Alternator smarts - who knows the answer to this?

[GregMilner]

Afternoon folks, I've just bought a new Pioneer camper trailer fitted with a Redarc battery management system and a pair of 110Ah AGM batteries.

The manufacturer of a rival trailer was telling me last week that the L322 electrical system is set up in such a way that when the car's battery is fully charged, the alternator is backed off as a fuel-saving measure, in which case the batteries in the trailer might not be getting the charge they need via the Anderson plug to stay topped up.

When I'm towing the trailer I'll have the trailer's fridge running off the Redarc system, and I'll also be running an Engel in the car, and have another 100Ah deep cycle battery getting charged via the 12v socket in the cargo bay.

Anybody have some bright ideas/experience in this area? Graeme, you're a whizz on this stuff?

[CSBrisie]

Greg, is there also an isolator in the car (for the battery / fridge set up)? If so is it a redarc or Traxide? I think either would solve your problem (Tim from Traxide would confirm) but my understanding is with the latest DBS's you can achieve all of what you plan without any alternator issues. No doubt Tim or Graeme will jump on board with more details....
cheers

[GregMilner]

Hi Chris, I don't have a fixed second battery, it's a portable Engel battery box with its own battery management system, I just load it into the car when we go camping, and plug it into the 12v outlet in the cargo bay, and run the Engel off it when out of the car.
There's an isolator switch on the battery box though.

[justinc]

Hi Greg i certainly would be careful trying to achieve a decent charge rate to ANY battery using the 12v outlet in the rear. My understanding is that it is rated to only 20 or so amps and is designed only to run appliances like a fridge or similar. And you will require an anderson plug at the rear from an isolator with xircuit breakers to charge the 2 110ah batteries in the camper. If they have wired it up using the 20a wire in the hitch plug then you are in trouble. The volt drop will be horrendous

Jc

[Blknight.aus]

Hi Chris, I don't have a fixed second battery, it's a portable Engel battery box with its own battery management system, I just load it into the car when we go camping, and plug it into the 12v outlet in the cargo bay, and run the Engel off it when out of the car.
There's an isolator switch on the battery box though.

It'll charge just fine BUT... its going to be very slow at charging especially if you have the fridge hanging off of it while its trying to charge.

some of the battery tank systems have a dedicated socket for limited charge current (cig/merit sockets) and fast charge ports (anderson or similar) that bypass the internal regulator and let the alternator deal with charging the battery.

[GregMilner]

No I don't run the Engel off the battery in the car, I plug the Engel into a 12V socket up front and charge the battery off the 12v socket in the cargo bay. I plug the trailer system into the Anderson plug under the rear bumper.

Hopefully all that stuff doesn't overload the in-car electrics.

[Graeme]

Mine quite happily maintains a 100Ah AGM aux battery in the vehicle and another 100Ah AGM in my van via a simple voltage sensitive relay and decent cables to the van's battery via a 50A circuit breaker and Anderson connectors. These vehicles have a major distribution cable from the battery in the front to the right rear panel so it's very easy to connect power at the rear.

All alternators reduce charge as the connected batteries near full charge to prevent over-charging.

[justinc]

I was concerned about the comment using the internal sockets to charge a 100ah battery😮 however if the cabling in it is up to it then go for it. Anderson plugs are mandatory for trailer or caravan battery charging!! The alternator is easily capable and will sense the extra load required when needed.

Even my old 120a alt in the county charges 3 x 120ah happily ☺

[Homestar]

The L322 has a 50 amp supply running to the back - you'll be fine. Alternators don't 'back off' when the batteries are fully charged, the batteries stop pulling current from the alternator. Whoever told you this doesn't understand alternators or batteries very well. I used to run twin 80ah batteries straight off the back power supply no dramas. Don't over complicate or overthink it. :)

[justinc]

50 amp capable outpu? Excellent news Gav thanks, i should know about this.. after all....��

Jc

[Graeme]

The MY10-12 have what looks to be a 100A supply to the back.

[GregMilner]

Thank you Graeme, thank you all. I should stop over-thunking it:-) I'm glad these cars have the smarts to handle all this stuff.

