Battery Question

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

cranking amps are not the only thing to look at on a battery. for a big diesel, the thing that will get you that second and third or more long cranking session on a cold day when it decides to spring an air leak is the reserve capacity of the battery

What he said.^^^^^^^


There is a reason why all the big trucks, heavy equipment, etc. have Group-31 batteries.

They will crank and crank and keep coming back for more.

A lot of those really high-rated batteries have no "bottom" and soon weaken to barely a click.

 

[Albin]

What's the difference between a Group 31 and Group 65 battery, size, weight, power, CCA etc.?

Thanks,

Al

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Well, how much does a pickup need?

I cranked on mine when My OEM starter finally started to crap out. I never ran out of juice. Even @ 10 degrees.

 

[forcefed]

I just bought two duralast golds from autozone. They were $110 a piece but they seem to work great so far.

 

[RedTruck]

This is my experience.

If you want a good economical battery that will last you a long time, purchase a battery designed for your rig that is not an exide battery. Almost every parts jobber (including walmart and sears) carry exide batteries. Interstate batteries are not exide batteries. Carquest batteries are not exide batteries. In my experience the exide batteries don't last as long.

Everyone says get 1000 cca batteries. Unless you plan to be cranking your pickup in weather below 0 degrees F, a regular NON-exide battery rated at 850 CCA @ 0 degrees will be more than sufficient. These batteries don't cost much more than exide batteries depending on where you get them.

The optima batteries seem really nice, but they are expensive and if you ever need to charge them it takes a different charger.

Keep in mind that any battery you buy can seem like a POS if you don't take care of it. Also if you are able to check the liquid level in your battery, do so before running them. They usually ship them with a lower fluid level.

Paul

 

[Agnem]

I noticed last night that Costco had some 790 CCA batteries for $65 a pop. That was about the biggest they carried.

 

[opusd2]

I always prepare for the worst weather, the hottest heat and the coldest of cold. And getting 1000 or 1100 CA batteries do what I need.

As for Optimas, I do have a smart charger hard wired into my vehicle's system that keeps the batteries up to ***** and warm so that the truck will start in 20 below weather (then add windchill). And it has. For me the dependability is worth the extra cost.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Again, Vehicles can't feel wind chill. There has to be moisture for wind chill to truly effect it. So unless You spray Your engine down with water nightly, it doesn't feel wind chill.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/windchill/windchillglossary.shtml

Q:Can wind chill impact my car's radiator or exposed water pipe?

A: The only effect wind chill has on inanimate objects, such as car radiators and water pipes, is to shorten the amount of time for the object to cool. The inanimate object will not cool below the actual air temperature. For example, if the temperature outside is -5 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill temperature is -31 degrees Fahrenheit, then your car's radiator will not drop lower than -5 degrees Fahrenheit.


I've fired My 85 in -35 F temps without the block heater, 4 YO Die Hard's, 10 YO cables, and a crappy delco starter. It doesn't take 1000 cca's to get it started.
But if $300 worth of Optima's make You feel better. By all means, go for it.

 

[opusd2]

Again, Vehicles can't feel wind chill. There has to be moisture for wind chill to truly effect it. So unless You spray Your engine down with water nightly, it doesn't feel wind chill.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/windchill/windchillglossary.shtml

Q:Can wind chill impact my car's radiator or exposed water pipe?

A: The only effect wind chill has on inanimate objects, such as car radiators and water pipes, is to shorten the amount of time for the object to cool. The inanimate object will not cool below the actual air temperature. For example, if the temperature outside is -5 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill temperature is -31 degrees Fahrenheit, then your car's radiator will not drop lower than -5 degrees Fahrenheit.


I've fired My 85 in -35 F temps without the block heater, 4 YO Die Hard's, 10 YO cables, and a crappy delco starter. It doesn't take 1000 cca's to get it started.
But if $300 worth of Optima's make You feel better. By all means, go for it.

Not to be argumentative, but what I state I know I learned from real life experiences. No matter what the temp outside I've got to start tractors and keep oil fired heating systems running. But at least they are better than PITA LP. Anyway...

