Urgent help. Traxide system failure.

[rocket rod]

Hi all. In Pilbara at the moment and us160 isolator has cooked itself for some reason. Melted one of the terminals. I have disconnected the dual Battery system altogether as the optima appears to have a bulging top and maybe the cause of the problem.

What want know right now is can I connect the positive cable, that goes to the back of the car and powers the fridge, directly to the car battery? Also this would connect it to a trailer battery as well. Will it cause any faults on the D4? Only on wifi range until mid morning Saturday.

Thanks in advance.
Rod.

[drivesafe]

Hi Rod, can you measure the voltage of both batteries.

The Optima would not damage the USI-160 unless it has it has dropped a cell, which is unlikely, but not impossible, and you would need to have been driving for a long time.

Start by measuring the voltages and post them up here.

How old is the USI-160, and regardless of it’s age, it’s still under warranty.

[rocket rod]

Hi Rod, can you measure the voltage of both batteries.

The Optima would not damage the USI-160 unless it has it has dropped a cell, which is unlikely, but not impossible, and you would need to have been driving for a long time.

Start by measuring the voltages and post them up here.

How old is the USI-160, and regardless of it’s age, it’s still under warranty.

Hi Tim

Car 12.5
Optima 12.1
Trailer 12.5

Bought system from you about 2 years ago.

[drivesafe]

OK disconnect the negative ( - ) terminal from the Optima.

Then move the eye terminal from the burnt stud on the USI-160 and bolt it onto the good terminal on the USI-160, and then leave everything like that overnight.

First thing tomorrow morning, measure the battery voltages again and if the Optima is still around the 12v mark, just reconnect the Optima’s negative terminal and carryon with your trip, but keep checking the voltages.

If the Optima has dropped to 10.5v or lower, just leave the Optima’s negative terminal off and continue on your trip with the terminal off.

[rocket rod]

Ok Tim done that. From what you said I now have a positive from main Battery to bottom terminal on 160 then to positive on optima. Optima negative disconnected. Will check tomorrow.

Can you PM your mobile number just in case, given we are heading bush tomorrow?

Thanks for your late night help.

[drivesafe]

Hi Rod, and which ever way you end up with tomorrow, your trailer will still be power from your alternator, so should be good.

Just keep an eye on your battery voltage as there is no isolator to automatically protect your cranking battery.

Just phone me on the business number, 07 5569 2557.

I have tons of work on, so I will be here all weekend, if you need to call.

Will sort the USI-160 when you get home.

[rocket rod]

Thanks Tim.

[jon3950]

And that, gentlemen, is why you buy a Traxide.

Good on ya Tim.

Cheers,
Jon (on my 4th)

[LRD414]

Agreed Jon but I doubt very much I’ll be buying Optima again. I personally know two people with failed yellowtops and this one of Rod’s is the second on the forum in recent weeks. That’s four in the last ~3-4 months.

Scott

[jon3950]

Yeah, I’m losing faith in them. I’ve had a good run from them in the past, but this one doesn’t seem to be holding a charge like it should.

Trouble is find a replacement that will fit in the space I have. The height restrictions make it difficult in the D4 but its even worse in the Defender.

Cheers,
Jon

[LRD414]

Trouble is find a replacement that will fit in the space I have. The height restrictions make it difficult in the D4 but its even worse in the Defender.
I'm going to try this battery (SSB HVT-50D) next, which was recently suggested by Tombie.
60aH and all dimensions same or less than D34.
SSB DryCell HVT-50D AGM VRLA 12V 60Ah 580 CCA - Cyclic Use (http://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/shop/product/23630/hvt50d.html)

This SSB one only came to my attention after I replaced the D34 like-for-like after around 4 years.
It didn't fail but was not holding a charge very well and I didn't want to rely on it for a big trip.
Anyway, hopefully I get a few useful years but it seems about 2 is all I can expect from Optima.

Cheers,
Scott

[jon3950]

Thanks for the link. I’d seen Mike’s comments on these and had been thinking about it. At that price delivered it might be worth a try. Might even do it before the trip. Will you still be running the Optima?

Cheers,
Jon

[LRD414]

Will you still be running the Optima?
Yep because it's virtually brand new (~6 weeks) but I will be keeping an eye on it every day.

[incisor]

Does it only affect yellow tops?

[Vern]

Yeah, I’m losing faith in them. I’ve had a good run from them in the past, but this one doesn’t seem to be holding a charge like it should.

Trouble is find a replacement that will fit in the space I have. The height restrictions make it difficult in the D4 but its even worse in the Defender.

Cheers,
JonWhat about excide orbitals? I got 11 years out of mine. Have had optimas for about 5 years now, to me i don't think they are as good a battery.

[jon3950]

Well, in a moment of weakness last night (damn you, Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz) I bought the SSB. It should turn up tomorrow and I’ll fit it on the weekend.

My problem now is I’m trying very hard not to use the Defender as a daily driver (putting too many miles on it) so it doesn’t get charged daily. I’ve been finding the Optima was dropping it’s charge during the week and dragging the main battery down with it.

Prior to this though when touring and just running the fridge, if we didn’t run the car for a day it would drop below the cutout voltage.

We’ve got a reasonably long trip coming up in a few weeks, so we’ll see how it goes.

Cheers,
Jon

[VladTepes]

Supercharge batteries seem pretty good.

[LRD414]

Does it only affect yellow tops?
Unknown. The yellow one is very common amongst the D3/D4 crowd so failures/issues are becoming evident.

Scott

[Andrewsg]

On ya Tim!

[rocket rod]

Hi guys

I see there's been a flurry of conversations about my problem. I've only just made it back into civilisation today so I'll be doing more to diagnose problems soon. What I can say at the moment is that Tim has been fantastic in his response to my dilemma and kept me on the road for the rest of my trip. At the moment I don't know if the Optima yellow top failed so that is still to be confirmed.

Stay tuned.

Rod.

[jspyle]

I did, any update?

[geoffmc]

Hi Guys,

I agree 100% with the quality of Tim's equipment and how he supports them (and attest to his passion for his products and customers). My UCI160 was one of Tim's first and my D4 is the 4th vehicle its been in. Both my yellow tops are now almost 8 years old and still performing perfect (i rotate them as my aux every 6 months)

cheers
Geoff