[Homestar]

50 amp capable outpu? Excellent news Gav thanks, i should know about this.. after all....��

Jc

Yep, check under the panel in the back on the drivers side - big thick wire running to a fuse panel - there are several decent fuses back there and depending on spec there may be a spare. There's heaps of room in there for wiring as well as a battery in the compartment below it - an optima yellow top fits. :)

In conjunction with Drivesafes L322 battery isolator he makes as a kit specifically for this vehicle you can't go wrong. :)

[GregMilner]

Okay, following on from my thread about batteries/alternators et all - you can tell I'm getting ready for a long drive - I want to fit a decent light bar to the front of the car as an anti national emblem device. Given that I don't have anything other than the plastic front bumper, has anyone actually done this and can advise on fitting? Maybe with brackets that poke through the grill?

[p38arover]

The L322 has a 50 amp supply running to the back - you'll be fine.

Oooh! Goodie! I was wondering how to get a heavy cable back there for the second battery.

Thanks Gav.

Later models (L405) have their batteries in the rear.

[Graeme]

I find that my ebay 50W HID (H7) high-beam fill-ins do a very good job for my night road driving with good distance and nearby lighting. The locating tabs on the globes needed to be bent forwards a little to raise the beam as LR had to point the halogens low to be even slightly useful.

[GregMilner]

So these HID fill ins use the existing light fixtures Graeme, not add-ons?

[BigJon]

Okay, following on from my thread about batteries/alternators et all - you can tell I'm getting ready for a long drive - I want to fit a decent light bar to the front of the car as an anti national emblem device. Given that I don't have anything other than the plastic front bumper, has anyone actually done this and can advise on fitting? Maybe with brackets that poke through the grill?

Don't bother with a light bar, get real lights. I am pretty sure I did an install thread on mine.

Edit: I found my thread but all the pics are gone. If you want I can dig them up, or take some more.

[justinc]

Yep, check under the panel in the back on the drivers side - big thick wire running to a fuse panel - there are several decent fuses back there and depending on spec there may be a spare. There's heaps of room in there for wiring as well as a battery in the compartment below it - an optima yellow top fits. :)

In conjunction with Drivesafes L322 battery isolator he makes as a kit specifically for this vehicle you can't go wrong. :)

😕 Haven't had time to look into many of the useful nooks and crannies at all yet exceptfor the lhs and spare wheel well for water leaks. None to report even after several heavy drenchings so thats a plus. Thanks for the info ☺.

Jc ☺

[Graeme]

So these HID fill ins use the existing light fixtures Graeme, not add-ons?Yes. The ballasts take their power directly from the original high beam globe connectors and a hole has to be drilled in the access covers for the wires and grommet as the ballasts are located externally. I already had spare large 50W ballasts (nothing special about them) so just bought a pair of 4300K 50W H7 globes.

I would have liked to remove the driver's headlight assembly to make fitting the globe easier due to lack of access behind but even with the grille removed I couldn't free the assembly from behind the bumper. However I have since discovered that removing the air-box is simple so could do that if better access is needed. Don't forget to bend the HID globe's tab forward about 45 degrees to angle the globe to raise the beam.

The conversion dramatically improves the overall light output of the standard headlight assemblies, making the bi-xenons the lesser lights.

[p38arover]

Edit: I found my thread but all the pics are gone. If you want I can dig them up, or take some more.

I had a look and they are on Imageshack so it's probably that they have changed the pic's location so the URL in your post no longer works. If you find them on ImageShack, PM me the new URLs and I'll edit your thread. Almost certainly any of your old threads with pics will have suffered the same fate. It's quite common, e.g., see your post at http://www.aulro.com/afvb/l322-range-rover/170820-2007-tdv8-l322-post1910949.html#post1910949

[BigJon]

I doubt I could find them again, I wouldn't even know how to go about looking.

I found where they used to be, but imageshack is now a paid hosting site, which I am not prepared to do. So they are effectively gone permanently.

[Blade74]

There has to be some kind of alternator smarts as when you get a new battery they recommend resetting your alternator(computer) for a new battery. I did it from my Gap tool. There's definitely a setting in the gap tool for it.

[Blade74]

I have the dual battery kit from drive safe with the Anderson plug.
It works well!!!