SSV KIT - Auxiliary Battery Kit issues

[Sam]

Hello All,

 

I had a ssv kit installed by the dealer and have been having battery issues ever since.  So I took the dash apart and found wiring all wrong go it wired the way that the directions say to hook it up.  Seems to fix the battery draining issues hopefully.  But now I have a front lower light bar that is hooked to the back battery and I have two light bars still on the main primary battery.  When I have the front bar on seems to be fine but when I turn on the other two takes about a minute to drain the main battery down and then the front light just turns off and then a little later when batteries are charged again it turns it back on.  Not sure what is going on there but having issues could it be the isolator that is bad or the relay?

[A hunt 2 remember]

I had similar issues... but mine was wired correctly from the get go... I guess first off... what year CanAm do you have? Which model? By chance do you know what your light looads are? Do you have other electronics running at the same time? I found that with my 2019 HD10 if I run with the OEM headlights on, my seats heated, the stereo  on, and my light bars lit..... I WOULD DRAIN.... Noticed it by the stereo starting to blink out.... It merely took learning how to manage my wattage... Biggest issue?? The OEM headlights are WORTHLESS in my opinion.... for the amount of YELLOW light they throw as well as the wattage they use.... For those reasons... I only use them around town where there are streetlamps helpng!! You can get replacement led bulbs that drop your load and in return give you CRISP WHITE LIGHT....

GOOD LUCK!!!

[A hunt 2 remember]

Also a great explanation of the system is written by Andystory19 here on the forums. I believe it is in response to one of my threads... 

[RangerBob316]

On 10/7/2020 at 1:40 PM, Sam said:

Hello All,

 

I had a ssv kit installed by the dealer and have been having battery issues ever since.  So I took the dash apart and found wiring all wrong go it wired the way that the directions say to hook it up.  Seems to fix the battery draining issues hopefully.  But now I have a front lower light bar that is hooked to the back battery and I have two light bars still on the main primary battery.  When I have the front bar on seems to be fine but when I turn on the other two takes about a minute to drain the main battery down and then the front light just turns off and then a little later when batteries are charged again it turns it back on.  Not sure what is going on there but having issues could it be the isolator that is bad or the relay?

I’m in the exact same boat. Only thing I’ve found that helps is never run the stock headlights at the same time as my light bar(s). 
I cannot use the winch for more than 5 mins (with everything else off) or my battery goes dead. I don’t know enough about electrical but I can tell you my Maverick was able to run a lot more all at the same time with no issues. 

[A hunt 2 remember]

This is a post Andystory19 wrote on one of my threads. Maybe this will shed some light... no pun intended.... to your situations.... 

You have certainly done a great job on adding electronics but have you measured your total load on the system when your lights start to flash? The fact that you are not blowing any fuses tells me that no one circuit is over loaded. The magneto on these units is 650 watts and since this is a 12 volt system that equates to 54 Amps at 4000 RPM and above. Below 4000 RPM and back to idle there will be less amps available to charge your system. There will be about 50 Amps available if the battery is fully charged which indicates that about 5 amps is used to keep your engine running. Ignition system, (fuel pump, dash and display etc.) but only at 4000 RPM or above.

Your DPS (dynamic power steering) also uses amperage to provide steering assist. It is on a 40 amp fuse and could draw up to 60 amp instantaneously when you peg the steering against the stop. During normal road crusiing it will use very little amps but this load still has to come from the battery or the magneto. The heater motor will also draw amps depending upon the speed setting etc?

If you have a clamp meter clamp it over the positive battery cable and try and take some readings while adding load by turning on more electronics. If your load approaches or exceeds 40 amps you are heading into the area where the magneto can not provide enough currant to power the accessories, the house load and charge the battery. If you don't have a clamp meter or a volt meter that can measure amps to each circuit, use your volt meter to monitor the voltage at the battery(s) to see where it drops to. For example with no load at 4000 RPM you could read 14.4 volts but this number will likely be lower with more load and reduced RPM. If at full load you read 13 volts or less than you do not have sufficient load to charge the battery and have just enough amps to power your total load. Adding a larger battery like and odyssey PC585? will increase your reserve but not solve your total load issue although it will provide currant longer before you discharge it. If you have the original 30 Amp battery and have added an auxilliary 30 Amp battery you should have sufficient reserve already? You did not mention that your batteries were discharging so it tends to point to the problem as too much load on one circuit.

