RedArc BCDC help (1 Viewer)

[Markuson]

Any chance you have an ODB II scanner plugged in? That alone has led to some low battery situations in my truck during periods when I haven't driven for a bit.

+1 to what @indycole said.
OBD2 being plugged in gets power sent to it when truck is off and it can be significant. I’ve tried bluetooth veraions whose plug-in literally gets hot to the touch if lwft plugged it. Thats a nasty power pull.

Even on my simple obd2 that I do leave plugged in…for pesky evap codes…I added a seperate extension that has a manual in-line on/off switch just to prevent it from sucking power like that.

 

[nor_cal_cyclist]

Anyone know why the LiFePO4 batteries are not recommended for engine bay installs with the RedArc 1240D? After chatting with @TRAIL TAILOR, was thinking of swapping my Aux for one and replacing the main battery with an Odyssey.

Thanks for any help/input.

 

[catastrofe]

Anyone know why the LiFePO4 batteries are not recommended for engine bay installs with the RedArc 1240D? After chatting with @TRAIL TAILOR, was thinking of swapping my Aux for one and replacing the main battery with an Odyssey.

Thanks for any help/input.

Heat will kill the battery prematurely. I mounted mine in the rear, and even though Redarc suggests mounting the battery close to the BCDC, it works just fine.

 

[82SC]

Yes supposedly Li Batteries are more heat sensitive.
Would be good to get some real world data as there are quite a few Li setups under hood floating around on YouTube in the OZ land cruiser world.
I wonder if it shortens it by 10% or 30%
I think a small loss of battery life would be worth the convenience of fitting it under the hood.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Anyone know why the LiFePO4 batteries are not recommended for engine bay installs with the RedArc 1240D? After chatting with @TRAIL TAILOR, was thinking of swapping my Aux for one and replacing the main battery with an Odyssey.

Thanks for any help/input.

Home - Braille Battery

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braillebattery.com

 

[tbisaacs]

@TonyP ran a lithium secondary in the engine bay.

 

[TeCKis300]

Anyone know why the LiFePO4 batteries are not recommended for engine bay installs with the RedArc 1240D? After chatting with @TRAIL TAILOR, was thinking of swapping my Aux for one and replacing the main battery with an Odyssey.

Thanks for any help/input.

For the main starter battery, I would highly recommend sticking to flooded lead acid if you want to avoid issues down the road. Couple main reasons: 1) alternator charge profile and temperature compensation is setup for flooded lead acid 2) tolerates underheat the best. Using any other chemistry in this position will lead to a prematurely shortened life. There are some high quality sealed FLA batts (Deka) that have AGM like qualities that would work well in this position.

For the aux position, you have more choices as the BCDC has selectable charge profiles for various chemistries. That said, many chemistries still don't tolerate underhood temps well, which can still lead to shorter useful life. Including SLA (e.g. AGMs), especially if you live in particularly hot climates and use your car on long off-road trips where heat really gets a chance to build up. It'll still work great the first several yrs, but may not last as long.

Funny thing if you look at Braille batteries FAQ

 

[borfoo3]

Not a solution, but are your dual batteries set up to self jump? If not, that’s easy to do, and it would allow you to have a backup starting setup at the push of a button to link them.

Side question: What are you running with your Redarc BCDC for self jump? Any options out there besides their SBI 212 solenoid?

 

[CharlieS]

I would say that you could run any 12v (high amperage) starter solenoid.

I started out with a Redarc SBI, but took off the red “smart” module.

It is basically a big relay. You attach heavy gauge fused wires from each battery to the large posts on the solenoid. You ground one of the small posts, and add a momentary switched 12v lead to the other small post (I used my Switch-Pros, but any momentary switch would work). When you press the switch, it engages the solenoid and connects the two batteries.

In my opinion the SBI is kind of a waste of money if you aren’t using it for battery isolation. I use a Redarc BCDC for battery isolation and charging.

Once you remove the “smart” module, the SBI looks like this solenoid:

Cummins Marine Magnetic Switch / Starter Solenoid

Marine Magnetic Switch / Starter Solenoid

www.sbmar.com

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Side question: What are you running with your Redarc BCDC for self jump? Any options out there besides their SBI 212 solenoid?

I'm using jumper cables.

