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Battery/Charging Issue

mattman

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Ok, the cursed WH continues it's reign!

I have one of these stupid calcium batteries that's been run flat a couple of times... and now I have to charge on a weekly basis. I am using a charger rated for calcium batts and does all the pulse charging etc.

RACQ has done some basic testing of the alt and the output looks fine... but the battery simply does not charge in the car - only off the wall charger.

It is possible that the alt is simply not hooked up correctly, given that RACQ can take an ok looking reading (no idea where they took this reading from though) and the car's service mode dash thing reads the alt output fine.

I know these batt's have issues getting life back into them after being run flat, but that still doesn't explain to me why it will charge off the wall and not at all in the car.
 

mattman

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Ok - bit more.

Service mode on the dash gives me about 12.3V at idle, 13.5V under load (doesn't seem to go any higher)

less about 0.3V for aircon, and about 0.2V for lowbeams.
 

PRAVX II S

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Take a reading with a multi- meter on the battery while the car is running it should read 13-14 volts.
This mean the voltage from the alternator is there. But this does not mean the alternator is fine
you need to load test the alternator, this means put the alternator under big load and see if it can hold it
voltage and current supply. Did racq do this load test?
Also check if there is a thick wire from the alternator to the battery this gives charge to the battery.
If this is all fine then change your battery how old is it?
Make sure all the terminals are clean on the battery.
 

-Junior-

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Ok - bit more.

Service mode on the dash gives me about 12.3V at idle, 13.5V under load (doesn't seem to go any higher)

less about 0.3V for aircon, and about 0.2V for lowbeams.

With those voltages you will never completely recharge a calcium battery, they are too low.
An eco alt should be at mid to high 13's at idle with no load and come up to low to mid 14's as revs increase. Could just be a case of just needing a new reg.
If you can get make and model/part number of battery, then I will have a better chance of finding the correct voltages for it.
 

Tim Smtih

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just buy a v8 lol
How old is the battery? I've been told to expect three and a half years life out of "no maintenance" batteries.
 

mattman

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Battery is about 10 months old RACQ Unit ... about 450CCA from memory? Still under 2 year warranty but I don't really want to call them out and mess them around until I'm sure it's the battery.

Alt is a brand new Bosch, but couldn't tell you which one (will look tonight). I have vague memories of the sparky saying it was a whole new alt/reg unit... easier than just replacing part of it - no idea if this is accurate or makes sense though.
 

mattman

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Ok - Alt is the correct 14V 100A unit as per the bosch catalogue (apparently there's too many bosch parts in my car, and me not knowing what i'm looking at doesn't help :p)

Battery is marked simply as a "2176" which I assume is a common model number for RACQ/RACV/NRMA etc. It's actual ratings are 450CCA RC75
 
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-Junior-

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Alt is a brand new Bosch, but couldn't tell you which one (will look tonight). I have vague memories of the sparky saying it was a whole new alt/reg unit... easier than just replacing part of it - no idea if this is accurate or makes sense though.

Ok - bit more.

Service mode on the dash gives me about 12.3V at idle, 13.5V under load (doesn't seem to go any higher)

less about 0.3V for aircon, and about 0.2V for lowbeams.

If the alt is new and you are gatting those voltages, I would be checking the main harness on the alt to the batt. Was a common problem with them melting. Would be the reason for the low voltages.

As previously mentioned, it would be a good idea to check charge rate at the back of the alt and then at the batt to see if there is a drop.

If the batt has been run flat a few times and not reconditioned properly, the state of charge may be o.k. but the state of health is low the batt will not last long at all. These batts are not designed to be run flat like this and also reduces the batt life.
 

mattman

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Ok I didn't dive into the harness at the back of the alt, it's pretty well covered up so wasn't confident poking around too much.

Batt with car off - 12.95V
Car on warming up - ~14V
Car on with rad on - ~13.2V
Can on rad off but high beams on - ~12.5V

The dash readings did seem to be off a little... so won't trust those in future :p

Revs didn't seem to significantly change the readings either... but I only played with that when it was warming up so possibly it was under enough load already to get max output.
 

-Junior-

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How long was the car sitting for the 12.9 reading? Was this after running car or after a few hours of sitting?

Having 14 at idle is fine, it's the big drop when loads are applied and no increase in output with revs would be what concerns me.
What do you have in the way of stereo and lighting? (Amperage wise, Approx figures)

Something still does not make sense with those numbers.
If you can check the alt harness, may still be the prop.
 
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