is, or does the V8 have a smaller battery??

Baz.

[Epic pooh]

Morning Baz ! My battery is an 850cca battery, the battery guy thinks 770 at almost 3 years is quite acceptable. My battery is only 12.5+ after a charge or a long run. I've always thought my system was a bit low but it seems to work fine. My car probably sits around a lot more than yours !

I have no idea if the alternators are the same - but my alternator is the original and is 9 years old. When running the reported voltages seem normal as far as I can tell.

[Redback]

All good, I have a Golf TDi as a daily drive now, so the Disco sits in the driveway and is only driven up to the shops by the missus and for trips, so will be interesting if things change, might check it Saturday to see.

Baz.

[drivesafe]

Hi Mick and mate, you need to carry out a reconditioning of your battery.

There is no way an alternator can charge and MAINTAIN a battery when the vehicle is not in regular use, and your type of use is a VERY common scenario these days.

The trick to using a battery charger is to fully charge the battery but do not remove the charger once it goes into FLOAT mode.

When a battery charger fully charges a battery, it only fully charges the amount of capacity in the battery that can actually be charged.

That may sound like double dutch but over time batteries loose capacitance and this can be caused by many factors, like not charging the battery on a regular basis, not charging it long enough to allow the battery to get to a fully charged state and so on.

You can easily end up with say a 100Ah battery with only 60% of it’s original capacity being able to be charged.

So when you charge the battery, and the charger goes into FLOAT mode, you have only charged the 60% available.

Now the trick is to leave the battery charger on, after it goes into FLOAT mode and leave it in float mode for around 8 to 10 hour. Then turn the charge off for around 12 hours.

You need to let the battery’s electrolyte settle between charges, so that when the charger is turned on again, it will virtually stir up the electrolyte.

Then repeat the charging cycle for as many times as you can, as this will help to revive the battery and in many cases will noticeably increase the battery’s usable capacity.

But this type of conditioning charging will also allow the battery to be quicker charged, while driving.

In your case Mick, there is a very good chance you will increase you CCA as well.

[shanegtr]

I just checked my cranking batt this morning. Mines sitting at 12.4v. Aux battery isolated and charged with a redarc BCDC1240 dc-dc charger. Car does a mixture of school drop offs and longer 20+km running

[Epic pooh]

Thanks Tim. I normally just leave it on the 5a ctek for about 24hrs which puts it into float mode for about 16hrs. Am I better off charging the batteries individually do you think (ie disconcerting them both from the car) ? Next charge will be done in a couple of weeks and I'll do as you say disconnect the charger and reconnect half way through. Do you think there is any value to the recondition mode on a ctek (never used it) ?

[drivesafe]

Hi again Mick, there is no need to separate the batteries but if your charger has setting for different types of batteries, just set it to “AGM” or 14.4v and all the batteries connected to the charger will be safely fully charged and conditioned.

[scarry]

Thanks Tim for the reply to my post and the others as well.

Before my battery was replaced,it was often sitting around 12.0 to 12.4V and has never not started the vehicle,in fact i didn't know anything was wrong with it.No dash fault lights either.
The vehicle was at the dealer for another issue,and i asked them to check it as the voltage was often low.

With the new battery i checked it a couple of days ago,after a run,and it was at 12.49v,today it is at 12.35v,vehicle hasn't been anywhere.
So it is already below what the dealer has said is it's minimum.
I have just put it on the Ctek smart charger and will monitor it after it is fully charged.

[drivesafe]

With the new battery i checked it a couple of days ago,after a run,and it was at 12.49v,today it is at 12.35v,vehicle hasn't been anywhere.
So it is already below what the dealer has said is it's minimum.

Hi again Paul, the problem is that dealers only see vehicles for a few hours and this what they base their “battery Knowledge” on.

All batteries will have a surface voltage just after the charging device has been removed/turned off.

This surface charge has next to nothing to do with the real SoC of the battery, but a dealer will measure the battery and see 12.5v and higher and they believe they know what the “normal” voltage is.

Having the battery settle, to allow the surface voltage to dissipate is also the reason I ask for voltage readings to be made at least 10 to 12 hours after the motor was last running.

[lpj]

My dealer praised the Traxide.

I have had "low battery warning" come up a few times on my MY12 with a Traxide fitted 18 months ago (only after the radio has been left on for a while after the engine was turned of)

I raised it with the dealer and they will check it next week. When I told him i had a Traxide, he said they were great and certainly what they "recommend"

[scarry]

My dealer praised the Traxide.

