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Beeping control panel


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11 minutes ago, canalboat77 said:

What reasons would my control panel start beeping? I assumed it would be because the batteries are low, but as you can see, they are fully charged? 

 

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ach0cr9vxaAV6GLj-UdqVtEw

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

What makes you think the picture shows the battery is fully charged ?

 

To me it shows you have an over voltage problem (assuming the gauge that is showing 15 volts is correct)

 

The fact that the needle 'is in the red' should act as a warning

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Could be engine overheating, or low oil pressure. Both bad. Alternatively, a dodgy contact leading to the the beep. If the bulb in the appropriate warning light is bust, then you won't see the appropriate warning light.

With the engine running at tickover, a roughly 14V reading on a crude voltage indicating gauge does not mean that they are fully charged. Lots of parallax error from the angle of the photo, so can't tell what the gauge reads with much confidence. You may also have two alternators, depending on the engine, feeding two batteries, only one of which goes to the gauge, or solar power might be giving the 14V and an alternator isn't actually charging. More info needed.

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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The control panel won’t beep because a battery is low. It beeps when one of the warning lights comes on (low oil pressure, high temperature, alternators not charging). In this case the alternator warning lights are going on and off. You can see that the tacho, which is fed from the engine alternator, is also fluctuating in synchronisation. I also note that the engine voltmeter looks to be showing an excessively high reading, although the camera angle isn’t great.

 

I think it will be difficult to diagnose remotely without further testing / evidence, but maybe someone else has a good idea?

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So I took some readings.....I have two alternators, one for the starter and one for the domestic batteries. 

 

Alternator 1: 14V 

Alternator 2: 14.6V

 

Battery Voltages when engine running = 13.2V and 14.7V

 

Battery voltages when engine not running = 12.9V and 13.5V

 

Really appreciate everyones help/response. 

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30 minutes ago, canalboat77 said:

So I took some readings.....I have two alternators, one for the starter and one for the domestic batteries. 

 

Alternator 1: 14V 

Alternator 2: 14.6V

 

Battery Voltages when engine running = 13.2V and 14.7V

 

Battery voltages when engine not running = 12.9V and 13.5V

 

Really appreciate everyones help/response. 

Can we assume that alternator 1 and the first voltage readings are for the starter, second ones for the domestic?

 

Anyway, the main point is that with the engine running, the voltage across the alternator should be more or less the same as the voltage across the battery. So if Alternator 1 is at 14v and the battery at 13.2v, there is a bad connection somewhere. With the engine running, check the voltage across the alternator B+ connection and the battery positive, and then between the alternator negative and battery negative. This will reveal where the voltage is being dropped - in the positive or negative wiring. Then it will be a matter of tracing that wiring to see where voltage is being lost. For example, a battery isolator switch.

4 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

What about engine overheating, or oil pressure? Do you have gauges for those, or just warning lights and perhaps buzzer?

I think you are over-complicating. Did you look at the video? The alternator warning lights are flashing and the tacho is fluctuating, so nothing to do with oil pressure or overheating.

Edited by nicknorman
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4 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Did you look at the video?

I only saw a still picture on the link the OP provided, no video. Might be a combination of browser and extensions I have not playing nice with icloud. With the extra info, yes, ignore overheating and oil pressure.

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27 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I only saw a still picture on the link the OP provided, no video. Might be a combination of browser and extensions I have not playing nice with icloud. With the extra info, yes, ignore overheating and oil pressure.

Better than me, I couldn't get anything but from what I have read above it could be an alternator brush bouncing.

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1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

Better than me, I couldn't get anything but from what I have read above it could be an alternator brush bouncing.

Both alternator lights are rhythmically going on and off, not quite in phase. And one is much brighter than the other.

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11 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Is there a solar controller turning on and off at the same time?

 

I have also known this behaviour with a Sterling alternator controller. 

Could be. Since the tacho is also going right down and up at the same time as the lights, and the tacho is (normally) fed from the engine alternator, it superficially looks like an engine alternator problem. Beta uses a 6 diode machine for engine alternator, if Isuzu is the same, loss of battery supply on the IGN terminal shuts down the alternator, but that doesn’t explain why the other alternator light is coming on.

 

There  is a reported discrepancy between alternator and battery voltage, if it were not for that I’d suspect the multi-way connector

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I wonder -

With all the needles 'juddering' AND the gauges / lights flashing, etc - I wonder whether the engine is running too slowly for the alternator(s) to charge smoothly.

I set my Bera system to tickover at a minumum of 800 rpm...

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