charging and maintaining batteries

[hopeless wanderer]

Hi

I have what i imagine is a stupid question(s), I sadly don't get to drive my LC very much and the batteries have discharged to the point it wont start.

I've bought a fancy charger and would like to know the sequence of charging the batteries. I understand through reading through posts that the batteries will "share" the charge or at least try to equal each other.

Do i charge one then the other ?
Do i charge the drivers then the passengers ?
Or just charge one for a long enough time that they both end up charging ?

I have bought the following items:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MI9L6U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the socket i intend to fit into the dash so i can plug in the following solar panel to keep the batteries trickle charging by sticking the panes to the inside of the windscreen :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H36XXBW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Is there a prefered battery to connect to with the trickle charge ??

 

[Chris]

Mine were flat the other day..on the green auto. Totally flat. There is a parasitic drain there somewhere as they're new batteries which should last longer than a week!

I wondered this same thought, but here's what I do. I pull the positive off the driver's side battery and charge them separately. I think if you are topping up, you could do one side and it share the current. But when totally flat, you need all the boost the charger can give to pick the batter up off the floor as it were. Essentially, if you take something like a Halfords 4 amp charger and put it on a flat battery it will never charge it. Not from flat. I have a CTEK 10 amp charger and that's what you need to kick start the charging process.

With regards to the trickle charge, as with all things people say only connect stuff to the slave battery not the pass side one. You don't want to give the solar thing a burst of 24v when you start it up

 

[adrianr]

Chris have you done the mod to make windows and sunroof live all the time with a jumper replacing the replay in drivers footwell? Thats what was killing my batteries. i put relay back in and its fine again now.

 

[hopeless wanderer]

Hey Chris thanks

I was kinda hoping it was you that replied. In the long term i want to switch to a 12v starter to save the faffing on just like you did. I've followed the thread and it seems simple enough apart from knowing which starter to fit.
I live in new zealand now and make the odd trip back with a suitcase full of parts. Is there a definative list of doner vehicles for the 12v starter or a specific part number that identifies the right one?
There are so many LC80's in NZ its fantastic and loads of Hilux surf models too. This month ill be transporting a lift kit as my check in luggage

 

[Chris]

No mate, it has the standard window operation. I did tests yesterday and parked, with no alarm set or lights on or keys in - it's pulling a constant 0.02 amps on the dome fuse. That's all I could find. But 0.02 amps is significant though, right? That's err 20 milliamps. Which I think is nearly a litre? Or is it 2 pints.

I followed JW's build thread and just ordered the same starter. I don't actually know which is the right one. But there are 3 key things. 12v, number of teeth on the pinion and the length of throw on the shaft. These all have to be right. It's more than just the 12v bit.

 

[adrianr]

Sorry, Not sure if 2 pints is significant. electrickery and me are not yet best mates.

 

[Towpack]

20ma is bugger all. I get <35ma parked up an have no issues. I had a drain problem a few years back (intake heater relay) pulling over 300ma and that was causing starting issues after a week or so.

 

[Chris]

Cheers Tp that's good to know. Still don't know where it's going though. I tested all of the std blade fuses and that's the only draw. I need to do a test on the other points

 

[hopeless wanderer]

Hey Chris thanks

I was kinda hoping it was you that replied. In the long term i want to switch to a 12v starter to save the faffing on just like you did. I've followed the thread and it seems simple enough apart from knowing which starter to fit.
I live in new zealand now and make the odd trip back with a suitcase full of parts. Is there a definative list of doner vehicles for the 12v starter or a specific part number that identifies the right one?
There are so many LC80's in NZ its fantastic and loads of Hilux surf models too. This month ill be transporting a lift kit as my check in luggage

Cheers which one is JW's build ?

 

[Dave2000]

Classic draw is through the alternator diodes as one of the three start to fail, pull the cables off the alt Chris see if it helps.

regards

Dave

 

[ByronJ]

Cheers which one is JW's build ?

Try this link

http://www.landcruiserclub.net/foru...grey-80?p=335629&highlight=starter#post335629

 

[frank rabbets]

Test the batteries Chris. I had a new Bosh battery that only lasted 5 weeks.

 

[Chris]

First thing I did Frank. One bad battery would be unusual, but TWO? Nothing wrong with either of them.

Yes alternator is a classic route. I'd forgotten that. I can test that easy enough.

 

[hopeless wanderer]

Try this link

http://www.landcruiserclub.net/foru...grey-80?p=335629&highlight=starter#post335629

Brilliant ...on the list for my first run of mods

Cheers Chris

 

[Chris]

Thanks Byron.

 

[ByronJ]

Thanks Byron.

 

[Towpack]

Classic draw is through the alternator diodes as one of the three start to fail, pull the cables off the alt Chris see if it helps.

regards


Dave

Also the intake heater on the 24v (and probably the glow plugs on the 12v) have their own direct feed to the batteries via a large fusible link so a drain from here wouldn't show up by pulling fuses. Sound obvious but it threw me at first and couldn't understand why the drain was still there with all the fuses out and the alternator unplugged!

 

[Chris]

Heater? Errmm, let me see. Nope. That's in the bin somewhere along with the EGRs and the 24v start.

 

[Chris]

Checked mine tonight and on the pass battery there was a 5mA drain, but when I unplugged the alternator, nothing changed. So I test each battery lead and it was coming from the 24v changeover connection not the alternator. Again 5 mA is small but added to the 2 mA it's starting to add up. It went flat over a little more than a week. On a daily basis you cant tell there's been any loss at all. Need to look at this further.

 

[Dave2000]

'Unplugged' the alternator. Chris try unbolting the main charge lead, the diode pack may be losing the mA through that. I have felt alternators getting warm when drawing enough amperage to flatten batteries, removing the charge lead stopped the drain and the alternator cooled off. This was probably pulling around 2 - 3 amps but worth trying in times of desperation?

regard

Dave