 

[MCtree]

Hi Guys, Mark Bruce from REDARC here. The BCDC's when wired in your LC200's need not necessarily have the blue ignition wire connected, as stated above your alternators are temperature compensating. When in standby mode, the BCDC 'A' profile light should be flashing, as our product monitors the voltage in the main battery. When we see this main battery voltage rise above 13.2V, we deem this as the engine has started and the alternator is now providing power. The BCDC turns on and the profile 'A' light is now on solid, indicating the BCDC is charging. Now whilst the main battery voltage remains above 12.7Volts, we'll continue to charge and maintain your auxiliary battery and when we sense this main battery voltage to fall below 12.7Volts, we deem this as the engine has turned off and the alternator is no longer supplying power and the BCDC will turn off. Often when you've turn your vehicle off, the BCDC will remain on continuing to maintain the auxiliary at approximately 13.3Volts however once the main battery falls below the 12.7Volts, shortly there after the BCDC will turn off, saving the start battery from over discharge. Current draw when the BCDC is idle, is very low - No Load Current <100mA and Standby Current <8mA. Thanks again guys, I hope this helps... Cheers ; )

Hello Mark,
So I recently had a BCDC installed and I notice that if I have my LC off and am drawing power from my aux battery, the “vehicle“ light on the BCDC stays lit even when my main battery has dropped to 12.4v. Does this mean they connected the blue wire and my BCDC is in low voltage mode? And is this a problem?

edit: after 2 hours of running a 100w light bulb off of the installed aux plugs, my starter battery is now at 12.3v (down from 12.77) and the aux is at 13.25 (it started at 13.27 2hours ago).

Also, while I aimed my question at Mark, I would appreciate any input from the rest of you knowledgeable Cruisers

 

[grinchy]

Hello Mark,
So I recently had a BCDC installed and I notice that if I have my LC off and am drawing power from my aux battery, the “vehicle“ light on the BCDC stays lit even when my main battery has dropped to 12.4v. Does this mean they connected the blue wire and my BCDC is in low voltage mode? And is this a problem?

edit: after 2 hours of running a 100w light bulb off of the installed aux plugs, my starter battery is now at 12.3v (down from 12.77) and the aux is at 13.25 (it started at 13.27 2hours ago).

Also, while I aimed my question at Mark, I would appreciate any input from the rest of you knowledgeable Cruisers

 

[MCtree]

Hi Grinchy,
Thanks for the response!

So the take-away from that video is that if you run an external charger, charge the aux batter first and then the starter, right?
I just watched it twice in a row to try to understand it.
But to be clear, I’m not trying to charge either my starter or the aux. To test the system I plugged a 300watt inverter into the aux cigarette lighter plug and then plugged a 100watt bulb (in a lamp) into that inverter. I ran it for 4 hours and only my starter battery lost any voltage (this was all with the engine off).
Moreover, the “vehicle” light on the BCDC never turned off. I finally stopped the test when my starter batter fell to 12.02V.

Though there is the end part of that video where he talks about the blue wire acting as a trigger if it’s attached to the ignition. I didn’t get that part. Maybe that’s what I should be taking away from that video?

 

[grinchy]

Sorry I don’t have a dual battery system. I remembered it came up in the video about flatting the starter battery.
Maybe you need a battery isolator?

 

[CharlieS]

Hi Grinchy,
Thanks for the response!

So the take-away from that video is that if you run an external charger, charge the aux batter first and then the starter, right?
I just watched it twice in a row to try to understand it.
But to be clear, I’m not trying to charge either my starter or the aux. To test the system I plugged a 300watt inverter into the aux cigarette lighter plug and then plugged a 100watt bulb (in a lamp) into that inverter. I ran it for 4 hours and only my starter battery lost any voltage (this was all with the engine off).
Moreover, the “vehicle” light on the BCDC never turned off. I finally stopped the test when my starter batter fell to 12.02V.

Though there is the end part of that video where he talks about the blue wire acting as a trigger if it’s attached to the ignition. I didn’t get that part. Maybe that’s what I should be taking away from that video?

I’m not sure I get what you are trying to test and how. The BCDC is for charging your auxiliary battery with the correct charging profile, and isolating the batteries from each other.

If the vehicle is off (not running), and your cigarette lighter plug is wired into your auxiliary (house) battery, not the factory circuit, it shouldn’t be drawing off your primary (starting) battery at all. The BCDC isolates the batteries when it senses that the vehicle is turned off.

