2019 Tacoma Alternator - Is It “Smart”

Sounds like I’m running the a very similar set up with the same question. I’ve have the Battleborn 100 ah Lithium battery running the Redarc bcdc 1225. Did you end hooking up the blue wire for the smart alternator? I’m also finding that even on “shore” i can’t be the voltage above 13.59 volts although that’s close to 100%, it’s not the 14.4 that’s fully charged

 

@Round the world Same set up… what did you end up doing? Connect or cap the blue?
BB 100Ah and

$465 BCDC1225D REDARC 25A in-Vehicle DC to DC Charger with MPPT — Dual Input for Solar & Alternator Charging, Green Power Priority - 12 or 24V Battery Charger Suitable with AGM, Gel, Lithium LiFePO4 Batteries

BCDC1225D

 

I left the blue capped. Been running it that way for two years now while living in it full time.

 

I know this is late to the party… I just got off the phone with the Redarc rep in Australia… says the 2019 Toyota Tacoma alternator is an odd exception to the “new vehicles have smart/variable alternators” rule. The

$465 BCDC1225D REDARC 25A in-Vehicle DC to DC Charger with MPPT — Dual Input for Solar & Alternator Charging, Green Power Priority - 12 or 24V Battery Charger Suitable with AGM, Gel, Lithium LiFePO4 Batteries

BCDC1225D does NOT use the blue wire as a “turn ON” signal. Cap the blue wire. The 1225 gets it’s signal from reading the starter battery voltage.

@Round the world Thanks for the response… I actually had a different solar question for them and just used the convo opportunity to clear up our initial blue wire question. I was gonna follow your 2 year experience and cap it anyway.

 

Sure thing. Always good to know things are wired right. If you're using a battery monitor just make sure you fully understand how to calibrate it. We're running a victron 712. It calibrates when the battery is at 100% when the state of charge is 100% and while the battery has been at full rest for a while. Good luck!

 

@Round the world Thats actually the exact monitor I have… I’ll be sure to get it a full charge and let it chill before calibrating… thanks again and good luck in your travels.

 

Thanks. You've got a good setup. I understanding is that you should run your multimeter from the positive on the battery to the shunt, not the negative terminal on the battery. This is coming from my son who's a computer engineer. I'm just a dumb Forester

 

Hey guys I’m also interested in this question. I’m looking at getting a Renogy dc to dc with mppt controller built in. It also has a wire that you would use if you have a smart alternator. I have a 2018 would I just cap that wire or have to use it? Thanks

 

cap it

 

This thread just concluded my 3 days of failed google searches

 

The alternator in the Tacoma is a pretty conventional type dual-winding alternator that just happens to communicate the "charge" light to the gauge cluster through the ECU via LIN communication.

Nothing smart about it beyond its, again conventional, internal voltage regulator.

Jeff

 

I'm not sure about the 2019, but the 2017 TRDOR high output alternator is a "smart" alternator: The ECM controls its output based on (supposed) system needs. If, as RedArc indicates, the 2019 is an "exception" year for the alternator, that complicates alternator discussions about the 3rd Gen even more.

I'm used a Victron 12|12-30 DC to DC charger to charge a couple of Battleborn batteries in my trailer through 2 AWG cable. Because my alternator output is all over the map, I can't keep the Victron charger activated and outputting in Bulk mode. Even with Engine Shutdown Detection mode and Input Voltage Lockout mode completely disabled, the charger will still shut down when the alternator output drops so low.

This video demonstrates how, once the vehicle is warmed up, the ECM turns down alternator output on about a 10 second cycle. Because there's still a momentary 30-amp load on the truck coming from the Victron DC charger, this is enough to cause the truck voltage to momentarily drop to 7v, which completely turns off the Victron charger. This occurs whether I'm at idle or 2,000 RPM. You can hear the motor speed up to 2,000 RPM at about the 30 second point, yet the cycling still continues.

https://youtu.be/CZKsnku2grE

The Victron charger, then, isn't capable of using the "high output" capability of the TRDOR's alternator. Tuning seems to be the only way to fix this design flaw.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/vf-tuner-for-the-3-5l-tacoma.662948/page-37#post-23326969

Many vehicles have a switch to overcome this "smart" behavior. My 2008 GMC Yukon, for example, will force alternator high voltage output by either turning on the headlights or turning on tow/haul mode (and the manual states as much). The 2017 Taco has no such feature. Neither turning on the headlights nor turning on the AC full blast create enough load to bring the ECM/alternator out of its "power saving" cycling.

 

I'm working on a project to replace my AGM with my LiFePo4 house battery in the back of the cab - said house battery is 400Ah and probably going to end up closer to 600Ah at 12V. Can supply 400A continuous, and 800A for 30 sec without tripping the BMS. Can also supply 2000A for 0.5 seconds. May add a couple supercaps. Not committed to it yet, but thinking about it. I'd remove the regulator from my high output alternator, and use a Wakespeed or ARCO Zeus regulator into the pack. There's some other considerations like what to do with a totally dead battery, etc. that I've thought about - like I said, this is purely exploratory.

Did any of you find a way to disconnect the LIN connection without throwing a warning light on the dash? I'm probably going to end up reverse engineering the LIN messages if I can't find anything soon.