"Voltage Booster" for 31M AGM Battery

[Akkording]

I drive 45 minutes going to work and 1 hour going home my idatalink maestro on my HU shows a consistent 14.2 give or take ~.1, morning startup crank I see ~14.5. I do not run a fridge, just two audio amps and lighting accessories. Do you keep your food and drinks cool for work or you just keep the fridge on all the time just cause?

 

[Louisiana Overland]

I watched your video and just want to clarify, the ArcLight booster would eliminate the need for "maintenance" charges i would need otherwise. I drive about 1 hour roudn trip each day and run a Costway fridge in the back. All was well for about 2 weeks then kept getting the low voltage error. Fridge is working as designed and not leaving me stranded but im hoping this keeps the battery topped up with normal driving each day.

AGM battery?

 

[ALowe]

AGM battery?

This is the battery:

Duracell Ultra BCI Group 31M Dual Purpose (Starting/Cycling) Marine & RV Battery - SLI31MDP at Batteries Plus Bulbs

Its not an AGM but has all the capacity I would ever need. My thought was I wanted to sort out all the bugs like this before I spent all the $ for an AGM.

I do keep drinks in there for after workouts, groceries runs at lunch time, leftovers if we aren't going straight home. Though the idea originated for camping I don't go nearly enough to justify it. We have a 10 month old daughter so my wife likes to keep her oganic baby food in there too.

 

[Louisiana Overland]

This is the battery:

Duracell Ultra BCI Group 31M Dual Purpose (Starting/Cycling) Marine & RV Battery - SLI31MDP at Batteries Plus Bulbs

Its not an AGM but has all the capacity I would ever need. My thought was I wanted to sort out all the bugs like this before I spent all the $ for an AGM.

I do keep drinks in there for after workouts, groceries runs at lunch time, leftovers if we aren't going straight home. Though the idea originated for camping I don't go nearly enough to justify it. We have a 10 month old daughter so my wife likes to keep her oganic baby food in there too.

Im not familiar with that battery. I use the group 34 odyssey and a cfx50 dometic and have the diode installed. The fridge stays powered 24-7 for about a year now. I keep drinks in it and leftovers. Groceries etc. and camping also.

 

[007Tacoma]

I watched your video and just want to clarify, the ArcLight booster would eliminate the need for "maintenance" charges i would need otherwise. I drive about 1 hour roudn trip each day and run a Costway fridge in the back. All was well for about 2 weeks then kept getting the low voltage error. Fridge is working as designed and not leaving me stranded but im hoping this keeps the battery topped up with normal driving each day.

This is the battery:

Duracell Ultra BCI Group 31M Dual Purpose (Starting/Cycling) Marine & RV Battery - SLI31MDP at Batteries Plus Bulbs

Its not an AGM but has all the capacity I would ever need. My thought was I wanted to sort out all the bugs like this before I spent all the $ for an AGM.

I do keep drinks in there for after workouts, groceries runs at lunch time, leftovers if we aren't going straight home. Though the idea originated for camping I don't go nearly enough to justify it. We have a 10 month old daughter so my wife likes to keep her oganic baby food in there too.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not...

• An Engineer
• An Electrical Engineer
• A Scientist
• A Rocket Scientist
• An Electrician
• A Professional in a Trade
• A Person that profits from any of this
• ...or someone that knows exactly what they are doing.

That being said, my understanding is the booster is designed to bring the charging circuit voltage up to the level require to keep your battery "topped off" or holding its maximum potential. However, every battery is different. I know my X2Power needed a higher voltage to keep its maximum potential than what the OEM charging circuit was putting out. Whether I had a fridge or not (most of the last 18 months of ownership of the battery, I did not have a fridge), the charging circuit was not producing enough voltage to keep my battery near its maximum potential.

Whether that is how it works for you in that situation is up to your battery's requirements. My video is mostly to show that I believe the product is doing exactly what I expected it to do.

I have hooked up an external charger to my battery a number of times over the past 4 months, and it did not require any additional charging (according to my charger).

YMMV

 

[Akkording]

Did you buy that battery from Battery+? IF so try to get it exchanged for a
Duracell AGM version, at least that puts you in the AGM class battery for less than $100 more. I would monitor voltage and at least try one of the suggested solutions on this thread.
Duracell Ultra Platinum AGM BCI Group 34M Deep Cycle, Dual Purpose (Starting/Cycling), Starting Marine & RV Battery - SLI34MAGM at Batteries Plus Bulbs

Wanderlost did a complete dual setup for the purpose of his "overland" use and to power his fridge. COLD BEERS!
YouTube

 

[jhguth]

[MENTION=204766]ALowe[/MENTION]
i'm not sure why a standard flooded battery would need a voltage booster. what are the charging specs for the battery, is it actually calling for a higher voltage?

the voltage booster doesn't increase the amount of power going to the battery, that is still limited by your alternator, the purpose is to properly charge batteries that need a higher voltage to completely charge.

