What did you do to your Patrol today!

[PeeBee]

Wiring completed, stuff that wasn't working is, apart from the turbo timer function as truck wont turn off now without pulling the IP solenoid wire, will sort that tomorrow. Wiring is now a total pigs dinner, really have to get this sorted at some point. Anyway everything working now, so mechanic on friday morning for the final brake bleed.

[PeeBee]

Did a cranking amp check on the main battery after the charger went mental yesterday arvo and was pumping in 15.5V. reset the charger function and let the battery rest a couple of hours, then put it back on charge, 14.4V decreasing to a float around 13.2. Anyway, the analyser showed a float at 12.9 and a cca of only 320amp, against nameplate of 720. Checked out a couple of other batteries I had and they came up fine, so made the decision to go the Optima route. Height of the optima 31 over the terminals was too tight under my bonnet, so went the 27M instead as a direct footprint of the 'conventional battery. Checked with @MB what he had, advised the 31, however tight fit. Anyway, great price delivered ex Adelaide, be here friday, happy days. then the battery in the wife's mazda dies, never rains.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/221310514695

[PeeBee]

Traced the turbo timer issue down, so truck no stops on demand - great step forward!

[Cuppa]

Replaced the auxiliary batteries in the pod. One of the 3 Ritar 120Ah AGM’s failed, placing the other two under stress in the cloudy weather FNQ has been getting. At a tad under 10 years old they have done well, but obviously all had reduced capacity which became increasingly noticeable after more than one cloudy day in a row. We were up on the Cape at Laura for the aboriginal dance festival, intending to continue north, but instead drove back down to Mareeba to get batteries (& to get a split in a welded seam of our main water tank plastic welded. Tank needed to come out to get the batteries out - so two birds with one stone. Bought Ritar batteries again. Considered Lithium ‘drop In’ replacements but would have cost me double, & I don’t trust the built in BMS in most drop ins. When it fails ( which anecdotally seems to be at around the 4 year mark) the Lithium battery becomes a door stop (sorry to all the satisfied iTech (& similar) owners, but $800 or thereabouts for 4 years vs $340 for 10 years for good quality AGM’s is a no brainer for me despite the weight penalty). 360Ah for $1020 & a ‘useable capacity comparable to 200Ah of Lithium (200Ah is not a typo, but a more ‘truthful’ capacity of 2x iTech ‘120’Ah batteries). If we were at home with the resources of my workshop changing to a ‘proper’ external BMS Lithium system with a new dc to dc battery charger /solar reg would have been a consideration, but simpler & cheaper to stick with what I have with the aim to get back up the Cape asap.

[Pete49]

After a major problem mostly of my making, I had to remove the pistons from my '92 GQ and re ring and big end bearings. The old girl has 4600 kms on it and was surprised to find the bore and bearings are still standard measurement. It was running duel fuel but due to gas prices I've gone to straight petrol. Was not using oil and there's no coking on the pistons. Rather chuffed with it and so will be good for many more kms once its all done.
Pete

[PeeBee]

New battery arrived today, 22hrs after ordering, Adelaide to Melb suburbs, can't beat that. Fits like a glove, put the battery analyser onto it and its rated at 800cca, showing 1025cca - I know these things have a reputation for high performance, but this is next level, happy days.

[Hodge]

200Ah of Lithium (200Ah is not a typo, but a more ‘truthful’ capacity of 2x iTech ‘120’Ah batteries).

Hi Cuppa .
So you're saying 2 x Itechs , supposedly rated at 120Ah each are rated 200Ah combined ? Just wondering where you're basing this maths off ?

My Itech runs circles around my previous 105Ah full river, which is a good brand and ran great distance on its own. Sometimes a full day or 2 after the Full river AGM dropped to dangerous number , the lithium kept laughing at it. It goes well beyond the so called 120 "AGM" amp hours.
Charging and long distance running, they are not even in the same league in my experience.



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[Cuppa]

Hi Cuppa .
So you're saying 2 x Itechs , supposedly rated at 120Ah each are rated 200Ah combined ? Just wondering where you're basing this maths off ?

My Itech runs circles around my previous 105Ah full river, which is a good brand and ran great distance on its own. Sometimes a full day or 2 after the Full river AGM dropped to dangerous number , the lithium kept laughing at it. It goes well beyond the so called 120 "AGM" amp hours.
Charging and long distance running, they are not even in the same league in my experience.



