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Sounds like you have half figured it out mate. Dont be shy to rip out the rubbish. If you have traced the offending wires then take them out and re-run a good wire where it needs to go to the cranking battery.
You dont really need an isolator between the batteries but it is nice to be able to isolate them. Your Alternator should be able to keep up as long as your not drawing a ridiculous amount from accessories.
Your Voltage Drop at the back could easily and will likely be due to either a supply wire that is too small from the battery to the back or a bad earth at the back. 12v needs good size wire to supply to the back. Classic Voltage drop. Go and buy some good size wire and run it along the chassis rail then up through the floor and put a new plug on it.
If in doubt hook the new wire to the battery with enough wire to reach the back, add a plug to the end of the wire and sitting in the driveway plug the fridge in ;) If you have enough Volts the your on tap mate. unplug, remove the plug and run the wire to the back. Dont be shy though bud ;) it aint that hard.
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Thats Deep wild98, hopefully there is a member up or near you to sort out your Patrol.
Next year will be better I'm sure of it, Merry xmas to you and your family
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thanks everyone. have gone over everything. took out the wires that weren't even connected to anything.(there were heaps). cleaned every terminal and connection i could. tested the altinator again and its giving me 14v. tested the rear sockets with amp tester and it says 12v but my fridges alarm says less then 12v so i might have to get that checked. would still like to get the wiring sorted out properly but i guess everyone has some sort of problem they wanna sort out,(eventually). i guess, if i carry my jump pack around, at least we might be able to get away for a bit. (we really need it). Thanks everyone, you's have lifted both our spirits and give us hope that there are still some people out there that do give a shit. merry xmas everyone, will take lots of pics of our trip and show ya's. kind regards, Brett,Caitlin,Aly & Emery.
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That is great that you can at least get away.
Have merry christmas
Sent from my Iphone
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Glad you got it sorted enough to get away, even if just for a little bit.
Have a great Christmas!
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I'm with MR. I'd be checking the size of the cable to the rear or the earths.
Re-running it in a larger gauge cable (6 sqmm or thereabouts) will probably fix your problem.
If the wiring is as crappy as you suggest, I'd be ripping it out and starting again anyway. At least you know it will be right then. Plenty of folks on here to talk you through it.
Sounds like you've got a temp fix to allow you to get away which is cool.
All the best and merry Christmas!
Cheers,
Drew.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Have a great Christmas Break guys glad we could help and I look forward to seeing some pics.
If your going to camp for a few days then head into DickSmiths in Mildura or Jaycar if there is one and grab some decent cable and 2 alligator clips. Fit the alligator clips to one end and whack a fridge plug on the other end and while camping take the fridge out of the back and hook it to the second battery ;)
Alternatively, buy some cheap jumper leads and take the clips off one end and fit a fridge socket. ;) that'll hook you up with 3m of good size wire
If your jump pack has a cig socket see if your fridge will run off it? If it does then It's the size of the wire to the back and you have voltage drop.
Have a great trip guys
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went for a drive lastnight to look at the xmas lights. came out today to find it flat again. dunno what goin on. there is nothing running. so back to square 1. and it too bloody hot to work on it today. 40 degrees. bugger.
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It's sounds like something is draining your battery/s when the engine is switched off.
If you are sure everything is turned off. The other common cause is the alternator could be draining your battery when the engine is not running.
If you have an ammeter we can measure this.
Or you can disconnect the large white wire at the alternator and then carefully touch it on and off the post (it was disconnected from) if you see a spark then this is your problem. If doing this, disconnect the batteries first and then reconnect the batteries once the white wire is disconnected from the alternator. Be very careful not to touch the end of the white wire on anything metal.
Do you have any radio amps fitted?
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Just another thought Brett,
Check your earth connections from the main battery, there should be two connections one to the body near the battery tray and another to the engine(well that's how it is on my diesel).
Mate I had a very poor earth at the body and it seemed like the brand new battery was flat. Cleaned everything up and it's been as good as gold.
I hope you get your issues sorted and have a very Happy and safe Christmas and New Year with the family.
Mark