I have had "low battery warning" come up a few times on my MY12 with a Traxide fitted 18 months ago (only after the radio has been left on for a while after the engine was turned of)

I raised it with the dealer and they will check it next week. When I told him i had a Traxide, he said they were great and certainly what they "recommend"

How do you get the radio to stay on?
With mine it will turn on and then go off in about 5 minutes,which is a PITA:mad:


Unless i push the start button without foot on the brake,but then the ignition is on, which i would have thought would drain the battery quickly.

[lpj]

How do you get the radio to stay on? With mine it will turn on and then go off in about 5 minutes,which is a PITA:mad: Unless i push the start button without foot on the brake,but then the ignition is on, which i would have thought would drain the battery quickly.

Now that I think about it, I was checking the brake lights and indicators on my trailer. One of them brake light on the trailer had a short so the D4 wouldn't "recognise" the trailer. I also I also had the ignition on- as well as the radio while fixing the trailer brake light. That probably contributed the low battery warning.

[Redback]

Checked my main battery this morning, car has been sitting for 5 days, 12.4v, took it for a long drive, home to Dapto and back.

Think we need to start charging the battery while it's sitting at home, I have a Battery Fighter 1.25, multi stage battery charger, I think this should do the trick.

I have this
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/09/184.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/09/185.jpg

Baz.

[scarry]

Baz,12.4 is not to bad,mine was often on 12.0,and the LED on the SC 80 would be flashing,after a week or so.

Is yours on the original battery?

I try and put mine on charge overnight once a week.

I will be more vigilant with this as it is soon out of warranty and has just had a new battery fitted by the dealer.

The car often sits around for a week or so not going anywhere,or maybe a short trip or two,we have company cars.

I use a Ctek smart charger.

[Redback]

Baz,12.4 is not to bad,mine was often on 12.0,and the LED on the SC 80 would be flashing,after a week or so.

Is yours on the original battery?

I try and put mine on charge overnight once a week.

I will be more vigilant with this as it is soon out of warranty and has just had a new battery fitted by the dealer.

The car often sits around for a week or so not going anywhere,or maybe a short trip or two,we have company cars.

I use a Ctek smart charger.

Yes original battery, 3/1/2yrs old and now out of warranty, like you, the car sits around and does short trips up to the shops and back, 2min trip, I have a TDi Golf for to and from work.

Baz.

[Epic pooh]

After following Tims advice I now have a 12.6v or thereabouts reading. Will be interesting to see how it holds up.

Any opinions on the difference in reliability between self reported voltage (via iidtool) vs multimeter readings ?

That trickle charger will do the trick Baz and welcome to my world of frequent battery maintenance ! Hope the golf is going well - I love the contrast between small cars and the disco :)

[Redback]

After following Tims advice I now have a 12.6v or thereabouts reading. Will be interesting to see how it holds up.

Any opinions on the difference in reliability between self reported voltage (via iidtool) vs multimeter readings ?

That trickle charger will do the trick Baz and welcome to my world of frequent battery maintenance ! Hope the golf is going well - I love the contrast between small cars and the disco :)

It's worlds apart, I do struggle a bit getting in(and I'm only 5'11":D) I'm getting used to it though, just a different way to get into it;)

The Disco feels like a big lumbering truck with dull brakes and bad handling compared to the Golf, I nearly went through the windscreen when I hit the brakes on the Golf, after stepping out of the D4:eek:

BUT I love it, so smooth and quick, handles like a sports car, and only 5l/100ks:D

Baz.

[Plane Fixer]

Redback, we have the same combo of cars. My wife has the white VW Golf V 2.0 TDI and I get to drive it sometimes. I am 6' 2" and once I am in there it is a very comfortable sporty drive and is fantastic around town.
We sometimes go to Grafton or Maclean in it to blow out the weeds, but for a longer trip I am over-ruled and we go in the Disco due the comfort, sound system and my wife can look around and see more as she is 5' 1"

[samandfee]

Hi drivesafe and others...........Just checked Voltage in cranking and Aux under bonnet..motor off for almost 24 hours.........12.42 V ....in both batteries...has an Sc80 fitted.

cheers Sam

[Redback]

Redback, we have the same combo of cars. My wife has the white VW Golf V 2.0 TDI and I get to drive it sometimes. I am 6' 2" and once I am in there it is a very comfortable sporty drive and is fantastic around town.
We sometimes go to Grafton or Maclean in it to blow out the weeds, but for a longer trip I am over-ruled and we go in the Disco due the comfort, sound system and my wife can look around and see more as she is 5' 1"

Yes they are a great little car, ours is a Golf V 1.9l TDi and yes the Disco is more comfortable for long drives, oh and my missus is 5.0' dead on, seems we are smaller, cars and people, just:D

Baz.