your issue sounds like a capacity and use issue, not a voltage issue, in other words you have more power going out than you are putting back in via the alternator and slowly its draws down your battery to hit the low voltage shutoff in a couple weeks. unless your battery calls for a higher voltage, what you would need is a higher output alternator, more alternator time (i.e. more driving), or making sure to keep your battery topped off with a charger.

and assuming that it is a power out > power in then upgrading your battery won't make a difference, you'll still have the same problem. I have the same problem you do, I have a very short commute so in the summer my battery will drain because i'm not driving enough for the alternator to replace what the fridge takes out (i just plug in overnight most nights to keep it topped off)

 

[ALowe]

Ok an update: I called East Penn, who makes my specific duracell group 31 lead-acid. They said the optimal charge voltage is between 13.8 and 14.85, depending on stage, so the ArcLED booster will put me right in the middle of that. It also explains why I can go about a week and a half before needing a charge. The 4runner even with the 130 amp alternator, does not put out that much voltage. will update once my booster arrives.

 

[Akkording]

More +BOOST!

Oh yeah another factor when I ran 275 C falken Wildpeak heavy 57.1# C loads my voltage was under 14v, I noticed 13.8v on the freeway road trip. When I exchanged to 285 P 50.5# I went back above low 14s.
When I had 265 nitto grapplers with stock wheels it showed mid ~14.5.

Rotational mass and tire size were factors to engine load and rpm which affected the alternator efficiency.

This was all on + Boost setting

 

[LOLSNOW]

Hey all, these have been regaining momentum again so I just got a huge batch in if anyone here has been waiting. ArcLightLEDs is where you can pick one up.

 

[Akkording]

And you maintained the same price, great company

 

[SlickTRD]

"Voltage Booster" for 31M AGM Battery

Picked up one for my GX460, thanks

 

[BendRunner]

Hey all, these have been regaining momentum again so I just got a huge batch in if anyone here has been waiting. ArcLightLEDs is where you can pick one up.

Does this product work with the 4th gen?

 

[shamanrawb]

I know this thread is a bit old, but has anyone tested any of the boosters with something like a RedArc BCDC1225D for a dual battery system? They do some magic to provide the 14.7v to the aux battery, but I'm wondering if tweaking the alternator output has any negative affect on them/their math. Thanks.

 

[Anand]

I know this thread is a bit old, but has anyone tested any of the boosters with something like a RedArc BCDC1225D for a dual battery system? They do some magic to provide the 14.7v to the aux battery, but I'm wondering if tweaking the alternator output has any negative affect on them/their math. Thanks.

As long as the BCDC is seeing alternator output (IIRC 12.9 or 13.1v, or similar) on the input side it will provide the full voltage on the output side. The purpose of the BCDC is essentially to allow steady output with unsteady input

 

[shamanrawb]

As long as the BCDC is seeing alternator output (IIRC 12.9 or 13.1v, or similar) on the input side it will provide the full voltage on the output side. The purpose of the BCDC is essentially to allow steady output with unsteady input

Ok, so even thought the stock alternator is being tricked into producing more output, it wont cause the BCDC to produce too much output?

 

[shamanrawb]

So this is interesting. I have a 2015. I just drove across town. And the car has been sitting off for about 10 min. I also have a redarc BCDC1225d. Both batteries are Odyssey 34R PC1500 AGM batteries. Using a voltmeter I just checked voltage on both batteries. They both show 13.15. The starter battery is about 6 months old and the new battery is less than a week. It is being charged by the redarc which does put out 14.7 volts. Confirmed by voltmeter and Victron monitoring. The starter has never had a charge outside of the alternator. I do not have the diode yet.
Isn’t that a full charge on both?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Anand]

Ok, so even thought the stock alternator is being tricked into producing more output, it wont cause the BCDC to produce too much output?

Correct, no matter what the voltage (as long as it is above the BCDC's low-voltage cut off), it will always output a steady charging voltage.

As for your second post, I'm not sure I understand the question, if both are at 13.15v, I don't see anything wrong?

 

[shamanrawb]

Correct, no matter what the voltage (as long as it is above the BCDC's low-voltage cut off), it will always output a steady charging voltage.

As for your second post, I'm not sure I understand the question, if both are at 13.15v, I don't see anything wrong?

That was actually my point. If after 6 months, the starter AGM is showing the same charge as my fully charged, new, identical AGM, that gets 14.7 when it needs it from my BCDC, do I even need a diode/voltage booster? And I guess the question is, why is mine working? LOL.

 

[jhguth]

That was actually my point. If after 6 months, the starter AGM is showing the same charge as my fully charged, new, identical AGM, that gets 14.7 when it needs it from my BCDC, do I even need a diode/voltage booster? And I guess the question is, why is mine working? LOL.

6 months isnt long enough to see symptoms, also what is your alternator charging voltage because some 5th gens are worse than others and yours may not be as bad as some (big tires seem to have a big impact). Also, wait for awhile and check the voltage again, 13.15V sounds like you might have checked it right after being charged.

Voltage boosters are cheap insurance to avoid sulfation, reduced life and capacity, and a voided warranty