- Thread starter
- #61
"Better head BACK..." you meant to say! 
You make Taos sound pretty perfect, by the way...
You make Taos sound pretty perfect, by the way...
Builds Workingman's Troopy - 1995 HZJ75 (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Tennessee Jed
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- 1995 hzj75 troopy vehicle tech
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Taos is far from perfect. But the scenery's pretty nice...
desmocruiser
SILVER Star
A lot of good thought into the system, there is a ton of AGM good/not good discussion out there.
I like your supplemental charging idea, I think that is one of the challenges to my dual battery AGM set up on my 80, if not driven frequently or run down to ~12 volts I need to supplement the charge of the AGM batteries (or disconnect during storage of a week or longer) to get a normal life expectancy from them.
- Thread starter
- #64
Headlight time. Can't say enough good things about the Koito headlight kit from Vintage Teq - it's complete and everything in it is heavy, which means it's good quality.
My original lights may not look that bad, and they did work in that dim yellow Toyota way, but they were highly crustaceous and couldn't be disassembled. So I got all new hardware for the Koito H4 semi sealed beams that came in the kit. Parts numbers:
The rear retaining ring. One side is available at multiple sources - I got it from the Toyota parts department. The other side is very very hard to find and finally got it from Partsouq after several false alarms. I can't remember which now, but it doesn't matter - your experience may be entirely different.
The chrome front rings aren't side specific.
Adjusting bolts, retaining screws that hold the chrome and rear rings together, and the plastic threaded body clips. Mine still worked great so I reused them and kept the new ones for spares. Also tension springs. It's a very elegant, simple design.
Shiny and new.
You have to hook the retaining springs first, then screw in the adjustment bolts.
My original lights may not look that bad, and they did work in that dim yellow Toyota way, but they were highly crustaceous and couldn't be disassembled. So I got all new hardware for the Koito H4 semi sealed beams that came in the kit. Parts numbers:
The rear retaining ring. One side is available at multiple sources - I got it from the Toyota parts department. The other side is very very hard to find and finally got it from Partsouq after several false alarms. I can't remember which now, but it doesn't matter - your experience may be entirely different.
The chrome front rings aren't side specific.
Adjusting bolts, retaining screws that hold the chrome and rear rings together, and the plastic threaded body clips. Mine still worked great so I reused them and kept the new ones for spares. Also tension springs. It's a very elegant, simple design.
Shiny and new.
You have to hook the retaining springs first, then screw in the adjustment bolts.
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- Thread starter
- #65
The harness has ample length - multiple folds have to be zip tied together after fitting.
Fused hot lead from the battery hot, ground lead to the body. Then two rubber booted female fittings that go to the LED bulbs. Two relays. All fuses included. There is an extra male 3 prong that I didn't understand initially but it mates to the ORIGINAL headlight harness where one of the original bulbs plugged in. This gives on/off and dim/bright control.
The bulbs simply slip into the back of the headlight - it's a slip fit with a spring loaded ball for some friction - you can adjust the vertical cut off quite precisely by rolling the bulb back and forth left and right inside the housing.
Very sharp horizontal cutoff.
Great, wide coverage with good horizon. Photos are about half of the intensity and coverage of the real thing.
The high beams are totally different - they combine to make a thick beam of light that really punches forward deep into the "tunnel" of dark on roads.
That photo doesn't do them justice - they're brighter than this looks.
Fused hot lead from the battery hot, ground lead to the body. Then two rubber booted female fittings that go to the LED bulbs. Two relays. All fuses included. There is an extra male 3 prong that I didn't understand initially but it mates to the ORIGINAL headlight harness where one of the original bulbs plugged in. This gives on/off and dim/bright control.
The bulbs simply slip into the back of the headlight - it's a slip fit with a spring loaded ball for some friction - you can adjust the vertical cut off quite precisely by rolling the bulb back and forth left and right inside the housing.
Very sharp horizontal cutoff.
Great, wide coverage with good horizon. Photos are about half of the intensity and coverage of the real thing.
The high beams are totally different - they combine to make a thick beam of light that really punches forward deep into the "tunnel" of dark on roads.
That photo doesn't do them justice - they're brighter than this looks.
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- Thread starter
- #66
New visors!! My heart soars like the hawk.
So, so nice. I'll have to always have sunglasses because these are too nice and clean to actually use. I should have left the plastic wrap on them like the Saudis do.
So, so nice. I'll have to always have sunglasses because these are too nice and clean to actually use. I should have left the plastic wrap on them like the Saudis do.
desmocruiser
SILVER Star
Perfect timing!
I plan to install my lights today!
Bring it up to Knoxville early tomorrow morning, we will have a few Cruisers at a big cars and coffee!
I plan to install my lights today!
Bring it up to Knoxville early tomorrow morning, we will have a few Cruisers at a big cars and coffee!
i have the Koito kit also, its a GREAT upgrade over the sealed beams as it is, and the ability to drop in LED modules is a plus for those who want that.
- Thread starter
- #69
Yeah super simple to drop one in if for some reason one quits on you. I don't think I actually pointed it out but my kit was the LED. I guess that's obvious from the white light.
Just one thought for you... I run a single AGM (Odyssey) in my Troopy and it's fed by the Solar Charge Controller. That is set to AGM and it provides a higher voltage... healthiest battery I have because practically every day it's been trickle charged in float mode.
With your solar panel, plus a configurable charge controller, you should be able to do AGM without a worry.
Seems you've got this sorted... but figured I'd chime in.
- Thread starter
- #71
Thanks Honger. Bit of a battery update. The rear/house battery is a 90 Ah flooded lead acid, to catch up. So for the past 2 weeks I've had zero trouble keeping it completely charged to the top with 2 100 watt solar panels, without a load, which isn't a big surprise.
