Ramacher

iTrader: (1)

Was browsing through the "What did you to do your GX" stickied thread and saw this post by MarkVII.

I installed an AGM battery and have had to do a warranty replacement a couple months ago because it stopped holding a charge. Was completely unaware that the alternator as is doesn't charge it up to full voltage.

Going through the battery thread on this forum, this site is linked which has good info on why it's needed, along with selling their own voltage booster which is currently sold out.

Looking online it seems the most popular is the HKBelectronics (which has 3 versions) and ships from australia. Total with shipping is around $45usd.

I also found this thread on tacomaworld where they use an AC Delco diode in place of the fuse, but the diode doesn't protect it from overcurrent and some recommend installing it in series with the fuse.

What's the consensus on these? Should I pony up the $45 for the HKB one, or put the AC Delco in series with my fuse?

Edit: Just saw in the tacomaworld thread that due to covid shipments to the US are taking 2-3 months! AC Delco diode it is... for now.

SlickTRD

go with arclight instead. i use this in my 4runner and gx460 with no issues. he said they will be in stock some time in september.

https://www.arclightleds.com/collect...er-pg2tb-brs6a

Ramacher

iTrader: (1)

It's sold out. How much is it? Doesn't show the price on that page, just says "Sold out".

Found out you could also use a Ford Diode (Part# 4F2Z-14A604-AA) for $13 on the tacomaworld forum. There's Ford dealership/parts right next to my office so gonna stop by their to see if they have it and will get that in the mean time.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Measure the before and after voltage at the battery if you can.

Ramacher

iTrader: (1)

Stopped by Ford, location I went to didn't have it but another one about 15 min away did, but they wanted $21 while directly from Ford's website it's $13. I went to a nearby O'Rielly's and picked up the Littelfuse 1amp diode (which was linked in that TacomaWorld thread) for $3.99. I used a utility knife to shave off a little bit of it off so it fits flush.

Stock voltages:

• +B Voltage (Battery): 13.2-3 V
• Voltage at Control Module: 12.95 V
• Voltage @ OBD Adapter: 13.3-4 V

After plugging in the Diode and during my drive home:

• +B Voltage (Battery): 13.7-8 V
• Voltage at Control Module: 13.45 V
• Voltage @ OBD Adapter: 13.9-14.0 V

It definitely increased it by ~0.5V. Another thing I noticed from the real time graphs in the Torque App, the voltages were a lot more stable after plugging in the diode. Prior to putting the diode in, Voltages would drop about .5V after letting off the accelerator and would fluctuate more when I turned on the dome/map light. After putting in the diode the voltage drop when letting off the accelerator no longer happened and fluctuations after turning on the map light were less than with stock fuse.

I need to figure out how to export all the data points from the graphs and not just a screenshot. You can see the voltage drop from letting off the accelerator in the first screenshot with the stock fuse:
(It says [Prius] because I had to install the Prius Plugin to get voltage at the battery in the Torque app)


Stock Voltages

This is after installing the diode while idling in a parking lot:

Voltages with Diode installed.

Used a utility knife to snip/shave the bottom left corner of the diode:

Diode cut and stock fuse

Diode installed (ended up putting the original fuse in the blank spot between the 15 and 30 amp fuses):

Diode installed.


Photo from TW forums showing what you need to snip/shave off the diode so it sits flush:


@MarkVII What voltage increase are you seeing with the HKB? And did you get the MK1 or MK3?

Edit: To add, I have an Energizer AGM battery from Sam's Club which is rebranded Eastpenn/Deka battery and this is from EastPenn's website:
So this diode is getting me closer to manufacturer's recommended voltage.

MarkVII

My voltage now runs between 13.9 - 14.4. Prior to the install I did not see anything above 14.1, it was usually 13.8. I ordered the MK3 version.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like you need a full 1v boost

Ramacher

iTrader: (1)

Ok. Tempted to buy Littelfuse 1.5A diode to see what my voltage increases to, but I want to do some more voltage tests first.

tristero

I have a northstar 31M single battery setup to run power. I've been running the Arclightled voltage booster for about 2 years, whenever this new version was released. Works great. I paid $62.99 shipped to my door.

Here's a very long thread going over the various options: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...m-battery.html
seems most people that were previously running the other diodes switched to the Arclightleds version

I am also running a Minn Kota 10a charger, I converted to an onboard charger, and I use that to top off the battery once a month

gx460sd

I made my own diode, you just need to be able to solder and all the parts can be bought off amazon.

SlickTRD

the arclight is still the best solution - it has three modes - reg (for non-AGM batteries), low boost and high boost. it is about 60 shipped but the quality is there. he once did a breakdown of cost and in the end he is not making much on each sold. its another reason why he makes them in batches because of the sunken cost of the materials he needs to acquire.

Halenalu

I ran into this problem with my Tacoma. I'm an EE, so all of the above seemed appealing, but the easiest solution by far was to just get an AGM battery tender and conditioner and use that. I used this one but most of them are OK decent.

The stock alternator isn't going to damage the battery over a couple weeks in the desert or whatever, and the conditioner only needs a few hours per month to keep the battery from suffering crystallization. It worked great for years, and I'll be using the same strategy when I upgrade the battery in my new GX.

TomJackson

Can anyone here help me to understand the working of voltage regulators like how they work? What type of regulators are best? I'm doing my research from a few days and trying to learn. I found many good articles like this one: https://www.derf.com/an-overview-on-voltage-regulators/. Any expert advice or reference would be appreciated! Thanks

gx460sd

You're blowing it out of proportion, what these little devices do is make your vehicle see a lower voltage than what is actually being put out by the alternator. The alternator compensates my increasing it's output voltage.
How it makes the vehicle see this lower voltage is by putting a diode in the voltage sense line. Diodes have an inherent voltage drop of 0.7v as part of it's design. It's a negative side effect normally but it is used to do what you want here.
Why do you want to do all of this? AGMs, at least for oddessy batteries, have a recommended charging voltage of 14.8v and most stock vehicles charge at 13.x volts since they come with lead acid batteries

crwys

I have these 2 pages bookmarked, its the route I am going to take when I get around to doing this on my vehicle.

For the voltage booster
https://www.arclightleds.com/collect...er-pg2tb-brs6a

For the battery / voltage booster tips
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...d-for-all.html