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Batteries

G

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Hi Guys
I was looking in the engine bay today and as a result I have a question because I relise that I do not know a lot of what is in there and what it does.
There are two batteries why, when i buy bulbs they are 12v but two batteries =3D 24v so how does this work.
What is the right one for and what is the left one for, do they do seperate things.
If one of the batteries goes do I need to replace them both, how would I know which one is going.
Can I top up the fluid levels in the batteries with tap water. Thanks for your time and experience.
John c
92 HDJ 80 Ireland
 
John,
Whey you turn the ignition key to START, the two batteries are
connected in series.At all other times they are connected in parallel,
hence all on board equipment is rated 12V, except the starter motor,
which is 24V.
---
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80
On Thu, 2 Dec 2004 15:49:25 -0000, john byrne <[Email address removed]> wrote:
 
John - something to think about. If you need to get the cruiser jump
started or if you jump start someone's vehicle you should connect the
jump leads to the battery on the driver's side. My vehicle has a cover
fitted over the L/H side battery with instructions not to use it for
jump start purposes. I top up batteries with distilled water or I also
save the acid from old batteries before they go to the recyclers, for
this purpose.
Gareth Jones '97 1-HDFT Newport S.Wales.
 
john
I sent a reply to your similar post on 80s_cool, explaining how the 12v/24v system works, maybe it hasn't been posted so here it is again:
The diesel has a pretty powerful starter motor (around 2kW I think) which would take a horrendous current at 12v, so Toyota have a 12v / 24v system.
For all normal purposes the two batteries are connected in parallel, giving a conventional 12v car electrical system. But...
... When you turn the starter there is a big changeover relay (fat cylinder with four terminals on the top, on the front left hand side, between fusebox & motor) which swaps the batteries to series in order to provide 24v for starting. This totally isolates the left hand battery (as seen from the driver's seat) from the normal electrical system.
This isn't an issue unless you plan to start fiddling with the wiring in the engine compartment. Your front left battery should have fully shrouded terminals & warnings in both Japanese and English not to use it for jump-starting. The reason is that when you start the engine that battery ceases to be
-ve terminal : earth
+ve terminal : +12v
and instead becomes
-ve terminal : +12v
+ve terminal : +24v
Clearly any wiring connected to this battery must take this change into account. Best advice: leave it well alone unless you know exactly what you are doing!
Regarding replacement: the book says that when two batteries are connected in parallel a bad one can draw down a good one. However I had two bad cells in one battery, and the other was fine with no charging/discharging problems; so either the book is wrong, or it had only gone bad shortly beforehand.
Having said that I replaced both to be on the safe side, and I'd advise you to do the same if you think it is necessary. Also the book says that the two batteries should be as near identical as possible, so I'd get two of the same type and Amp-hour rating.
For topping up batteries ALWAYS use distilled or de-ionised water. You can buy it from any garage, and ?1 will get you enough to last for ages. The reason is that the other chemicals in tap water (varies depending on the geology your water supply came through) can gum up your battery and/or react with the acid in there.
If you are worried about your battery status you can test the cells with a hygrometer. This is a squeezy bulb on the end of an enlarged test-tube that allows you to suck up some acid. There is a float inside that will tell you the specific gravity (roughly density) of your battery acid, and hence its health. If you drip any acid on paintwork wash it off immediately, likewise if you get any on your clothes rinse it out asap.
Easier by far to pop into any tyre place or garage and they will do it for you. They can also check the battery capacity by doing a discharge test under load.
Christopher Bell
Devon, UK
1996 1HD-FT
>
>
> Hi GuysI was looking in the engine bay today and as a result I have a question because I relise that I do not know a lot of what is in there and what it doe
 
On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 16:34:49 +0000, Christopher Bell
<[Email address removed]> wrote:
> This isn't an issue unless you plan to start fiddling with the wiring in the
> engine compartment. Your front left battery should have fully shrouded
> terminals & warnings in both Japanese and English not to use it for
> jump-starting. The reason is that when you start the engine that battery
> ceases to be
>
> -ve terminal : earth
> +ve terminal : +12v
>
> and instead becomes
>
> -ve terminal : +12v
> +ve terminal : +24v
>
> Clearly any wiring connected to this battery must take this change into
> account. Best advice: leave it well alone unless you know exactly what you
> are doing!
Hello Christopher,
Where you connect the single extra battery doesn't matter, except that
if you accidentally short to bodywork the jump lead attached to the
driver's side battery negative post, you will actually short circuit
that battery.
I've drawn a small diagram to illlustrate the point, but I'm not sure
if sending attachments with the post is possible. Let's see.
--
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80
 
Had flat batteries a while back and had the AA out who said the batteries were pretty much done for but that decent charge was coming through from the alternator. Bought 2 new Optimas (Red and Yellow) about 4 months ago. For the last 6 weeks I've only been taking it out at weekends (reasonable journies). Last Saturday went to start it and the batteries were completely flat. Nothing had been left on although the alarm was on, digital clock display and a couple of the roof-spot buttons have lights on them that seem permanently on. Duff batteries? Wouldn't have thought it should go flat as a pancake in a week. Your thoughts are appreciated gentlemen.
Graham Naismith
Surrey, UK
www.drive-to-oz.com
2001 HDJ100 4.2l TDA GX Patriot Roof Rack/Safari Snorkel, Long Range Fuel Tank/BFG A/T Tyres/ARB Bullbars/Old Man Emu Raised Suspension etc
 
