First drive

[Coolerman]

Which model of Red Arc gizmo do you have? Hard to tell if it is the cause of your issue without knowing exactly what it does.

Ignoring the Red Arc device, since the internal regulator in the alternator is the only other thing that controls the voltage level in the truck, it has to be the source of the too high voltage. Since it only happens after a couple of hours driving, heat is probably causing a failure in the regulator.

Since the later FJ40's have the independent turn bulbs, we here in the USA have to use an electrical gizmo that converts the three light system to a two light system that our trailers use. Do your trailers have this same issue or do they have separate turn signals also? If the trailers are like ours, and you have the gizmo installed, it may have an issue.

Best I can do without more info...

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi Coolerman
Thank you for your reply.
Charging 15 Volt.
I will post the wire drawing of the redarc dual battery relay . ( will do this Friday )
The alternator uses an out side regular . ( a black box mounted to the fire wall )
I'm thinking this could be the problem. Could this happen?
I am not an auto sparky and I base this on common sense and logic only.

The main battery needs charging . The Redarc dual battery relay directs the flow of electricity 14 .5 volt to the main start battery.
After a period of time the main start battery reaches its maximum storage capacity ; just guessing 13 something volts .
The redarc dual battery regular then redirects the flow of electricity to the second battery . There is no second battery fitted .
The Toyota voltage regulator thinks the battery is flat and increases the voltage to get a response. The volt gauge now reads 15 volt.
To help fix the problem I turn on the headlights . This uses the stored energy from the start battery. The voltage drops on the start battery and the redarc relay now directs the flow of electricity back to the start battery. The volt gauge drops to 14 volt.

Could this be happening?
My second battery will be in the camper.
Do I need to fit a second battery in the forty series?
I thank you for your help.

Re the LED lights .
Strange problems and I want to play with is over the coming week end.
I will post my results.
Cheers Peter




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[hsumbal]

As Peter says. You gotta have the tubes.

Which raises an interesting issue because the manufacturer (B F Goodrich) of my tyres doesn't expect their tyres to hold tubes. Some years back I bought one of their tyres with a tiny split in the inside wall. This would be fine when run as tubeless (which presumably is why Goodrich never threw it in the reject pile). But any such inside-wall-splits will pinch a tube to make it leak (so now I inspect the inside walls of my tyres extremely closely before choosing whether or not to run them). Another thing to watch is that you don't leave any stickers inside the tyres and remove all traces of the glue used to place them there. It sounds hard to believe that this is necessary but believe me, stickers left in place WILL damage inner tubes and make them leak.

And the above is why some people run only those tyres that were made for holding tubes.... (I don't do this because tyre-cost is a big factor for me and I like the low-wear characteristics of radials which aren't usually made with inner-tubes in mind.)

PS. There are heavy rubber "liners" used to separate/protect tubes from having contact with the metal of the wheels themselves (which can develop sharp "rust shards" if they haven't been galvanised or had similar thorough protective treatment). Because these liners are heavy, they WILL result in wheel-balance-issues if they aren't located perfectly "true". So that's something else people need to be aware of if they're thinking of running splits.

[/QUOTE]

I am planing to run splits as I made a mistake in selecting 31s for my FJ which has a 1HZ H 150 trany with 3.70s. If feels a bit on the lower side..

7.50 R16 will make my life on the highway a little better, I guess...and will look good too.

Thanks,

Cheers

 

[Coolerman]

From reading on the Redarc site (unless I am looking at the wrong thing) the dual battery switching works like this: It is wired so that the start battery's + terminal and the AUX battery's + terminal can be connected together through the relay contacts. The start battery's voltage is monitored. Once the starting battery's voltage reaches the set point, the Redarc does NOT switch the charging from one battery to another, it simply connects the AUX battery's + terminal, in parallel with the start battery's + terminal, so that BOTH batteries are now charging. So the Toyota regulator is ALWAYS connected to the start battery. That means your fault is still more than likely the regulator itself OR possibly a bad connection from the regulator to the alternator, ie the white/green wire, or maybe even the ground to the regulator or alternator.

 

[lostmarbles]

Hey Peter! You may be worrying about nothing.

Stick a multimeter across one of your batteries while your voltmeter is showing 15V.

I wouldn't be surprised if your new voltmeter isn't entirely accurate. And remember that 14.8V is an acceptable charging voltage (according to Exide on the sticker attached to my latest battery) and that's as close as damn-it to 15V.

I know this voltmeter of mine under-reads by as much as 1 volt because it shows only 11V when I have the ignition on without my engine running:

But the under-reading isn't even consistant because with the engine-running reading above, I think it is being pretty accurate.

So I get the impression that the manufacturer of my voltmeter deliberately made my needle-movement non-uniform to give me a better (ie a more exaggerated view) of the charging effect performed by my alternator. (Because most drivers aren't very educated on detail - I think Autometer weren't at all concerned about getting the readings accurate across the scale.)

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi Mr Coolerman
Hi Tom
You have given me places to look.

