toyotaspeed90
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Re: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
Well for now the rig is back home... this is all stuff I plan to look into and taking the suggestions seriously... sounds like a new converter might be the best bet. Right now.... the focus is on the FJ40 (1970 / partially 1976 Toyota Landcruiser)500Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
ksg5000 wrote: When you say your battery reads "Good" what meter are you using. The battery meter that came with your rig is practically worthless and if your using that as a basis for your concern then stop. Further - unless your converter has been changed/upgraded you likely have an old Magnatek which are lousy - slow to charge batteries. Also - what type of battery did you install - your rig probably came with a type 24 battery which is pretty small and good for about 3 or 4 days of dry camping. Not sure - but it's possible that things are working as designed. I am using the in-'home' meter that registers whether the battery is good.... I was under the assumption it put a load on the battery to determine status... now I'm guessing it's based on voltage (which on a deep cell may not change much until nearly drained). I was in the middle of the woods and only had minimal tools... no battery tester on hand. Yes, I replaced it with another 24M as there isn't a lot of room. guessing, yes, the convertor is original. 4-5 days of 'dry' camping is what I'm guessing we did... with that said 28 hours is a LOT less time than 4-5 days..... and of course this means chasing down the specific issue(s) with this motorhome. May end up adding a 2nd or 3rd battery in the kitchennete to allow for sustained useage.487Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
So - I'm a little frustrated with the motorhome at the time being (just in terms of battery power). ((As a side note I'm extremely pleased with the reliability it gave us.... sitting in long traffic due to the bridge collapse, driving freely down the highway, driving up and down a mountain pass all while towing a somewhat heavy 4x4 vehicle)). Brand new deep cell installed last Wednesday - it was tested as being in great shape, vehicle was plugged in all night Thursday. Filled the LPG tank around noon on Friday. By Saturday night the battery was low. We weren't running the furnace and lights were only on sporatically and never for any long duration. Ran the generator (was able to get it started by using the emergency start button for the reverse intention... IE started the vehicle, hit the switch and had someone start the generator) for about an hour - the battery upon shutting off showed as "Good". Sunday I got back from wheeling at about 7pm and was told mid-day the battery died and they couldn't start the generator. Again I got the generator going, ran it for about an hour and all was well. Driving home yesterday, Monday, and the house battery died again while going down the road. The only power we were taking was charging 1 phone and the fridge - which I'm assuming when running on LPG that the only electrics running in the fridge is the ignitor and the thermostats. Thoughts?485Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
So.... as it turns out.... The 2nd solenoid has nothing to do with charging.... I pulled the starting battery and found the nasty original wiring.... there was 1 cable that connects the starting battery to the isolator along with had 4 other wires tie off of it. The connections were bad and some of the wrapping put over the connections had disintegrated and may have been touching metal. I replaced that cable with a new 8ga cable with good ends on both.... the small wires that also ran to that were then tied to a new fuse and run to the battery connection separately. All of the connections at the isolator were replaced including another cable from the isolator to the solenoid. After doing this - the rig wouldn't stay running. There was a relay that someone installed aftermarket above the driver battery that I could hear keep clicking... so I started to investigate. Turns out there was a factory 4 wire connector that someone tied this relay into (as a switched source)... they then zip tied the connector to where the other wires hang off the end of the firewall.... however there wasn't protection on the wires.... time, heat and vibration against the zip tie caused 3" or so of each wire on the connector to disintegrate, arc to one another, melting the outer sheathing.... amazed it didn't cause more problems. Cut back the harness and fixed all of that. Turns out the rig wouldn't stay running because I missed one of the (many) connections at the starter solenoid for the battery (guessing it was the power that feeds the fuel pump / oil pressure switch system)... however had it run I wouldn't have found the other problem. After all of the wires & connections being replaced.... both batteries charge off the alternator. The 2nd solenoid is connected to a switch inside the vehicle that is labeled as "emergency start"... which feeds power to the starting battery from the deep cell battery when pushed. This wasn't previously working because of some of the bad connections. The reason it seemed this was part of the system is because when the solenoid is activated it then directly connects the deep cell to the starting battery.... With all of that fixed... the flashers still don't work. I haven't been able to identify where the brake switch / hazards are fed their 12V from.485Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
well.. I don't have it sorted out... I've figured out the "why is this happening"... I haven't figured out "what is causing that to be the problem" part yet.... it was raining pretty heavily and I, well... was done at that point. Will be back at it when I get home from work today.489Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
