Over charging.

[Ben Stratford]

When the load drops away the voltage goes up. The regulator should disconnect before this happens. A solid state one would keep the voltage stable so that the battery rises to almost meet it at which point little current flows. With the regulator functioning as it does it still pours charge in and will of left unchecked, boil the batteries, losing water as steam from the electrolyte and potentially buckling plates.

I cannot imagine things would not be improved with a solid state external regulator.

My alternatorhas sn internal VR. Is it possible to add another external one?

 

[StarCruiser]

My alternatorhas sn internal VR. Is it possible to add another external one?

No, but you could replace the internal one with a new one.

 

[Ben Stratford]

No, but you could replace the internal one with a new one.

Will visit my local Tech who rebuilt the alternator for some guidance. Failing that will swap it for my new alternator.
But will still carry my spare batteries in the boot!!

 

[StarCruiser]

Or talk to Mike at Robson and Francis. Regulators are not usually difficult to swap.

 

[Ben Stratford]

Is this a regulator?

 

[StarCruiser]

View attachment 138783 View attachment 138784 Is this a regulator?

Looks likely but not one I've seen before TBH.

 

[Ben Stratford]

Received a pair of new battery cables expertly made up for me by @StarCruiser. The quality is outstanding
Will post pics of them fitted soon.

 

[Rodger]

@Ben Stratford That looks more like some sort of relay to my untrained eye. Regulator should be held by 2 screws - base plate to firewall - and 6 short wires grouped to one connector. Couldn't find a photo but maybe the attached drawing may help. It has a black plastic top.

Hope that helps,
Regards,

 

[Ben Stratford]

Hi Roger,
Thanks for posting this.
What you show is indeed the external 24v VR which is employed with the earlier alternator - the one with the red sticker which is part number 27029-68130.
The other alternator in the above picture was for the later models and had an internal VR, this alternator with the blue sticker is part number 27040 - 68030.
So may be converting the wiring to accept the older alternator with an external VR if i cant get the internal vr for the later version.
I cant send the existing vr off for rebuild as i need to drive the car!!
Also planned is a dropper to take all direct 12v feeds off the near side battery so they are fed from the off side battery like everything else is - which you have done too. Might need a new fuse box.
Time and money will win out in the end.
Oh great, the washing machine has just blown up!!

 

[Ben Stratford]

View attachment 138801 Received a pair of new battery cables expertly made up for me by @StarCruiser. The quality is outstanding
Will post pics of them fitted soon.

Still await a new battery clamp so not quite finished, but they will then all be standardised to 13mm spanner to remove them. I will be mounting a spanner somewhere handy under the bonnet just in case

 

[StarCruiser]

Looks good Ben.

Couple of things, wouldn't be a bad idea to run some split ribbed flexi conduit round some of those smaller wires to give a bit of protection from chafing. The cross link cable even has it on the 80 but that cable has very tough insulation so it may not be necessary for that. The smaller wires coming from the + terminal in pic 2 would be better coming from ring terminals from the clamp bolt rather than the ones gripping the cable in the clamp tube, better still, there are small fuse boxes available that could be fed with one short larger cable. The main thing is that any cable smaller than the starter cable needs to be fused or fitted with a fusible link as close to the battery as possible. Lots of cars now have them fitted to the battery post clamp itself.

 

[Ben Stratford]

Looks good Ben.

Couple of things, wouldn't be a bad idea to run some split ribbed flexi conduit round some of those smaller wires to give a bit of protection from chafing. The cross link cable even has it on the 80 but that cable has very tough insulation so it may not be necessary for that. The smaller wires coming from the + terminal in pic 2 would be better coming from ring terminals from the clamp bolt rather than the ones gripping the cable in the clamp tube, better still, there are small fuse boxes available that could be fed with one short larger cable. The main thing is that any cable smaller than the starter cable needs to be fused or fitted with a fusible link as close to the battery as possible. Lots of cars now have them fitted to the battery post clamp itself.

Thanks Rich,
Once the new clamp arrives I will indeed tidy everything up and take your advice to fit a fuse before the new fuse box.
Cheers ben

 

[Ben Stratford]

I can now tidy things up and fit the final new battery clamp. Received the new Voltage Regulator from Robson & Francis so will fit that too.

 

[Ben Stratford]

All sorted with the bridging cable sheathed as recommended.


New internal voltage reg going in


Both batteries 12.7v prior to starting. After starting, measure 14.1 & 13.2. Alternator output 27.6V. So it all seems to be good. Will still carry spare batteries and all the tools until confidence justifies removing them.

 

[StarCruiser]

That looks nice and neat there Ben.

Was that 27.6v at just up off idle, about 1100 - 1500 rpm or just at idle? It's a good start but one battery at 13.2v is not going to get much charge. If you have a 12v Ctek charger it's well worth putting that onneach battery for 24 hrs or longer if you can. There may have been some sulphation of the plates gone on in one or another of the batteries.

Tell me, are there any 12v loads connected to one of the batteries only? If so that may be causingbthe imbalance.

 

[Ben Stratford]

This was measured at Idle Rich. The stereo is drawn of the low battery. It will be moved to the other side when my new dropper arrives. I dont have a ctek charger unfortunately. Will keep taking readings daily to see if anything changes

 

[StarCruiser]

The Cteks are well worth the money.

Try your alternator output up off idle and see what you get.

 

[Ben Stratford]

Alternator output remaines at 27.6 v at all rev levels rich. After a cruise around for an hour the batteries measured 14.45 and 13.30v with engine running

 

[StarCruiser]

Your batteries are (obviously) unequal, either due to loads taken from only one battery and/or damage/sulphation in one of the batteries.

Can you borrow a Ctek from someone?

 

[Ben Stratford]

Will make some enquiries Rich. If not would a dcdc charger do a sumilar job if i swapped it out and connected it like an aux battery.
Dcdc charging seems to run higher voltages?