P700 Charging Issues

[Reloder28]

My P700 has its auxiliary battery, the isolator, dual voltmeter, 40" LED light bar. When I crank up, my aux circuit does not power up until the charge system hits 13 volts. While underway, the light will dim/brighten. Watching the voltmeter, the voltage drops to 9.6 & the engine sort of shudders. Then it will act normal for a bit and the light comes back up to full brightness. It repeats this cycle every 1 minute or so over a 3/4 mile span.

Originally, I thought the distance was so short between camp & blind that the motor wasn't running long enough to keep the auxiliary battery properly charged. So, I put it on charge overnight at least once during a several day stay. Now, it is doing this weird cycling regardless. I spoke last year about a possible current draw. Now this leads me to believe it even more. I'm thinking it could have a bare wire grounding somewhere.....?


Any ideas?

 

[Admin]

 

[DRZRon1]

for clarity - the lite bar is connected to the aux battery? which voltmeter drops to 9.6V? - main or aux?

what is connected to aux battery?


here are some things I would do\check

-have main battery tested

-disconnect secondary battery and see what you got, does the shuddering stop

-look for a hot leg grounded\rubbing\etc. from the lite all the way back to the battery or any other accessories

-test the stator

 

[Reloder28]

Every accessory is connected to the auxiliary battery. Nothing is tied into the stock circuitry. The voltmeter on the auxiliary battery does the dropping. The volts on the starting battery remain above 12.5 at all times.

I will do this testing as soon as I bring it home from the lease next month.

 

[Scoop]

When I crank up, my aux circuit does not power up until the charge system hits 13 volts.

IIRC, someone else here had this same problem not too long ago (within the last year or so?). Something was not wired correctly. I don't recall who it was, but maybe the SEARCH will yield some helpful results.

 

[Remington]

I will do this testing as soon as I bring it home from the lease next month.

 

[Remington]

Every accessory is connected to the auxiliary battery. Nothing is tied into the stock circuitry. The voltmeter on the auxiliary battery does the dropping. The volts on the starting battery remain above 12.5 at all times.

You need to start at squre one like u have no accessories aka STOCK and try it. As we say in the service world…process of elimination and work smarter not harder or youll beat yourself up.
Also, take that main battery out and put it on a load checker (not a meeter) dont care what your dash meeter says, it cant detect dead or dying cells in a battery, only a load checker for batteries can. These rigs operation throughout the operation process relies on good battery voltage

These are all simple elimination steps and likely causes. If you skip them you’ll be sorry if its one of them later and you went to a rehab for no reason! 🤣
Good luck and let us know

 

[DRZRon1]

You need to start at squre one like u have no accessories aka STOCK and try it. As we say in the service world…process of elimination and work smarter not harder or youll beat yourself up.
Also, take that main battery out and put it on a load checker (not a meeter) dont care what your dash meeter says, it cant detect dead or dying cells in a battery, only a load checker for batteries can. These rigs operation throughout the operation process relies on good battery voltage

These are all simple elimination steps and likely causes. If you skip them you’ll be sorry if its one of them later and you went to a rehab for no reason! 🤣
Good luck and let us know

agree - isn't 12.5V on primary too low/borderline - that makes no sense if its just doing the basic machine

 

[Remington]

agree - isn't 12.5V on primary too low/borderline - that makes no sense if its just doing the basic machine

Yes indeed boarder line. Id plus or minus .5 most likely -.5 of the on board VM’s we use.
Id like to see 13 or a touch more while engine running. Could have a stator taking a crap too. There was another P7 that had one that did this and was. But i would still do the POE basics before Id dig that deep.

 

[Reloder28]

Yes indeed boarder line. Id plus or minus .5 most likely -.5 of the on board VM’s we use.
Id like to see 13 or a touch more while engine running. Could have a stator taking a crap too. There was another P7 that had one that did this and was. But i would still do the POE basics before Id dig that deep.

12.5 was a typo, it should've read 13.5

 

[DRZRon1]

we do pay attention - lol

 

[Remington]

12.5 was a typo, it should've read 13.5

Id still bench load test it tho!

 

[CID]

... When I crank up, my aux circuit does not power up until the charge system hits 13 volts.
...

Any ideas?