[Epic pooh]

Every time I get into my disco after driving one of my other cars I am always struck by how great the driving position is in the disco (I'm 6'2") my wife says the same (5'). Mine doesn't feel truck like in comparison to the other two (it did pre suspension work), but it does feel a bit ponderous for the first few corners !

[go-disco4]

Hi All,

Very interesting discussions. Recently I have bought a CTEK and decided to better maintain the batteries after reading all these discussions.

There are a couple of points I am not clear on and would greatly appreciate some comments and help.

I have a D4 2.7 Diesel with a SC-80 Traxide / yellow Optima second battery fitted 3 1/2 years ago. The original cranking battery was replaced by the dealer at the end of warranty, so the current cranking battery is about 1 year old. The car sits around a bit. I drive it for a whole week once every 2 weeks or so.

Last weekend, I used the CTEK MS 5.0 and used the Recond plus Car mode together and left it charging for nearly 12 hours until the CTEK showed the fully charged sign. The voltage on both batteries immediately after charging was about 12.7 for each battery. I drove the car every day for the last 5 days (Mon to Fri), like 2 trips of 30 minutes each to and from work.

The meter reading today, Saturday, first thing in the morning, was 12.19 for each battery.

Questions are:

1. Why did the SoC drop from fully charged to 12.19 despite daily driving?
2. Is half hour driving each trip not enough to maintain the full charge?
3. Why did the Optima battery also discharge to the same 12.19? Should the isolater prevent the Optima from being used and discharged. I have not connected any devices to the optima.
4. Does this SoC level shorten the battery life?

Many thanks for your help

G-d4

[drivesafe]

The voltage on both batteries immediately after charging was about 12.7 for each battery.

Hi G-d4 and that voltage level is actually way to low.

Immediately after charging, your battery voltages should have been in the mid 13+v, not 12.7v

You need to put your charger on your batteries every night for at least the next week.

And leave the charger on, for at least 8 hours after the charger goes into FLOAT mode.

You are ( like most people ) your batteries worst enemy.

If vehicles ( not just Land Rovers ) are not driven for some time, it takes at least a few 5+ hour drives to recover the battery’s fully charged state.

Or you can do this with any multi stage battery charger, as suggested above.

[go-disco4]

Hi Tim,

Many thanks.

Would you please be able to explain why the Optima battery discharged as well?

Gd-4

[drivesafe]

Hi again G-d4, because my isolators keep the batteries connected after the motor is turned off ( all other isolators turn off when the motor is turned off ) the two batteries discharge at the same rate, no matter what is causing the batteries to discharge.

In your case, if you did not have one of my isolators, the Optima would be in a much higher state, but the problem would be that your cranking battery would be in a much lower state and probably in need of replacing by now.

While your Optima may be lower than what it would be with any other type of isolator, because of the way my isolators work, shearing the load, the Optima has helped to keep your cranking battery from going flat.

As I have suggested, try the cycle charging with a battery charger and see what happens to the voltage levels in a week or so.

[go-disco4]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for explanation and advice. Will follow advice and report back to the forum

GD-4

[go-disco4]

Hi All,

I have a SC 80 Traxide with an Optima yellow battery as mentioned previously in this forum. 2.7 L Diesel D4 MY 2010. The SC 80 was installed 4 years ago and seems to be working fine on various camping trips without issues.

1. However at a recent service (independent LR dealer) the mechanics tested the batteries and said that the Optima was down to a very low charge (?3%) but the cranking battery was OK.
What he said was that the smart alternator in the D3/D4 constantly adjust the charging voltages to the state of charge of the cranking battery and therefore often the voltage is too low to charge the optima properly and suggested a smart DC-DC charger to maintain the correct charging voltage.
It appears that everyone here (including me) has used the SC80 without issue.
So I am confused.
So is there another problem with mine? Is it time to replace it? Optima Battery is 4 1/2 years old

2. I disconnected the Optima 1 1/2 weeks ago and used the CTEK MX 5 to recondition it and then charge it till the float mode and left it for several hours after that. The next day the Voltage was 12.63. It is now 1 1/2 weeks and the voltage has remained stable at 12.58 the last few days with the battery disconnected.
Still confused.
IS the battery OK despite the testing by the mechanic?

