Late 2010 D40 Dual Battery System

[Old.Tony]

570CCA is over 550CCA so the battery JUST manages, but you really would have to check the current draw in yours - it might be as low as 400A. Krankin also tested a V8 petrol and it drew 340A if memory serves (Jim?).

The catalog I have doesn't indicate they're a hybrid, just a standard wet-cell lead acid battery that you fill with acid and run until it dies. Cheap(ish) and eminently replaceable. I gave the figures from the spec sheet.

Will the D31A fit underbonnet? Well, it's a slightly larger battery than normal and needs a 300mm tray to sit in, but there's nothing stopping you from putting the battery under bonnet.

ANY battery dislikes the heat that you'll find in the engine bay, but AGM batteries - and in particular, the spiral wound ones - will tolerate them better than your standard cranker, and the cranker does okay in there!

 

[maulbeagle]

ahh, good to know. I was under the impression that AGM and GEL batteries wouldn't tolerate the heat whereas standard crankers and deep cycles were OK with it.

Obviously i was wrong !

 

[Old.Tony]

Gel batteries won't. I hate gel batteries because they're so sensitive to voltage. If a bubble forms on the surface of a normal, flooded DC or AGM battery you've got no problem. Make a bubble form in a gel and it's the beginning of the end.

If you're going to go past the traditional flooded-cell deep cycle and shell some decent cash at a battery, then it pays to overlook the gel and go to the AGM.

 

[tizz007]

i just installed a dual battery set up in 550 2012 , has anyone had any problems with there system not charging,

 

[Old.Tony]

Tizz, it's possible that your alternator doesn't put out a constant 14+ volts - it might shut down when the cranking battery has charged. To deal with this, you need to get a special charger - I think Redarc makes one worth looking at but I can't recall the model number.

 

[tizz007]

will check it over the next few days , glad i came across this thread , as heading down south at the weekend, so if ive been reading it correct ,once the cranking is fully charged the voltage should drop..

 

[santa]

Green wire on altinator??

Hi all
Just read the posts about the alternator voltage changing.
I Have got a ctec dc dc charger that is also an isolator. if the voltage at the alternator goes below 12.7V the charger cuts out.

Is there any more info regarding the green wire , does it do anything else???
Is there any pics ??
Thanks

 

[Black Beautie]

Just wondering were you install the second battery?
Got any pictures?

 

[boostin_7]

Ive been keeping an eye of any updates made to the ctek dc-dc charges to accomodate the newer "smart" style alternators (similar to the 'LV' models redarc now make.
According to this ebay seller, if you wire in an external relay like in the description, it'll work just fine:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CTEK-D25...=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d45b404e5
Does this seems right? I kinda find it hard to believe just a relay could sort it out....

 

[Old.Tony]

Yes it works, but not for the obvious reason.

All the relay is doing is switching the solar panel off when the ignition is on, and passing power in to the D250S's solar input rather than the alternator input (which is where C-Tek recommend to connect smart alternators anyway).

It's just a clever way of allowing the solar panel to be connected as well, by wiring the relay in essentially backwards. Usually pin 30 is the input voltage and pin 87 and 87a are the outputs when the relay is energised through pins 85&86. In this case it's being used to select an input - it's clever.

 

[boostin_7]

ah ok, so by using the solar input on the ctek for the alternator it still lets the unit charge the battery once the smart alternator drops voltage....

Is this because the alternator input of the ctek is designed to be receiving a full load from the alternator & once the smart electronics kick in & drop alternator voltage, its no longer got the power to do what it designed for?
But the solar input is designed to still work well at lower voltages.....

 

[Old.Tony]

Pretty much. The solar input on the C-Tek is designed to provide decent output power even at reduced input levels (correct voltage just less amps - battery will still charge properly, just more slowly).

 

[Linebacker]

Interesting thread - I've just gotta work out whether my 2011 RX has the smart alternator or not....