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What I am saying is that many of the cheaper lithium drop in batteries claim higher capacity than they actually have. (Just like many cheap solar panels are actually less than advertised). It's ok if the price is right & you know what you are getting, but it's wrong that shonky sellers can get away with it. Itech included. If the 120Ah lithium is actually 100Ah then 2x120Ah is 200Ah. (Plenty of commentary on this on forums across the 'net', plus the battery place I bought my new batteries from yesterday said the same thing, even though they sell lithium drop ins, the told me with my usage pattern they would not recommend them. When I asked why, they confirmed what I already believed).

With 200Ah of lithium you get around ..say 180Ah of useable capacity for a purchase price , in the case of iTech for a bit under $1600.

I bought 360 Ah of Agm's which give me a useable capacity of around 180Ah (if I wanted to use that much) for $1020.

If I did use that much I would still expect to get 6 or 7 years out of them

If my Agm's last me the 10 years I just got out of the old ones (including 4 years full time use), then the cost over 10 years is $1020 or $102 per year.
If I bought itech 120's & their internal BMS lasted 4 years & I replaced them each four years at the same cost they would cost me around $4800 for 12 years or $400 per year - essentially 4 times the cost to do the same thing.

However if the weight saving & faster recharge is worth that to someone - a valid purchase decision.
For me I don't need to use 180Ah daily , not even half that - I don't use anything with large current draw, (not that most of the drop ins can sustain the high current draw that external BMS lithium systems can) so cannot justify the lithiums. My solar system returns my AGMs to float every day, so faster charging has no value to me. Weight reduction would be nice if the cost was closer to AGM's.

At the end of the day if your usage justifies what lithium offers & you are happy then it's a good outcome. A 100Ah lithium battery will have close to double the useable capacity of a 100Ah AGM. Enough to get you over the weekend & then home to recharge. Cost aside, the lithium drop ins make sense in that situation, particularly when there is insufficient space for more batteries. Usage pattern is everything. What is needed for a weekend camping trip is completely different to what is needed for indefinite usage without need for mains power re-charging.

I am by no means anti lithium, I always said that when my old batteries died I would change to lithium, but away from home, on the road it was pragmatic & cost effective to replace like for like. As said the anecdotal evidence is that it is the BMS which fails rendering a 'good' battery cactus with the drop ins & tends to happen at around the 4 year mark. Going with 'non drop in lithium, means additional costs of changed chargers etc making overall costs far higher than drop ins, & more complexity in the change-over process - but comes with the far longer lifespan possible with lithium.

[threedogs]

Swapped out the glow plugs on the mighty GU
I brought Bosch ones that were advertised @ $36 dollars or make an offer
so I offered $26 and they accepted......, thats a good deal in my books
Jobs to do oil and filters....fit new steering damper
... and fit Ctex dc2dc charger

[Yeti's Beast]

Replaced the auxiliary batteries in the pod. One of the 3 Ritar 120Ah AGM’s failed, placing the other two under stress in the cloudy weather FNQ has been getting. At a tad under 10 years old they have done well, but obviously all had reduced capacity which became increasingly noticeable after more than one cloudy day in a row. We were up on the Cape at Laura for the aboriginal dance festival, intending to continue north, but instead drove back down to Mareeba to get batteries (& to get a split in a welded seam of our main water tank plastic welded. Tank needed to come out to get the batteries out - so two birds with one stone. Bought Ritar batteries again. Considered Lithium ‘drop In’ replacements but would have cost me double, & I don’t trust the built in BMS in most drop ins. When it fails ( which anecdotally seems to be at around the 4 year mark) the Lithium battery becomes a door stop (sorry to all the satisfied iTech (& similar) owners, but $800 or thereabouts for 4 years vs $340 for 10 years for good quality AGM’s is a no brainer for me despite the weight penalty). 360Ah for $1020 & a ‘useable capacity comparable to 200Ah of Lithium (200Ah is not a typo, but a more ‘truthful’ capacity of 2x iTech ‘120’Ah batteries). If we were at home with the resources of my workshop changing to a ‘proper’ external BMS Lithium system with a new dc to dc battery charger /solar reg would have been a consideration, but simpler & cheaper to stick with what I have with the aim to get back up the Cape asap.

Spoke with the rep from Enerdrive today and they have made alterations to their Lithium range. Now the battery comes apart if a cell or BMS dies. The down side is now the battery is no longer water proof but upside is they are now repairable


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