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Graham
There is no easy fix for this I'm afraid.
You have to take the +ve wire off the battery and put an ammeter between the battery and the lead.
With the doors shut and the key out this will give you a reading of the current the bats are giving out.
All you do then is start pulling fuses until you find out where the main current drain is going.
This narrows down the issue but then you have to start checking that circuit, whatever it may, be to find the problem.
I had the same problem as you a while back and after a lot of searching it was a short/melted wire in a pod above the rear
view mirror where mine has a compass/altimeter etc.
From: Graham Naismith
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 11:21 AM
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: [ELCO] Batteries
Had flat batteries a while back and had the AA out who said the batteries were pretty much done for but that decent charge was coming through from the alternator. Bought 2 new Optimas (Red and Yellow) about 4 months ago. For the last 6 weeks I've only been taking it out at weekends (reasonable journies). Last Saturday went to start it and the batteries were completely flat. Nothing had been left on although the alarm was on, digital clock display and a couple of the roof-spot buttons have lights on them that seem permanently on. Duff batteries? Wouldn't have thought it should go flat as a pancake in a week. Your thoughts are appreciated gentlemen.
Graham Naismith
Surrey, UK
www.drive-to-oz.com
2001 HDJ100 4.2l TDA GX Patriot Roof Rack/Safari Snorkel, Long Range Fuel Tank/BFG A/T Tyres/ARB Bullbars/Old Man Emu Raised Suspension etc
 
graham

I had the same problem. My issue was from the National Luna split battery system. I replaced several batteries because of this issue.


From: [Email address removed]
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: [ELCO] Batteries
Date: Sat=2C 14 Nov 2009 11:21:43 +0000
Had flat batteries a while back and had the AA out who said the batteries were pretty much done for but that decent charge was coming through from the alternator. Bought 2 new Optimas (Red and Yellow) about 4 months ago. For the last 6 weeks I've only been taking it out at weekends (reasonable journies). Last Saturday went to start it and the batteries were completely flat. Nothing had been left on although the alarm was on=2C digital clock display and a couple of the roof-spot buttons have lights on them that seem permanently on. Duff batteries? Wouldn't have thought it should go flat as a pancake in a week. Your thoughts are appreciated gentlemen.

Graham Naismith
Surrey=2C UK
www.drive-to-oz.com
2001 HDJ100 4.2l TDA GX Patriot Roof Rack/Safari Snorkel=2C Long Range Fuel Tank/BFG A/T Tyres/ARB Bullbars/Old Man Emu Raised Suspension etc

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OK - will go down that route, painful as it is! Thx
Graham Naismith
Surrey, UK
www.drive-to-oz.com
2001 HDJ100 4.2l TDA GX Patriot Roof Rack/Safari Snorkel, Long Range Fuel Tank/BFG A/T Tyres/ARB Bullbars/Old Man Emu Raised Suspension etc
----- Original Message -----
From: Guns-N-Roses
To: [Email address removed]
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 11:36 AM
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Batteries
Graham
There is no easy fix for this I'm afraid.
You have to take the +ve wire off the battery and put an ammeter between the battery and the lead.
With the doors shut and the key out this will give you a reading of the current the bats are giving out.
All you do then is start pulling fuses until you find out where the main current drain is going.
This narrows down the issue but then you have to start checking that circuit, whatever it may, be to find the problem.
I had the same problem as you a while back and after a lot of searching it was a short/melted wire in a pod above the rear
view mirror where mine has a compass/altimeter etc.
From: Graham Naismith
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 11:21 AM
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: [ELCO] Batteries
Had flat batteries a while back and had the AA out who said the batteries were pretty much done for but that decent charge was coming through from the alternator. Bought 2 new Optimas (Red and Yellow) about 4 months ago. For the last 6 weeks I've only been taking it out at weekends (reasonable journies). Last Saturday went to start it and the batteries were completely flat. Nothing had been left on although the alarm was on, digital clock display and a couple of the roof-spot buttons have lights on them that seem permanently on. Duff batteries? Wouldn't have thought it should go flat as a pancake in a week. Your thoughts are appreciated gentlemen.
Graham Naismith
Surrey, UK
www.drive-to-oz.com
2001 HDJ100 4.2l TDA GX Patriot Roof Rack/Safari Snorkel, Long Range Fuel Tank/BFG A/T Tyres/ARB Bullbars/Old Man Emu Raised Suspension etc
 
Thanks for the response - so what exactly was the problem? And how would I know if I have a National Luna job?
Graham Naismith
Surrey, UK
www.drive-to-oz.com
2001 HDJ100 4.2l TDA GX Patriot Roof Rack/Safari Snorkel, Long Range Fuel Tank/BFG A/T Tyres/ARB Bullbars/Old Man Emu Raised Suspension etc
----- Original Message -----
From: karel stroebel
To: [Email address removed]
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 12:41 PM
Subject: RE: [ELCO] Batteries
graham

I had the same problem. My issue was from the National Luna split battery system. I replaced several batteries because of this issue.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [Email address removed]
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: [ELCO] Batteries
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:21:43 +0000
Had flat batteries a while back and had the AA out who said the batteries were pretty much done for but that decent charge was coming through from the alternator. Bought 2 new Optimas (Red and Yellow) about 4 months ago. For the last 6 weeks I've only been taking it out at weekends (reasonable journies). Last Saturday went to start it and the batteries were completely flat. Nothing had been left on although the alarm was on, digital clock display and a couple of the roof-spot buttons have lights on them that seem permanently on. Duff batteries? Wouldn't have thought it should go flat as a pancake in a week. Your thoughts are appreciated gentlemen.
Graham Naismith
Surrey, UK
www.drive-to-oz.com
2001 HDJ100 4.2l TDA GX Patriot Roof Rack/Safari Snorkel, Long Range Fuel Tank/BFG A/T Tyres/ARB Bullbars/Old Man Emu Raised Suspension etc
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