The blue wire controls the vehicle input on trigger mode setting and has the following impact:

In our land cruisers, we have temperature compensating alternators, so the blue wire should be not connected. Can you visually verify this in your install?

 

[MCtree]

Maybe you need a battery isolator?

Ha! I think I have one! The Red Arc BCDC is doing a fine job isolating and protecting my aux battery while my starter gets run down!

@duggy - what say you? Duggy’s Garage installed this BCDC. Am I thinking about it wrong?

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I’m not sure I get what you are trying to test and how. The BCDC is for charging your auxiliary battery with the correct charging profile, and isolating the batteries from each other.

If the vehicle is off (not running), and your cigarette lighter plug is wired into your auxiliary (house) battery, not the factory circuit, it shouldn’t be drawing off your primary (starting) battery at all. The BCDC isolates the batteries when it senses that the vehicle is turned off.

View attachment 2702400

The blue wire controls the vehicle input on trigger mode setting and has the following impact:
View attachment 2702385

In our land cruisers, we have temperature compensating alternators, so the blue wire should be not connected. Can you visually verify this in your install?

My take is that while it isn't strictly required as the REDARC senses voltage it makes an assumption that nothing is altering the voltage like a charger. In other words putting a charger on the starter battery confuses the REDARC. Usually that's a great assumption.

The blue wire however says do not charge when there is no voltage on it. So, if you want to be able to charge your starter battery per the video and NOT charge your 2nd battery then connect the blue wire to IGN. Seems to me that connecting Blue to IGN will do no harm in any case no matter what kind of battery you have.

EDIT: forgot to add that I do NOT have the blue wire connected. If I want to put a charger on my starter battery I'll pull the fuse to the REDARC.

 

[CharlieS]

My take is that while it isn't strictly required as the REDARC senses voltage it makes an assumption that nothing is altering the voltage like a charger. In other words putting a charger on the starter battery confuses the REDARC. Usually that's a great assumption.

The blue wire however says do not charge when there is no voltage on it. So, if you want to be able to charge your starter battery per the video and NOT charge your 2nd battery then connect the blue wire to IGN. Seems to me that connecting Blue to IGN will do no harm in any case no matter what kind of battery you have.

EDIT: forgot to add that I do NOT have the blue wire connected. If I want to put a charger on my starter battery I'll pull the fuse to the REDARC.

I hear you and agree. I’m not responding to the video and the charging discussion, I’m exploring the issue MCtree is trying to diagnose. I do not have the blue wire connected on my BCDC and it works as designed.

 

[MCtree]

I’m not sure I get what you are trying to test and how.

Can you visually verify this in your install?

All,
My apologies. I feel like I have kind of hi-jacked this thread and this has led to confusion.

My situation:
On Tuesday Duggy’s garage here in Houston installed an Optima Red top (yellows were unavailable) group 35 as an Aux battery. They also installed a cigarette lighter-type plug in the far back passenger side where the jack is. And a Red Arc BCDC 1250D between the starter and Aux battery.

Before I relied on this set-up while off the beaten path, I wanted to test it at home. So I turned the engine off and plugged an inverter into the newly installed cigarette lighter in the back of my land cruiser. I plugged a small lamp with a 100w bulb into that inverter and turned it on. This is all with the engine off.
I recorded the voltage on both batteries for the next 4 hours.
Only the voltage in my starter battery dropped. It went from 12.77 down to 12.07v while the Aux battery dropped from 13.27 to 13.25.

Now taking CharlieS’s suggestion I have tried to see if the blue wire is connected. I think it is.
See the pics below.

I believe that red wire is spliced on to the blue wire coming out of the redarc.

Thoughts?

 

[CharlieS]

That doesn’t seem right to me.

I’d ask the guys at Duggy’s why they did this.

The Redarc installation manual says to leave the blue wire disconnected for vehicles with voltage sensing alternators. The Land Cruiser 200 has a voltage sensing alternator.

One more thought - I’d make sure they installed your rear cigarette lighter to the auxiliary battery. That add-a-fuse could just as easily be to feed 12v power to the new rear cigarette lighter circuit, which would also explain a draw on your primary battery.

You could easily pull that add-a-fuse out, replace it with the proper amp fuse for that location and retry your lightbulb test.

1250 Manual for reference:

https://www.redarc.com.au/Content/Images/uploaded/BCDC1250D%20Instruction%20Manual.pdf