Battery Life

[389 Hood]

I had to put 3 new batteries in the Pete today. I went to deliver a load at 1 am this morning, got to the yard, turned the key and 'click, click'. Not a good way to start the night. Jumped it off of my pick-up and delivered the load. I just didn't shut it off. This morning, I took my load tester to the yard and 2 of the 3 batteries pulled right down. Dragged down to 8 volts and held there.

Instead of going to the shop and sitting half a day there, I went to the truck parts warehouse and got 3 new 950 CCA units and put them in. $450.00 with tax. Tested the charging (14.1V) and starting current draw and voltage drop. They were in there 3 years, 4 months. Anytime the truck rolls, the lights and A/C are on, plus all the parasitic draw from the ELD, the 3G to 4G converter and the sound system. All of that stuff should have its own power source and the main 36 Volts should be dedicated to the starting systems.

 

[GAnthony]

I had to put 3 new batteries in the Pete today. I went to deliver a load at 1 am this morning, got to the yard, turned the key and 'click, click'. Not a good way to start the night. Jumped it off of my pick-up and delivered the load. I just didn't shut it off. This morning, I took my load tester to the yard and 2 of the 3 batteries pulled right down. Dragged down to 8 volts and held there.

Instead of going to the shop and sitting half a day there, I went to the truck parts warehouse and got 3 new 950 CCA units and put them in. $450.00 with tax. Tested the charging (14.1V) and starting current draw and voltage drop. They were in there 3 years, 4 months. Anytime the truck rolls, the lights and A/C are on, plus all the parasitic draw from the ELD, the 3G to 4G converter and the sound system. All of that stuff should have its own power source and the main 36 Volts should be dedicated to the starting systems.

can you eliminate "some" of that parasitic draw, by maybe disconnecting devices you don't need running when the truck is off?

or, can you wire up sorta like a junction block of those devices, and have a master switch for on/off?

is it important to have the ELD drawing power when the truck is not in use? can a battery back up be installed?

or how about a master shut off switch, for the entire truck, when it is shut down??

 

[gearjammer]

I got tired of buying batteries every few years and did a lot of research on the problem,
the problem lies with Sulphate build up I wont' go into the many ways this can happen but I found the solution is to use a battery re-conditioner
the on I bought was called a pulse tech, there are other ones but they all work pretty much the same, they use electral pulses to knock the sulfate off of the plates.
I still have it and use it a lot I even had a deal with a repair shop where I traded a battery that was too far gone and 20 bucks for a battery they took in as a core and put the pulse tech to work on it, I also have a pretty good battery analyzer to check out the best battery to trade for for the best chance of success.
it does take a while to bring them back but rarely did one not come back.
the greatest success I have ever had is the battery in my back hoe it was a 2008 battery and I finally had to replace it last year but getting 13 years out of a battery is pretty amazing,
the truck batteries I always put it on them every time I was home and could get at least 5-6 years out of them and even then they were good enough to use in a lot of farm equipment the backhoe battery was originally used in my truck and I took it out when if lost a couple hundred CCA
when I did replace it,it came from a neighbors truck when he was having starting issues and bough new ones it took a couple of weeks to get it back to where it needed to be but is fine so far.
I swear by the pulse tech but the newer versions are probably better
I even have a bench set up where I can work with up too 4 batteries at a time currently only have two on it

 

[mndriver]

Seems to me it’s 18-24 months I’m putting batteries in. The longest lasting ones are the ones I put a charger on when I’m home on my personal time

 

[389 Hood]

Although it's not my expense, longevity still applies to the bottom line of the truck. The company just figured that I was taking the truck to the shop for repairs when in actuality, I have all the equipment and do a lot of it myself. I hate sitting at a shop when I know things can be done in a much lesser time. One hour of my day verses 6 hours sitting at the shop adds up, to me. I got an acre of ground cut, edged and weed whipped in the time I saved today.

When I go on vacation or take any extended time off, I use a Battery Tender on the truck. It's been fine for a few years, but the amount of vibration from the roads tends to make the plates shed more than normal. Once they shed enough to make contact with the plate grid, you start getting dead cells. A couple of dead cells in each battery and it's time for a change.

As far as switches, I keep waiting for the word that the new truck is in at the get ready shop at the dealer. While it's at the dealer, I'll have them look into and install any kind of cut off that will help in the parasitic draw. I have a 9 year old battery in a 1969 Fleetwood that never blinks. It has no draw at all on it. Not even a clock. It has sat for 2 months not being touched and fires right up like a daily driver.

 

[gearjammer]

Seems to me it’s 18-24 months I’m putting batteries in. The longest lasting ones are the ones I put a charger on when I’m home on my personal time

that is one way that will make batteries last longer, fully charged batteries don't sulfate near as fast as partially discharged ones, the problem is truck batteries will partially discharge when ever you use power from them every time there is nothing charging them
another interesting thin is alternators do not do a very good job of charging a discharged battery yes they eventually will but their purpose is to MAINTAIN a charged battery so it is a great idea to fully charge a battery before using it
the pulse tech I was talking about does have a 2 amp charger built in so as it cleans the plates is slowly adds charge as the batteries recover their ability to store more of a charge I have seen that thing double the CCA of batteries it takes time really neglected batteries can take weeks

 

[mndriver]

that is one way that will make batteries last longer, fully charged batteries don't sulfate near as fast as partially discharged ones, the problem is truck batteries will partially discharge when ever you use power from them every time there is nothing charging them
another interesting thin is alternators do not do a very good job of charging a discharged battery yes they eventually will but their purpose is to MAINTAIN a charged battery so it is a great idea to fully charge a battery before using it
the pulse tech I was talking about does have a 2 amp charger built in so as it cleans the plates is slowly adds charge as the batteries recover their ability to store more of a charge I have seen that thing double the CCA of batteries it takes time really neglected batteries can take weeks

Yeah, that’s why the charger goes on it every time I’m home. Even though the alternator on the big motor or the apu is there, it’s never been a means to “recharge” to full status. We learned that in automotive training 40 years ago in high school.