Holidays finish today so I can play Toyota tomorrow.

Mr Coolerman .
If I read your post correctly does this means I do not have to fit the second battery to the 40 series?
The deep cycle second battery can be mounted in the camper.
When I disconnect the camper all should be good?
Am I reading you correctly ?

I Thank you both for your input.
Cheers Peter


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[Coolerman]

Yes, you do NOT have to have the second battery in the FJ40, you can mount that in the camper. Be sure to run large wire from the Redarc to the + terminal on the camper battery to reduce voltage drop. Too much voltage drop will mean the camper battery will not get a full charge. Here is an excellent read about installing and charging camper battery systems: https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/

To monitor your camper battery properly buy, and learn to use, one of these: The TM-2030-RV is available here: http://www.australiansolar.com.au/

 

[Ken White]

Run an Anderson plug off the rear of the 40 using about 8mm wire from your battery

 

[Coolerman]

Excellent idea Ken. Easy to wire and disconnect once in camp.

The largest wire I have seen in a camper pigtail here in the states is 12ga. Too small for this task.

 

[Ken White]

That's the beauty of the Anderson plug. Simplicity at its best.

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi All
I have just read Coolerman link to fitting aux batteries and keeping them charged.
There is a lot in this article to digest and I will need to read this a few times .
After the first read I have more questions than answers.


Up date on my LED trailer light fault.
Turned out to be an earth fault in the trailer plug.
This earth fault was also linked to the earth on the aux fuel tank sender.

Today I will check alternator connections and measure voltages Re the 15 volt charge rate.

Went crabbing while on holiday.
Our catch

Cheers Peter

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[Bambi Girl]

Hi all
The Redarc wire diagram.
This matches my set up to the letter.
The main cable form the Redarc to the Anderson plug is rated at 100 amp.
However the camper is wired to a 12 pin plug.
I thought of changing the plug back to old school but decided to make an adapter lead.
Now I'm back on chasing the 15 volt problem.
A few more photos.
Why 2 Anderson Plugs
One plug is the 100amp lead to the Redarc
The other plug is to operate the 12 volt to the 3 way fridge. This supply turns off with the motor.
Cheers

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[Ken White]

Where did you get the crabs Pete.

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi all
Hi Coolermam
Hi Rudi
Over charging problem.
Started motor and set Tacko to 2000rpm.
Voltage 13.5 volt
Fuse link running very hot.
We're do I look.
Cheers

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[Bambi Girl]

Hi Ken
Muddies
I had an invite to Visit an out of the way Billabong an hours drive from Darwin.
This guy has it all. A hover craft to set the pots and a high powered boat to retrieve .
We got 16 out of 12 traps.
Beautiful
Cheers


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[dancar]

Peter,

Can you post a photo of the rear of your alternator? All wiring please.


Dan

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi Dan
I welcome your input.
Best photos I can do at 9.00 pm .
What bit do you want to take a close up of in the morning?
What ideas have you got to explain the smoking hot wire.
Wire only gets hot as RPM increases.
There is a lot of amps coming from somewhere .
Cheers Peter

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[dancar]

Peter,

Regarding your hot wire - is this your fusible link or another? I would suggest that the high current = hot wire, is doing some harm to the insulation. Once we locate the cause, I'd be replacing it.

Did you replace any wiring when you did your rebuild?

Do you have a current meter? Can you see what the draw is on the harness?

On your harness, I'd suggest that you have:

A bad earth, or a
Short circuit

Dan

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi Dan
Hi All
Strange problem seeing I have just driven the Forty from Brisbane to Sydney and return.
All the wire loom is OEM and in good condition .
During the build I stripped all the factory insulation checked the condition of each wire then re insulated .
To me it appears the Battery is flat and I'm getting a full charge hence the high amperage .
I wonder if it has ever charged properly since completing the build ? May be not.
I have just refitted the old Toyota voltage reg .
The voltage is stable at 13.2 volt and the fuse able link is warm . Not hot.
On the after market reg it appears the common arm on the heaver duty relay has been getting hot.
I will have to re read Rudi notes on gauges and clusters .
I will now check my earths
A photo of the hot common arm.
Another mystery is we're does this blue wire go. It is joined to the White and red trace wire.
My wire diagram does not have a white and red trace yet the OEM reg has a white and red trace wire.

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[bj40green]

I will have to re read Rudi notes on gauges and clusters .

I think you mean Voltage Regulator External in this thread: -► https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/voltage-regulator-ext-how-it-works.747718/
The coil of the regulating part can become pretty warm, almost too hot to touch but that's normal.
More interesting is how many amps is flowing from the alternator to the battery.
Do you have a DC (not AC) Amp clamp meter like this one?

Makes life so easy. No wires to disconnect , just clamp around the wire and read.

Another mystery is we're does this blue wire go.

That blue wire is for a capacitor aka condenser. This capacitor was used to filter out the noise from the switching contacts of the VR when listening to AM radio. Forget it for now or add a capacitor later if you need one.

You see the capacitor on the left side of the VR.

Rudi