So if I'm not using a solar panel I can forget the relay & wire the smart alternator straight into the solar input??

 

[Old.Tony]

Interesting thread - I've just gotta work out whether my 2011 RX has the smart alternator or not....

So if I'm not using a solar panel I can forget the relay & wire the smart alternator straight into the solar input??

Absolutely right.

 

[boostin_7]

So has anyone tested how much the ctek charges when the alternator is connected to the solar input?
Im guessing less than the 20amps.....

 

[oldmate45]

Just to allay any fears you guys may have. I am still running my alternator with the green wire disconnected. No fault codes and no problems. The car gets it regular, albeit expensive, services and no issues have cropped up at all. I didn't expect that it would and I am glad to hear that it has helped someone else out.

Cheers.

Foxy

Hi All,
First time poster. Lovin the forum so far, pickin up plenty of tips.
I installed an old 100Ah battery in the tub via 16mm2 cable and a redarc VSR (had one from an old rig), of course came across the little or no charge problem. Made sure all the negatives from anderson plug, brake controller, dual batt etc were all grounded at the chassis where the main battery is earthed, not old skool directly to the terminal!

I can see from this thread that Foxy had at least 18 months trouble free using the "green wire" mod. Was wondering if anyone has run into any dramas using this method, and is it still the green wire in this series of Spanish built?

I found on another forum that (I think it was) a Ford BT50 had the same style hall effect sensor on the negative terminal for sensing the cranking battery condition - their fix was to just disconnect it. So I thought I would give it a go..
Well the news from a quick 10 min trip on my way back from town is good. ScanGauge showed 14.4V on startup and dropped back to 14.1V (assuming because the car was already warmed up and had a decent run that the cranker was pretty well charged) where it sat rock solid for the rest of the trip home. ScanGauge showed no codes or any pending.
Just started the car again from cold-ish and again rock solid at 14.1/14.2V just after startup - so far so good and multimeter on terminals confirms the SG is pretty well on the money.
Any one used this method at all or know of any dramas?
I suspect its probably achieving the same effect of not giving the ECU any feedback from the battery/alternator so it just puts the alternator into old skool mode.
Is one way better than the other? Nissan are probably more likely to spot the unplugged harness - but you never know...
I don't want to go down the w@nky path of using a DC-DC charger and like the old VSR backup of being able to jumpstart of my aux if need be - not so critical in a manual but better than tryin to jumpstart in soft sand.

Love to hear any comments.
Cheers
Jas

 

[Old.Tony]

I'd be a little wary of trying to pump 500A through a 16mm2 cable. There should be a low-current (40A) circuit breaker or fuse on the run between the batteries anyway - which should preclude trying to draw cranking power through it (both ends of the cable should be fused).

I wouldn't be overly worried about Nissan spotting things. If their instructions specifically don't call for them to look at a particular thing, they overlook it.

Nice catch on the plug thoguh, makes the mod reversible. Can you post a pic of the plug in context (so, a close up and an overview with the location circled)?

 

[mike1303]

From what ive heard from a friend in redarc, If you have anything after 2011 You will have the smart alternator. If you have a 2011 model stx550 then you do as well, anything else under that is fine.

Mine is a 2011 St and i have a normal alternator

just thought id throw that out there,


Oh and theres a test you can do to find out if you do or don't, you'd have to Google that one though....

 

[Robski]

Hi all, sorry to hijack but I'm looking to put a redarc BCDC1225 or the Cteck equivalent in my 4WD to charge batteries and eventually control a solar panel or two. Will this work with a 2012/13 stx 550 Spain built? Im confused now which way to go with all the smart Alt talk..

Cheers Robski

 

[Old.Tony]

It will still work. Redarc sell a device specifically for the smart alternators, and the C-Tek D250S can be plugged in to the solar input (use a relay to have alternator-active when engine is running, solar active when engine off, I can whip you up a diagram if you need it).