Batteries almost shot

rickeieio · December 8, 2020

I pulled the truck into the shop today for a little tlc. I had to put a charger on it for a while to get it to turn over fast enough to fire. Not unusual as it was in the 30's and the truck had been sitting a few weeks.

Dates on the batteries are 12/09. These batteries have had the utmost love. I peek in the box at least once per year. I try to drive it every month or two. Terminals get cleaned every year. I'm thinking I might need to slide some fresh ones in their place. It'll be an expensive week, as I just ordered 10 tires yesterday, and the oil is patiently waiting to be changed......

spindrift · December 8, 2020

12/09!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You MUST be a farm boy.

Darryl&Rita · December 8, 2020

Throw a solar panel charger on there, get another year or two. Free panel.

jkoenig24 · December 9, 2020

After ELEVEN YEARS of service, I don't think those batteries owe you anything. May the next set give as good service!

Parrformance · December 9, 2020

I agree with others on this forum, go to the dealer, they have a great price on batteries.

rickeieio · December 9, 2020

14 hours ago, spindrift said:

12/09!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You MUST be a farm boy.

I have a tractor with three of the same batteries (Delco), dated 02/07.

14 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Throw a solar panel charger on there, get another year or two. Free panel.

Will the solar charger last that long?

chief916 · December 9, 2020

16 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Throw a solar panel charger on there, get another year or two. Free panel.

Darryl, any brand you might recommend? When it comes to solar I'm totally clue less but have been thinking about a panel and charger on my truck.

Thx

Ben 'chief916'

Darryl&Rita · December 9, 2020

3 hours ago, rickeieio said:

I have a tractor with three of the same batteries (Delco), dated 02/07.

Will the solar charger last that long?

Until you drop it from "Terminal Elevation".

27 minutes ago, chief916 said:

Darryl, any brand you might recommend? When it comes to solar I'm totally clue less but have been thinking about a panel and charger on my truck.

Thx

Ben 'chief916'

I buy whatever's on sale when I need one. I've got Coleman, SunForce, and a few generics. For a single battery in a vehicle, I wouldn't go smaller than 15 watt, but we get down to around 7 hours of daylight, and about 2 hours actual charge sunshine. On a 6v tractor battery, I did run a 5 watt for several years. The smaller panels won't need a charge controller, as the days aren't sunny enough to cook a battery. Once you get to about 50 panels on a single or dual battery bank, then it's time to look at controllers.

steiny93 · December 9, 2020

11 years on batteries without a tender being started every few weeks is doing very very well.

Add a tender (solar or powered) to extend them a bit if you want; but 11 years is a good run.

rickeieio · December 9, 2020

28 minutes ago, steiny93 said:

11 years on batteries without a tender being started every few weeks is doing very very well.

Add a tender (solar or powered) to extend them a bit if you want; but 11 years is a good run.

That's what I'm thinking too. I will say, I don't buy cheap batteries. I have in the past, and I find paying a little more up front yields a good return on investment. I picked up 4 new Delco 31TS, 950 cca this morning for a net cost of $365. Divided by 11 years = not too bad.

Parrformance · December 9, 2020

365/4=$91.25 not really expensive.

$277 each Yellow Top, 2 in Dodge, 1 in Jeep, and, Blue Top in camper.

But I get 10-12 years out of them so, pretty cheap.

rickeieio · December 9, 2020

I put a red top in a tractor this year. A neighbor runs nothing but, and convinced me to give them a try. He's putting one red top in place of two 6v in tractors.

jenandjon · December 12, 2020

I dont stick to one brand of battery. We have numerous tractors, trucks and pickups. Some have John Deere batteries, Napa, Interstate and Paccar. I haven't seen one brand out last the other enough to stay with one brand. Had to put new batteries in the combine and its only 4 years old. Actually had pretty good luck with Paccar brand but I think they were like $180. Dont quote me on that but they were pretty high.

I got a bad battery in my HDT. I has Alliance brand. I never heard of them before but they lasted 7 years so I went back with them. From Freightliner they are 80 something bucks. By far cheaper than any of the above. I have a cattle truck with junk batteries so its going to get alliance. It sits a lot so this may be a good test.

I need batteries in my ford. Id like to throw a pair of alliance in it but group 31 is too tall by an inch. So instead of getting away with 80 bucks I'm going to have to spend 130 apiece. It has motorcraft in it but I'm either going with Napa or Die Hard from car quest.

Anything past 7 years on a battery around here is a bonus.

Edited December 12, 2020 by jenandjon

lappir · December 12, 2020

My Volvo came with 4 batteries in it, that's a lot to replace and after doing it once I decided to cut down to just two. The truck sits for the majority of the time and I had a battery maintainer attached but had to keep it where there wasn't electricity for a while and you know what happened. One of the batteries went bad and brought the other one to it's level. I replaced two and kept the single good one as a independent battery for my motorcycle lift. Also put a shut off switch in and switched to a small trickle charger that I move from battery to battery every couple weeks allowing for a slight discharge before a recharge. Now if I can just keep close enough to the power outlet.

Rod