If you can run your volt meter on the circuit that starts to blink and see if the voltage drops below 12.5 volts, if yes your electronics may be over heating because the voltage is too low.(Some electronics do not tolerate low voltage, they overheat). One of the solutions might be to reduce the load on that circuit by putting it elsewhere and see if the problem is solved? Another way to check this circuit would be to turn on the stereo by itself and see if it runs normally or starts to blink? If possible carefully touch the wire from the power source that feeds this circuit, if it is hot you are carrying too much currant for the wire size?  I hope my verbage has not confused the issue but provided you some ideas to check out and find the problem?🤔

[Andystoy19]

Sam I am not sure of what year or model of Defender you have. The 2019 XT Cab has a 40 amp fuse F10 under the front hood panel that powers the accessory output. If you have a 2020 or newer they may have changed the distribution to have easier access under the front hood.

There are 2 relays in the same fuse box R3 which powers the accessories via the ECM and R9 which powers the accessories via the ignition switch. If your lights turn off when you turn the switch off you are probably wired on R9 which is located to the right of the fuse box.The inside of the cover has a diagram showing fuse positions and relays. R9 will be hot when it overloads so be careful if you touch it after your lights shut down.

Can am has an 850 W Magneto kit listed as an option on the 2021 Defender XT for $809 Cdn. that would put it at about $600 US. Your dealer should be able to get you pricing and availability if you want to go that route.

If you don't have a volt/ohm meter you should get one and learn how to use it, they are cheap and very helpful when trouble shooting electrical equipment. There are several settings for AC and DC which is what the defender uses.🙂

[Sam]

Thanks all I will do some more testing and see where we are, its a 2019 Defender Max 1000 xt cab.

 

I hear a relay turning off when I have 3 of my lights on, it clicks off for a few seconds and then turns back on.  Not sure if it is the isolator that came with the kit or the relay that came or the 40 amp relay I will start feeling those when it clicks off.  Right now I have a 50" led on the roof going forward and a 52" on the front bumper and a 52 going out the back side on the headache rack. 

[A hunt 2 remember]

On 10/18/2020 at 12:01 PM, Sam said:

Thanks all I will do some more testing and see where we are, its a 2019 Defender Max 1000 xt cab.

 

I hear a relay turning off when I have 3 of my lights on, it clicks off for a few seconds and then turns back on.  Not sure if it is the isolator that came with the kit or the relay that came or the 40 amp relay I will start feeling those when it clicks off.  Right now I have a 50" led on the roof going forward and a 52" on the front bumper and a 52 going out the back side on the headache rack. 

Holy Sam Holy!!!! 102" across the front??? That definitely BLOWS my 52" (in total 2x6 on bumper @slight angle, 2x6 @ angle above A pillar, 1x27 straight ahead (on roof) AWAY!!!!

I also have a 27" facing rearward (back of cab) and a 14? mounted on each door (mounted through OEM door bolt holes above window) 

I can run with side and forward facing leds only (no OEM headlights) with pretty much no issues... Usually only the forward facing 5.... Now let it be known..... I've done my own wiring, so rather than running all my accessories off the main electrical system.... IE: the fuses, breakers, and relays..... and added an additional bus bar that runs directly to my auxiliary battery. That way I could split my LOAD.... It still took some understanding the system and the draw of my accessories... and they are MANY!!!! 

I would think though.... if you check the amperage draw on those bars.... each one will be pushing the limits of the charging system, without adding the essential power needed... at least at an idle/low rpms for any length of time.... 

My suggestion would be (if it really causes an issue) add a group 24 DEEP CELL battery rather than another OEM battery... (same placement) not that this will STOP THE PROBLEM..... BUT.... it may give you enough storage before dropping to a state that would require the charging system.... that is if you wire it in the manner described above... 

What is being described by the click and a couple seconds later it comes back on..... is what is known as a "breaker" fuse... it overheats.... BREAKS..... cools down and is ready to go again.... you are drawing more than the breaker can handle..... and it BREAKS..... kinda like a fusible link.... it just resets itself... 

Look up "bus bar" on amazon and wire yourself in a power bar straight from the auxiliary battery....

Joe

[Hkb82]

For the price of that magneto I’m with hunt 2 remember. Deep cell large battery. I just did the same. Wasn’t having any issues with power just wanted to run stereo without machine running plus add some extra reserve. Added a batt isolator/relay to charge it wile it is running and not draw from main battery wile key is off. With everything I have factory and aftermarket turned on my defender has no issues staying at 14v wile running. I didn’t see any light fad from winch even. Maybe I would have In the dark. Now I don’t have 100+ inches of lights across the front butI think it would power it if I did. A plus to the guys ahead of you is they could prob run dark as I’m sure your lighting the entire trail with those big b’s. Lol