Bongo Fury

Hi All

I had problems with the charge and sediment light on my Bongo and changed the Alternator for a new one, which worked great for a few hundred miles and then the problem reappeared with the new alternator kicking out over 15v. So I sent it back and am awaiting a return. While i was waiting I brought a secondhand alternator to tide me over and fitted it today. However that too is kicking out too high a voltage and the sediment and charge lights are permanently on.

My batteries are both holding 13.5 volts over several days and seem healthy (all cells are showing the same reading on Hydrometer)
Also when I fitted the alternator today only my side lights work and the headlights do not work at all, even on flash - I have checked and changed the under bonnet pink fuse and that did not help. I have since swopped over the relays and there is no difference to the headlights - they are dead. The bulbs are ok and I put in another bulb just to check and all is ok. They were working fine before the alternator swaps...

So either ive had 3 alternators that are all faulty or there is another problem somewhere that the van is causing??
Any suggestions would be appreciated, I just want to be able to use the van, but its been off the road due to these electrical issues more that its been on the road.

Also, fuse 1 to right of Knee is Ok (ive read this can cause sediment/charge issues is gone)

The only other thing I have done is replace the under bonnet fuse board (the one attached to the battery) as the old one was damaged. I am sure I have wired it all back together correctly but can anyone point me to the correct wiring for this? (it has 2 wires on the back and one on the front, the front one is wired to the furthest holder and not to the bolt holding the main fuse in place... this is correct isnt it?)

Any suggestions or things to check tomorrow in day light would be appreciated.

Many Thanks
James

Humm, some odd reports in there;
The batteries should only be showing 12.6 to 12.8 volts when left to rest from being charged for about 30 minutes.
On float charge they will show 13.6 volts, that is to say that if you have them on a charger and the battery has fully charged then that is the voltage you will measure, once the charger is removed it will drop to the 12.6 reading. The voltage of 13.6 is basically set by the charger and not the battery itself.
Have you checked the meter you are using that it has been correctly calibrated ? Its not unknown for test equipment to go out of calibration .... which might explain the 15 volts from 3 alternators ?

Just to update - I had an auto electrician out this morning and all is fixed.

The fuses board under the bonnet had a corroded connector on the board to loom plug. This caused the headlights to not work (even though a current was going to board) and as there was no reference voltage for the alternator it was trying to kick out more than needed to get the reference reading. A good clean of the contacts and some electrical contact grease and all is working as new again.

Hopefully this will be helpful if anyone else experiences a similar problems.

Useful update, thanks.

Glad you're sorted fairly easily.

Very useful update indeed and a reminder that age will present new Bongo riddles in less obvious places. Glad its sorted.

I must admit I make it an annual chore to go round and remove each and every fuse, wipe it clean and re-insert. Over the years I have had a small number of oddities like the above, which have come down to spring contacts corroding to various degrees, the trouble is the show no visible external sign of a problem, so easiest solution is to pull every one and re-insert usually that is sufficient to clean the contacts and maybe a squirt of WD40 to help keep moisture out from the connectors.

g8dhe wrote: Sat Dec 08, 2018 12:56 pm I must admit I make it an annual chore to go round and remove each and every fuse, wipe it clean and re-insert. Over the years I have had a small number of oddities like the above, which have come down to spring contacts corroding to various degrees, the trouble is the show no visible external sign of a problem, so easiest solution is to pull every one and re-insert usually that is sufficient to clean the contacts and maybe a squirt of WD40 to help keep moisture out from the connectors.

Not a bad plan Geoff -might do a similar check myself