Today was all about researching how to swap out the valve cover gaskets on my Toyota Tacoma truck…. among other things.  I also spent a good bit of time running around buying some last minute parts and consumables for this rather big task that I am about to undertake.

One thing I wanted to report on quickly though –although I actually did this very late last night– is that by using a spare 15-pin D-Sub connector that I had on hand, I was able to hook up the TCW IBBS unit [on pins 5 & 9] to my Odyssey PC680 battery to charge the internal IBBS battery.

Now, the IBBS manual says that the unit should be charged anytime it’s left in a storage state for over 9 months.  Well, I don’t remember exactly when I got this IBBS unit, but it’s been well over a year, and maybe nearing 2 years . . . so I figured it was due some attention to ensure I didn’t let the battery get too low.

To ensure the Odyssey PC680 battery was in good shape to provide a continuous charge to the IBBS unit, I hooked up the PC680 to its charger.  I then clamped the 22AWG IBBS charging leads to the battery terminals.

I spoke with Bob from TCW to check on the exact method to check the IBBS voltage level without it being installed into the aircraft’s electrical system.  The insider trick is that pins 1 and 9 need to be spliced together, then the multi-meter probes are placed between combined pins 1 & 9 and pin 15 to read the actual internal IBBS voltage.  Bob said the voltage should be between 13.5 and 14.5 volts.  Mine was 13.9 volts, so I’m thinking all is ok.

Alright, back to my truck repair shenanigans!