Something's wrong (duh 🙄) with the wiring - your aux power isn't connecting until the isolator connects both batteries. Depending on how your accessories get power (key On?), you should have accessory power 'right now', regardless of when you hit 13 volts.

As mentioned, there was someone with a similar problem and he had grounded (or powered) to the wrong side of something. @Hondasxs picked right up on it.

Check that little ground wire on the isolator, is it still grounded properly?

Has it always done this or is it something new?

 

[Hondasxs]

As mentioned, there was someone with a similar problem and he had grounded (or powered) to the wrong side of something. @Hondasxs picked right up on it.

This was with the Pioneer 1000. I have seen about a dozen people choose an inappropriate or false ground. This stopped the second battery from working correctly and would have similar effects as the OP. Whereas the secondary side only saw 12+ volts when the isolator closed (turned on).


Reading from the top,
I would be looking at the second battery for appropriate connections. Battery negative must have true solid and clean ground, I don't recommend running through a bus bar. Or if you do, make sure it's on the same post together.

Maybe Post some pictures of different connection points with a few notes or something and we can look to see what we can find.
Sometimes, its something stupid simple, sometimes it's just a bad battery.

 

[Reloder28]

Something's wrong (duh 🙄) with the wiring - your aux power isn't connecting until the isolator connects both batteries. Depending on how your accessories get power (key On?), you should have accessory power 'right now', regardless of when you hit 13 volts.

As mentioned, there was someone with a similar problem and he had grounded (or powered) to the wrong side of something. @Hondasxs picked right up on it.

Check that little ground wire on the isolator, is it still grounded properly?

Has it always done this or is it something new?

It has not always done this. It just started about December.

 

[Reloder28]

This was with the Pioneer 1000. I have seen about a dozen people choose an inappropriate or false ground. This stopped the second battery from working correctly and would have similar effects as the OP. Whereas the secondary side only saw 12+ volts when the isolator closed (turned on).


Reading from the top,
I would be looking at the second battery for appropriate connections. Battery negative must have true solid and clean ground, I don't recommend running through a bus bar. Or if you do, make sure it's on the same post together.

Maybe Post some pictures of different connection points with a few notes or something and we can look to see what we can find.
Sometimes, its something stupid simple, sometimes it's just a bad battery.

All of my power & ground cables are on bus bars which, I made from copper flat bar. I am just shooting in the dark until I get it home and put my Fluke on it. I will attach pictures if I can.

 

[Reloder28]

[url=https://postimg.cc/34BcsDHs][/URL]

 

[Mudwisel]

[url=https://postimg.cc/34BcsDHs]View attachment 417446[/URL]

where are is the 40wt and ball bearings. I had a parasitic drain on my aux and had a hard time finding it. I wound up using a toggle switch run to a stinger relay to activate the bus bar

 

[Reloder28]

where are is the 40wt and ball bearings. I had a parasitic drain on my aux and had a hard time finding it. I wound up using a toggle switch run to a stinger relay to activate the bus bar

I sure hope I can find it. I don't want to have to do that. I'd rather it work like it should.

 

[Mudwisel]

I sure hope I can find it. I don't want to have to do that. I'd rather it work like it should.

its really not a big deal. After having it that way I would set it up the same way if starting from scratch. Just think of it as a disconnect you control with a switch

 

[Reloder28]

UPDATE:
I found the problem. As you know, electrical issues can really have you chasing Rabbit's. Turns out, the only charge the auxiliary battery was getting was the 3/4 mile trip to the blind. Once the LED light bar was fired up after dark, it would work fine for a few hundred feet. But, when I got thru the gate and flipped on the rear overheads to illuminate the gate shutting operation, that's when it would start acting goofy. I brought it home two weeks ago and began "Fluke-ing" today. Discovered I had the on-board battery tender hooked up to the starting battery by mistake. So, when plugged in all night, it was never charging the auxiliary battery.

The trouble began when we had to use the LED light bar to skin a Whitetail one night until the auxiliary battery ran all the way down, about 4 hours. That was early in the season. So, the light bar limped along on what small charge it was getting while underway. I ignorantly thought then, the charger would work thru the isolator to charge both even with the motor off.

Sometimes we are amazed at our intelligence. Other times we are shamed by our ignorance. I got a double dose of the latter on this mistake. I really appreciate everyone's input & suggestions.