Actually it isn't the isolator, as I found out later. The solenoid isn't receiving a switched 12V.... if I supply 12v the solenoid switches on and all terminals on the isolator show a high 13v reading. I've got some wire chasing to do... I doubt it's something as nice and simple as a blown fuse.... none of the glass fuses in the fuse box are bad... there have been numerous pieces of wiring that have been done horribly, for instance: 3 wires for a ground... each have an eyelet... then they were bolted together with a 1" screw, dangling above the battery... enough tape to cover the eyelets but the screw was exposed - with the vibrations it actually tore through the sheathing of one of the grounds connected to it. Another was.... all within 10" of the battery..... eyelet, way oversized home wiring nut, fuse holder, way oversized home wiring nut, butt connector with 1/8" of wire sticking out on either end (stripped back too long). I've gone through and replaced all of the additional fuses someone else added with new wires. I've also gone through and replaced many of the shorter run wires along with many of the longer wire connections (due to corrosion). Today I plan to pull the starter battery out and start going through some of the wiring on that end to see what's actually going on. For the weekend (plan to head out mid afternoon tomorrow) if I haven't resolved the issue I will bypass it and use a switch with a relay (or something) to ensure both batteries charge while driving. I do appreciate the comments, though.309Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
Interesting to hear... the deep cycle is brand new (purchased and installed yesterday, was load tested at the battery shop yesterday and passed with flying colors). I'll go plug the system into the house. I've figured out the problem... haven't figured out why it's happening but that it is. The 12v switched signal for the solenoid isn't reading voltage when the key is set to on... when running if I jumper the solenoid switch to 12v then I get a high 13v reading (it's cold and this motorhome isn't cold blooded.... a similar issue as I don't think the electric choke is getting a 12v switched signal either) for both batteries.... There's an obvious non original relay under the hood... 3 of the 4 connections are mediocre at best (read, ugly wiring harness & someone who knows enough to get in trouble and not much else)... There's continuity between the relay switched 12v and the solenoid switched 12v.... so will do some wire chasing tomorrow to try and find the problem. Worst case scenario I can find a working 12V switched and run a new relay for the weekend. I appreciate the help & responses.310Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
ran out again.... pulled the wires from the deep cell (except the generator cable as I just changed that to a post connector and it's extremely tight)... also pulled the wire from the isolator that runs into the harness... continuity runs from the isolator wire to 2 similar sized wires that run to the deep cell, but not to the main 4ga cable that runs off the deep cell. With that wire pulled from the isolator there is no discernible voltage across the isolator. Once I reconnected that cable to the isolator (keeping the other 3 larger wires off the deep cell, but the generator cable still connected) there was voltage across all 3 posts of the isolator.310Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
Ran out into the rain to go check... The other side of the solenoid in which the isolator is connected to... only feeds to the starter battery. The only thing I can think of... is that that 3rd post of the isolator actually feeds to the deep cycle battery and that the isolator is toast...309Views0likes0CommentsBattery Isolator - doing exactly what it should shouldn't?
So this is a relatively new vehicle to me. The wiring is somewhat nightmare'ish... both from the factory and from what others have done. 1984 E350 Fleetwood Jamboree. 2 batteries, an isolator, and 2 solenoids. Battery on the passenger side appears to be mainly a starting battery for the engine. This is a standard battery for starting. It runs directly off to the starter solenoid and has 2 other wiring connectors on that same post as well (guessing mostly for the chasis needs). Battery on the drivers side, just replaced, seems to be mainly for the 'house' and the generator. This is a deep cycle battery. The alternator feeds directly into the isolator. The isolator is a 3 post. 1 wire feeds to a solenoid on the passenger side. The other feeds into a harness, with a quick look can't tell where too. The solenoid on the passenger side, on the same post of the solenoid that the isolator is connected to, feeds off to the drivers side battery post. The generator is wired directly to the deep cycle battery (driver side) When the engine is running, generator off: 14.4V is read at the center post of the isolator and at the starting battery. 12.28v is read at the other post of the isolator and at the deep cycle battery. Generator running, engine is of: 13.8v is read at the deep cycle battery 12.(something)v is read at the starting battery So - in looking online this isn't that atypical of a set up (solenoid and isolator)... I've read that there should be 14.4 on both sides when the engine is running.... but have also read that the purpose of the isolator is to keep the deep cycle separate from the starting battery in the event the deep cycle has voltage spikes and/or running it too low - so you can still start the engine. So, as the title says.... is my isolator doing exactly what it should be doing or exactly what it shouldn't be doing?7.1KViews0likes26Comments
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