Watts. Sorry. Electrickery confuses me.Quote:
Originally Posted by drivesafe
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Watts. Sorry. Electrickery confuses me.Quote:
Originally Posted by drivesafe
I popped into Jaycar during the week and purchased one of those cigarette lighter battery meters. Put it in my Holden Rodeo and when turning the ignition I was getting a voltage of 12.6/ 12.7 and when the car was running 13.9 to 14.2.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kidbeen
So then I transferred it to the Defender and as previous posts tells you I have just finishing charging both batteries with my Projecta. On the starter battery the Redarc solenoid LED light glowed for five days after. When I turned the ignition on the defender it showed a reading of 11.5. Is there an explanation of why it could be reading so low at the cigarette lighter when the battery is fully charged? When running it showed 13.8 to 14.
The readings on the Rodeo look to be "Spot On" Not so much on the Defender.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kidbeen
I put one of these units on my Wife's Hilux and got a reading of 10.5v so I checked the acid levels in then battery and I could see the plates in a couple of the cells it was that low, I topped the battery up with distilled water and the voltage came up to 11.8v after a 100k run at highway speeds (13.8v-14v when running) So it looks like I am up for a new battery for her truck.
My D2a reads 12.7v before start up and 14v when running initially which drops to 13.5 after a while So I think I am safe for a while there.
It just shows that there is another load on the cigarette lighter circuit. Battery voltage should be measured at the battery, so a "fix" is to wire a separate socket and fuse directly from the battery to the dash. There's always a use for an extra socket anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kidbeen
Rodeo sounds fully charged, but not the Defender's starting battery. As Trout said, check the levels in the cells. Might be up for a new battery if it doesn't improve.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kidbeen
That's what I was thinking, that there is a diversion of power to somewhere else.Quote:
Originally Posted by bee utey
As I said previously, when I charged this battery the solenoid glowed for 5 days after so it was definitely fully charged. See the attached which I pulled up from a Redarc forum.
But I will also have look at the battery cells again as others have suggested.
Today I had access to a multimeter. The starter battery measured 12.51v and the auxilliary also measured 12.51v and because I had been on a 300k trip over the weekend the LED on the Redarc thingo was still glowing. Then I turned the ignition on and the cigarette lighter battery meter measured the starter battery at 11.7v. So somewhere between the battery and the cigarette lighter there is a 0.81v diversion of current. All very interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by bee utey
No, there is a 0.81 voltage drop. That will be caused by either high resistance in that circuit from the fuse box and/or something is drawing current.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kidbeen
The meter will be high impedance so it will not load the cigarette lighter feed. However, there maybe other items that draw current.
You need to check the voltage at the fuse for that circuit. The voltage drop could be between the battery and the fuse.
It's all to do with Ohm's Law.