3. On the other hand the cranking battery read 12.1 volts after the dual battery was disconnected and after 2 days of cycle charging as per Tim (Traxide) advice the Volt is now 12.24, 12 hours after charging and 12.85 immediately after charging. Battery is 2.5 years old.

So can this battery be "reconditioned" back to 100% by repeated cycle charging?

How come the dealer said it was fully charged when tested when the voltage is only 12.1 or so?

4. Regarding the SC 80. How much power does it draw from the cranking battery when the engine is switched off and nothing connected to it?

I think I remember Tim saying that a switch can be connected to the unit to stop this draw. Is that available and how do I connect it?

5. I believe that the SC 80 allows back flow from the optima to the cranking battery to maintain its charge when the Optima voltage is higher than the Crank battery.

Is the reverse true? That is if the Optima is at a lower charge will it drain from the Cranking battery?

Many thanks for your help.

GD-4

[drivesafe]

Hi GD-4, first cab off the rank. Can you post up your driving habits. Like how often do you drive and when you drive, what is the rough average time for each drive.

As far as the Optima goes, try putting a small load on it, like a compressor fridge and see how long the fridge runs before the voltage gets down around 12.0v.

The cranking battery voltages will depend on your drive times, so I'll wait for you reply.

[scarry]

GD 4,

I have same vehicle as yours,same dual battery system,although my vehicle is MY 12.
My vehicle also often does short trips or only gets used for a few days a week.Main battery was replaced about a year ago under warranty,optima is around 3 yrs old.

I charge mine regularly,with the same Ctek charger as you use.Often every weekend or every second weekend.I try and leave it on for at least 36 hours.

I have checked the battery voltage every now and then,and similar to you seems to sit around 12.8V.Both batteries will always read the same voltage until the Sc80 isolates the batteries which is at 12.0 V,main battery voltage.

I remember the Sc80 would flash its green LED after two days of the vehicle sitting idle after giving the batteries a good charge,when the main battery was on its way out.

Now i never see the green LED flashing.

There may not be anything wrong with your batteries,or if there is mine has the same issue.
I charge both batteries together,and use the AGM auto setting on the charger.

[go-disco4]

Hi Tim

I drive it for 1 week (6 days - daily return trip of 40 minutes each way, 80 mins altogether. This is in city traffic) and the car sits in the car porch for 1 to 2 weeks and then I'll drive it for another week and the same cycle repeats itself. So the car gets driven every 1 in 2 to 3 weeks. Unless I am going outback or on a trip. Have not done a long trip since a 2 week Vic high country trip in March this year.

I know that is bad for the battery!

However, I charge it for at least one day every weekend for 10 -12 hours at a stretch. Sometimes both days of the weekend. The Ctek always go to the float mode when I disconnect. I do not charge overnight.

AS for connecting the Fridge to the aux battery, I will need to find a weekend that I am home all weekend.

Thanks

GD -4

[drivesafe]

Hi GD-4, and unfortunately, you are your own worst enemy.

The daily 40 minute drives are more than ideal ( when done in regular continuos use ) and the traffic situation is not a problem because of the huge alternator capacity in these vehicle.

BUT!!!

Your charging routine is next to useless because it is not the CHARGE cycle that will benefit your batteries, it is the FLOAT cycle that is needed to condition the batteries after they have been sitting unused for so long.

To get the best benefit from any charging of batteries, you need to leave the batteries on a FLOAT cycle for 8 to 10 hours.

The first part of the charging cycle, the BULK charge, will do just that, it will charge the batteries, but it is only charging the battery capacity that can still be charged.

This chargeable capacity diminishes the longer you leave batteries in an unused state, and your 40 minute drives are doing the same thing, you are only recharging the usable capacity.

By leaving the batteries in FLOAT mode for 8 to 10 hours, you will very slowly recondition the batteries and will most likely recover lost battery capacity.

This is a long process but it will be worth the effort as it will help to extend the operating life span of your batteries.

Best procedure, if you can do it, is to put the charger on the batteries and leave the charger on, in float mode for 8 to 10 hour. Leaving them on in float mode for more than 10 hours offers not additional gain.

Then turn the charge off for at least 10 to 12 hours and repeat.

By turning the charger off for 10+ hours, you let the battery's electrolyte settle.

Then when you turn the charger on again, even when the batteries are fully charged, all battery chargers will start in the BULK charge cycle, even for a short time.

The initial BULK charge cycle will stir up the electrolyte, then the float mode will have fairly evenly mixed electrolyte and this helps to recondition the battery.

