Tracker misreads battery voltage

[Folkranger]

I'm sure I've touched on this before, somewhere but......
Control panel says starter battery 12.7v but GTE tracker app reports this as 13.5v.

 

[Lenny HB]

Have you checked the battery with a meter to see which is correct. If its on a float charge from charger/solar/battery maintainer 13.5v is about right.

 

[RandallC]

Have a control/display panel that agrees with the tracker for the starter battery and both are wrong, reading low.

 

[Folkranger]

Have you checked the battery with a meter to see which is correct. If its on a float charge from charger/solar/battery maintainer 13.5v is about right.

Haven't done that (yet). Would you say that checking at the battery (under the floor cover) is the best way or is there some point that is easier to access?

 

[Lenny HB]

Haven't done that (yet). Would you say that checking at the battery (under the floor cover) is the best way or is there some point that is easier to access?

Jump connection under the bonnet next to the fuse box.

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[Folkranger]

Jump connection under the bonnet next to the fuse box.

Checked with multimeter at jump connection 12.5 volts.
Panel say 12.7v and tracker reports 13.5v.

 

[LithiumConvert]

If you can, interogate the server to see when the tracker last sent some data.

My server can hang on to the most recent data received until prompted otherwise.

Or,perhaps, go for a drive and see what data the tracker sends.

 

[LithiumConvert]

Is the tracker connected to the correct battery? What voltage is the leisure battery?

 

[Folkranger]

If you can, interogate the server to see when the tracker last sent some data.

My server can hang on to the most recent data received until prompted otherwise.

Or,perhaps, go for a drive and see what data the tracker sends.

Half an hour ago was latest. I don't think I've ever seen anything other than 13.5v on the tracker, though I don't have much call to check it.

 

[Folkranger]

Is the tracker connected to the correct battery? What voltage is the leisure battery?

13.5v The tracker was fitted before I bought the van so I don't know how it's connected up. I assumed it should be to the starter battery but the only reason it monitors the battery is to ensure that it has enough juice to operate, so could be either?

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[LithiumConvert]

If the leisure battery is 13.5 volts and the tracker is reporting 13.5 volts then I think you have your answer.

 

[Lenny HB]

The 13.5v the tracker is registering could be it's internal backup battery?

 

[LithiumConvert]

The 13.5v the tracker is registering could be it's internal backup battery?

The internal battery of the tracker is much more likely to be 4.2 volts if on charge from the 12volt supply.

I have a tracker on each battery reporting the voltage of that battery. If I disconnect that tracker from the battery, it will keep running on its own internal battery and report zero volts. It will however also report the state of charge of its internal battery as a declining value as the internal battery discharges over time

 

[Folkranger]

Shouldn't be too difficult to disconnect the leisure battery to see.

 

[fred_jb]

The internal battery of the tracker is much more likely to be 4.2 volts if on charge from the 12volt supply.

I have a tracker on each battery reporting the voltage of that battery. If I disconnect that tracker from the battery, it will keep running on its own internal battery and report zero volts. It will however also report the state of charge of its internal battery as a declining value as the internal battery discharges over time

I have just installed the DB1-Lite 4G and it reports the vehicle battery voltage as standard, and you can use the analog input to report back the leisure battery voltage as well which is what I have done. Regarding the OP's issue I have found that my tracker has a tendency to report a higher than actual voltage for both batteries, so if the GTE tracker uses the same hardware then that may be the reason for the high reading. Mine reads high by about 0.5V. For comparison I have two LED voltage meters, one for each battery, which are accurate to within 0.1V as confirmed by multimeter.

One interesting issue I am having with this, and am in correspondance with Rewire about, is that whenever it is on mains hook up it continually reports the ignition is ON and the vehicle engine is idling even though the ignition is OFF. I have connected both a permanent live and an ignition switched supply to the device, and would have expected the latter to be the only thing which determines ignition ON/OFF status. This false status seems to happen if the vehicle battery voltage is 13.5V or above. If below this, as when not on hookup, the ignition status seems to depend only on whether the ignition is switched on. You can arrange for alerts to be sent if the ignition status changes from OFF to ON when you are not at the vehicle, for example during a theft attempt, but this is no use if the ignition status is permanently set to ON due to solar or mains charging.

My conclusion from this is that the tracker has two methods of determining if the ignition is ON. One method is if 12V appears on the ignition input, which is what I would expect. However it seems that there is another method, maybe provided for cases where users do not connect the ignition feed to the tracker, just battery and earth. It seems that if the 12V permanent supply connection to the tracker rises to above about 13.5V then the tracker is programmed to interpret that as the ignition being on and the engine idling. Fine for a normal car or van as that voltage would indicate that the engine is running and the battery is being charged by the alternator, but no good if you have an external source such as mains hook up or solar charging the vehicle battery.

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[LithiumConvert]

Regarding the OP's issue I have found that my tracker has a tendency to report a higher than actual voltage

Yes, I think my Queclink trackers have a tendency to do that as well.

No really a big problem in the grand scheme of things.