Ranger Mods

Hi, I've just programmed a gauge in my Scangauge for Battery Current in/out Amps for my Ford Ranger 2016. Thanks for your PID codes I found elsewhere on this site!

Just wondering what the value delivered means ?

Is it the "nett" of charge output by the alternator, subtract the entire draw of the vehicle and its accessories(correctly picked up by the battery to earth point sensor)

When I start the car its value is in the low 20Amp range then tapers back to a few amps.
Note smart charge is turned off ie Dual Battery mode on.

Cliff

It is physically how many Amps is going into or out of the battery.

It has no bearing of anything else. Turn the vehicle to accessories with engine of and it will go negative, possibly -4 to -11 Amps.

Basically the battery is not going to draw current/accept charge if it has no need to and alternator current output will still vary depending on what load auxiliary items require.

Note current is different to voltage.

Basically the battery can only accept so much charge, the more charged it is the less current it will draw. Auxiliary items could be using battery current and or alternator.

You could measure alternator current also and this will help to give a better idea of what is happening, the only issue is you have a second battery and have no way to measure how much current draw this has from the whole system. So turn off second battery, watch alternator current and battery current then you will able able to see exactly what is happening.

At some point I will look again at integrating something for the second battery as a PID and if it works then monitoring all 3 would give a great overview.

I hope this makes some sense?

Thanks Stewart !

Yes I think I understand this.
Kind of like a "tide" of current supply and demand 'washing' over the fairly stable "potential" of the battery. All of the devices probably ideally need somewhere between 12V and 15V to be 'happy. If under voltage to alternator fires up. If over voltage it backs off.


In my Ranger I have an Auxilliary battery a REDARC BCDC1225 installed by ARB 2 years ago to the specs they get from REDARC. Thousands of installs pa.

I became a bit interested recently on what output the alternator, only, might be generating when I connected via Anderson and isolation switch the Auxilliary battery to 12V mode on the three way fridge in my caravan (whilst driving). That draws 15A continuous(no thermostat) plus my Engel in the back of the tub draws 2 to 3 amp cycling on and off. Total peak 18A out of 25A capacity with the remaining being used to Boost,Absorb or Float the Aux.

REDARC assured me continuous 25A supply to the Aux battery wasn't a problem. I just have to watch that the Aux battery doesn't get drawn down too much as the remaining 25A - 18A = 7A might not be enough to recharge the Aux if only driving for a short time - all manageable though.

I don't know what the "ideal maximum" output of a Ranger alternator would be ?? but I was wondering when all systems are go, the Ranger is heading down the highway with sound system, air con, all core systems and peripherals running, AND the BCDC is drawing the full 25A continuously, what the alternator might be output ing. I don't think I've see a PID for the alternator alone if indeed such a value is available ?

I think I read somewhere the alternator can output 100A safely and consistently but that might just be opinion

Cliff

Max alternator output is 120 amps I believe.

The most I have seen from mine with EVERYTHING on was 90 amps.

It gradually decreased & stayed around 70 amps for nearly an hour.

This slowly dropped to 50 to 55 there on.

Quick search on alternator PID took me here viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2100&p=7236&hilit=A ... +pid#p7236

Still waiting feedback from Scangauge Aus so might just email the state's directly.

Thanks Rosspat, that's handy information.

Note, I have now seen that when I shut the vehicle off and before the Scanguage shuts down the current on/off does drop to about minus 14A or so before reducing to a couple of amps negative within a few seconds. You do hear some strange noises under the bonnet for a few seconds after shutdown

I'm guess there must be some device or devices doing some kind of function. Although 14A is a fair bit of draw.

Much appreciated also Stewart. .... very interested also in a definitive PID for alternator only output for PX2 Ranger.
Appreciate your follow up efforts
This is a very helpful site -

The PID is correct but I think decimal point was in the wrong place for scangauge. If I get keen this week I will pull it out of the cupboard and have a look.

Hi Stewart
Many thanks
I just entered the codes below previously provided for alternator output - and it worked perfectly - no decimal point which is fine for what I need it for

TXD: 07E022D113
RXF: 046205D10613 <----- xxxxXXxxxxxx Large X may need to change for decimal point.
RXD: 3010
MTH: 000100140000

Quite interesting to see the amps change up/down as various functions and accessories are turned on.
Things like low beam headlights about 10-12A
Then turning on high beam with ARB driving lights a whopping 20A more.

Will be interesting to see what it peaks at when I hook up the caravan in a couple of days, have the REDARC BCDC pulling full 25A to power fridges etc, air con fan going, sound system on, driving with headlights on(for safety), caravan lights, trailer brakes applied, all the other Ranger electrical stuff in the background you don't realise is running - or take for granted like steering

I reckon 90A total might be a possible peak.

Have always wondered what the approx formulaic relationship might be between "amps output" and "energy consumed" in a vehicle and therefore effect upon fuel consumption - if any. I think Rangers max power is 147Kw at certain revs. So If I was delivering half that say cruising down the highway - 70 kw say --- then using the calculator below and plugged in 90Amps I'd be consuming a negligible 1 Kw. Around 1% of fuel in entirety. (all very theoretical of course !) Driving with the headlights on might use 0.1% of available energy and therefore fuel.

https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electr ... lator.html

Cheers

TXD: 07E022D113
RXF: 046285D10613 <----- xxxxXxxxxxxx Note change 8 instead of 0
RXD: 3010
MTH: 000100020000 <----- xxxxxxXXxxxx Note change. divide by 2 instead of divide by 20

This will move the decimal 2 places.

Have still not heard back from Scangauge but I tested this and it works.

Cheers Stewart, I'll have a play with it tomorrow

Hi Stewart, Yes tried that and it works fine. It gives me "one" decimal place which is more than enough.

My Battery Current In/Out has no decimal place though.

I haven't checked but I think I used this PID when I set it up

TXD: 072622402B
RXF: 04620540062B
RXD: 3008
MTH: 00010001FF81

Could you suggest a change in code to provide a decimal place ? I probably don't need it - just looks consistent when placed alongside other electrical gauges. I can now display 4 gauges at once SOC%, Battery Voltage, Amps in/out, and Alternator output.

Excellent ! Looks good.

Takes me back to the 1970s when I had my red motor EH Holden with "needle" gauges all over the dashboard. Fond memories of the tacho breaking off the dashboard on the corrugations on the Nullabor Could never have imagined the digital technology that was still 20 years into the future.

There cannot be a decimal place for amp in/out as only 1 byte of data is returned. Alternator is 2 bytes of data which allow for more precision.

Ok, thanks for letting me know