So I put my 45 liter Whynter fridge in the back, about 1/3 full of bottled water. The first day I turned it on, the battery read 14.6 volts. In 1 second it dropped to about 12.9, and over a period of about 5 hours it fully chilled down to 32 - 34 degrees, leaving the battery at around 12.4 volts. This was in the afternoon/evening.
Next morning it was like 12.4. Next day, after bright sun all day, it was back up to like 13+ volts. I'll spare you the blow by blow but over a period of about a week, it got to the point where in the morning it was 12.3 or so, and it never got over about 12.7 after a day of sun. I know this is still full. When I would get home after dark, around 9pm, the battery would be at around 12.4 and looking forward to a night of running the fridge (in cool temps, granted, usually aboud 45 - 55 degrees) so at this point I unplugged it. A little bit lower every day. I feel like the panels couldn't *quite* keep up and if I kept running it every day, the charge would slowly keep dropping until we got down into the low 12's, high 11's. That's the next step in the experiment.
I know 12.6 is fully charged and I know lead acid batteries can take a beating. This is a good time to experiment actually, as the days are short, so if it'll run a week comfortably in November, it should scream during the summer. I think, for now, I'll keep this battery as is - for my meager needs (fridge, some basic LED lights) it's fine. I won't be trying to run a coffee maker or a 12v oven.
Next step will be a Redarc 12/25 BCDC charger. The cable is already there - it's 10ga - which for modest use is probably fine just going about 12' to the rear of the truck. 8 or 4 would be better, but it's fused so we'll see.
So I put my 45 liter Whynter fridge in the back, about 1/3 full of bottled water. The first day I turned it on, the battery read 14.6 volts. In 1 second it dropped to about 12.9, and over a period of about 5 hours it fully chilled down to 32 - 34 degrees, leaving the battery at around 12.4 volts. This was in the afternoon/evening.
Next morning it was like 12.4. Next day, after bright sun all day, it was back up to like 13+ volts. I'll spare you the blow by blow but over a period of about a week, it got to the point where in the morning it was 12.3 or so, and it never got over about 12.7 after a day of sun. I know this is still full. When I would get home after dark, around 9pm, the battery would be at around 12.4 and looking forward to a night of running the fridge (in cool temps, granted, usually aboud 45 - 55 degrees) so at this point I unplugged it. A little bit lower every day. I feel like the panels couldn't *quite* keep up and if I kept running it every day, the charge would slowly keep dropping until we got down into the low 12's, high 11's. That's the next step in the experiment.
I know 12.6 is fully charged and I know lead acid batteries can take a beating. This is a good time to experiment actually, as the days are short, so if it'll run a week comfortably in November, it should scream during the summer. I think, for now, I'll keep this battery as is - for my meager needs (fridge, some basic LED lights) it's fine. I won't be trying to run a coffee maker or a 12v oven.
Next step will be a Redarc 12/25 BCDC charger. The cable is already there - it's 10ga - which for modest use is probably fine just going about 12' to the rear of the truck. 8 or 4 would be better, but it's fused so we'll see.
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- Thread starter
- #72
The first thingv was to cut off this garbage.
- Thread starter
- #73
And replace it with a strong male female connection. The cigar plug never worked more than an hour before it vibrated itself loose.
- Thread starter
- #74
My patron saint.
10g is fine on a 12/25, doesn't matter if its modest or heavy use, that's what the 25 in the 12/25 means. If you had a 12/60 that would be different, but not for the reason most folks think.
Your eetup is good, stay on the path.
Your eetup is good, stay on the path.
- Thread starter
- #76
That's great - thanks for the vote of confidence. And you reminded me about the 25 part - I remember learning that now, haha.
What were your skies like? Overcast or mostly cloudy? Or bright sun each day?
For reference... my Engel 45L is fed by a single 100W and I run accessories off my single battery... and on sunny day's I'll only need an hour or so of bulk charging off the solar until it hits float charge at 14.7 (I think that's what I have it set at). Two 100W panels should easily be able to handle that fridge (granted I don't know the Whynter specs).
haha, yeah just setup for the max output of the charger your using, you'll most likely never actually see that but you want to set up for it, plus 3%.
on the flip side, even if you had a 12/60 and ran the 10g wire, hell lets do extremes, run a 20g wire, your still not going to blow up or melt a wire, you'll just miss out on the power you COULD have.
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i have an ARB50 and ran an 80 watt panel when i first got into this, it would extend the runtime while parked for a few days depending on sunlight, but it wasnt enough,,, 100 watts is enough to completely power indefinetly under good sun and the 200 Jed is running will give him a supply of cold beer to drink while he's ripping plywood with a table saw
- Thread starter
- #80
See, this is what I thought. Skies were bright sun, but I live in a little bit of a "hole" in the forest, and the sun doesn't hit the panels until about 9 and is off of them by around 4 or so, so limited full sun. Thing is, overcast days seem to charge just as well - had a very overcast day and it also charged what I would consider pretty well. But getting back to 14+ volts? Have not seen that.
The charge controller is a no name Chinese import with problematic connections (have had to reattach the cables several times) so there may be voltage drop issues. The instructions don't quite match the actual readouts on the screen. It's a lot like the original Renogy controller I had on my sailboat that melted - replaced with a big metal EPEVER that weighed a good 4 pounds I think.
I anticipate the Redarc will solve any issues that might be related to the charge controller, period. I will also try to see how much voltage is coming from the panels and how they're wired - series or parallel. While I'm checked out with this on batteries, frankly series/parallel on solar panels has always eluded me. If I have a dead panel I'll be on a search for a matching one because they fit perfectly into recesses welded into the roof rack, as shown in an earlier photo. I need to see if they fit Renogy panels, which have worked great for me in the past.