[BMKal]

Thanks Tim. This is exactly what we have found recently with the battery in the young bloke's RX7 which doesn't get driven very often these days.

He came home from work recently to find the battery virtually dead in it. After an initial bulk charge to allow him to start and drive the car, he used his CTek charger as you have described above over a period of three or four days, leaving it on "float" charge overnight for three nights I think, and the battery now seems to be as good as new.

The mechanic who services SWMBO's Camry told her last week when it was serviced that she needs to take it on a long drive to Coolgardie or similar to bring the battery charge back to where it should be. I charged it with my CTek, and then left on "float" cycle overnight for a couple of nights (with her using the car during the day) - and this also seems to have done the trick. Battery is now showing a higher charge in the mornings than it was before it went in for service.

I plug the CTek into the Anderson plug from your kit on the back of my Disco overnight about once every couple of months or so - it keeps all three batteries in the vehicle in a pretty healthy condition.

[go-disco4]

Thanks Tim,
I will do that and report back

GD-4

[RobA]

Tim for the sake of the cause and because I am interested in your views I just checked ours, MY15 TDV6 with 19,000 km just rolled over in 10 months. The vehicle usage may be different from average in that the car does a lot of country travel and subsequently long distances at cruising speed as well as towing our Ultimate camper if we are either 4wd training and/or running a tagalong. For example our recent five day testing session in the North Flinders ranges meant >6 hours engine on from Adelaide to Blinman and towing and on one track >4 hours in low range. This is just to give you an idea of our duty cycle

We had a 160 system with the Orbital fitted in January. That battery just read 12.38V and the cranking battery read 12.32V. Engine has been off since around 1500 yesterday

Regards

Rob

[drivesafe]

Hi Rob, are you at home now and if so, how much driving have you done in the last week

If you are still out travelling, do you have a fridge running?

The voltages indicate your batteries are around the 75% SoC mark.

While not any problem, but this is a little bit lower than I would expect to see, if you are driving your D4 regularly.

[RobA]

Tim we got back from a week in the Flinders on Tuesday so the car has had plenty of work over that period. They are conditioned every couple of months using a RedArc Smart Charger as the D4 is the touring car so when back in town it doesn't get a lot of use so I just put the charger on and leave it. I tend to condition the Orbital and then the starting battery.

There is no current draw once back in town but we have a 50l Waeco in the back when touring

I have been watching my SOC with interest since the start of ownership and the only time I see 100% is immediately post charging. From there they drop to 12.70-12.5 quickly

Rob

[drivesafe]

Rob, something is not quite right with your system as those measurement are actually closer to 70% SoC.

You have lost about 40+ Ampere Hours of battery capacity in a very short time.

How much driving have you done since you got back and how long was your last drive before you took the latest measurements?

Also see if you can take a measurement with the motor running.

If you have not had this low voltage before, it may be because the BMS is carrying out a battery condition test and if this is so, don't be to surprised if you get down to 12.2v with the motor running.

[RobA]

Tim thanks and helpful feedback. Moved the car out of the garage to clean it then back again yesterday, rather grubby after the Flinders. That was all the engine time so readings this morning at cold are; Orbital 12.14 and Starter 12.18.

Engine on and readings are; Orbital 14.33 and Starter 14.40. This seems to indicate either a slow current draw from somewhere or poor battery condition??

Regards

Rob

[drivesafe]

Hi Rob and that a bit more than a slow current draw, it is quite a large one.

Can I make a suggestion, if you are not going to be using your D4 for a few days.

Can you leave the batteries connected via the USI-160 and fully charge both batteries at the same time.

Do not worry about a FLOAT charge cycle, just disconnect the charger once you find it has gone into FLOAT mode.

Then after charging the batteries, go into the cab and switch the switch on the USI-160 In-Cab module towards the LED.

This will put the isolator in IGNITION mode and the isolator will cut-out at 12.7v, separating the two batteries.

Then monitor the two batteries and see if one discharges fairly quickly.

This will help identify the area where the current draw is coming from.

[Meken]

Redback, we have the same combo of cars. My wife has the white VW Golf V 2.0 TDI and I get to drive it sometimes. I am 6' 2" and once I am in there it is a very comfortable sporty drive and is fantastic around town.
We sometimes go to Grafton or Maclean in it to blow out the weeds, but for a longer trip I am over-ruled and we go in the Disco due the comfort, sound system and my wife can look around and see more as she is 5' 1"


D4 & Mini Cooper S - rocket on roller skates