I use Optimas because I KNOW I can depend on them. I've used a lot of different brands and when I find what works, I stick with it. That used to be Diehard Gold, but then I tried Interstate and for a while they were absolutely junk (I have no idea now). In winter I will not skimp on something as easy to replace as a battery. Plus the design of the battery has so many pluses as compared to a liquid cell battery. When I need to I can just pull a battery out of the truck and toss it into the combine with it's picky Perkins and not have to worry if I need to pull out my jumper cables.

But once again, my motto is to fix or repair everything much heavier duty than originally designed and I have never been let down. Never.

I see you're from a cold area in the country too, so you do have experience playing in the cold temps. And I am not trying to argue with you or disagree for disagreement sake. But consider for a moment an engine warming up with wind blasting over it removing the heat going into it. It turns the block into a radiator and will cool it easily making it start in -40 that much harder. Right now the weather is only about 5 below and the tractors are struggling to start but always start, they have two 6 volt batteries in series though.

I'm glad you can start up in that cold of weather with not plugging in your engine, I just wouldn't because in my line of work I can't afford to repair any more equipment than I need to. In that case, $300 is cheap - especially when you consider I use the batteries to warm up the block when electricity is not available.

 

[Willie Two]

Quote :especially when you consider I use the batteries to warm up the block when electricity is not available.

How is that done, I probably could use the advice up here in the frozen land.

 

[opusd2]

I run a heater off of a modified inverter system. It drains a LOT of juice, but it can run long enough to heat one of many fluids (whatever you decide to warm up; oil, coolant, etc...) to where a start is easier without shelter or windbreak. I don't remember exactly how I made upo the inverter anymore, I will have to search through my paperwork at home and see if I still have it.

I first came up with that idea when I was driving my 1982 Grand Prix with the 5.7l diesel to college back in '93 and I had nowhere to plug in. It worked in that application, so I figured it would work on a stronger diesel. And it does.

 

[VanBoy]

I'll put another thumbs up for the Optima batteries. I purchased one of the first ones for my F150 (4.9L) years ago. I kid you not, this battery is over 15 years old. My Merc. Sable got one back in 98 and it's still in there. Both are over 1000CCA rated.

I put some Optimas in my JD tractors also. These small tractors (50-76HP range) usually required two batteries OEM set up. The John Deere batteries didn't even last 3 years before trouble. I pulled about 9-10 years out of the first ones I put in there (also 1000 CCA range)- got them when Optima first came to the market in my area. The next set I got was from Costco, so the CCA was much lower, about 850- but the price was okay ($99.00). So far they are holding up okay, even though a smaller CCA. One has a different brand battery, but it's suppose to be a Group 31 equivalent. That Deere is notorious for being a hard starter (and it has a gear reduction starter and 00 cables!). Optima actually has a Group 31 equivalent out now, but the price I've seen online (ebay) is steep in my opinion.

On my semi trucks, I have regular G31 batteries. The last two sets (4) I bought were from Carquest since they were the highest CCA ratings I could find. It was close to 1125 while others were in the 950 range. That was in my area. And for the price, I couldn't beat it. A while back, they were on sale for less then $90.00 each. I have a solar battery tender on my two semis, keeps them topped off and ready to go when ever. Also, when I use the trucks, I tend to idle them down for about 5-10 min w/ the lights off. I suppose I want to make sure the batts are topped off electrical wise.

A buddy bought some 950 CCA batteries at Costco for his 92 7.3L IDI late summer this year. Those two spins the new GR starter really fast. My 1990 7.3L IDI in my van has some 850 CCA Motorcraft batteries. Not sure how old they are as I just bought the van this spring.

I've used a regular battery charger on 'low' to charge my "dead" Optimas. Bad light switch on the tractors shorted out when it got wet, turned the axu. lights on. Those are on the batteries that lasted 9/10 years too. (Local store said there was a bad batch of Optimas at one time, only lasted 4-5 years.... but these were the 550-650 CCA range).

Clean and tight battery connections are a must. Also, if you have ever seen a lot of corrosion on your battery clamp, see if it penetrated the covering. If it has, corrosion may have gone into the cable and is cutting the "flow" of power to the starter. This happened on another tractor I had.... old owner let the corrosion in and I didn't see it. Cut the covering off and damn was nearly all the way to the other end. New cable, heck, it spun over so fast..... (and I thought my Optima was bad).

 

[typ4]

Optima used to sell blems, they don't anymore but I had some that were 10 plus years old. I am going to put group 31's in the truck next time.
I have heard from a retired employee that Johnson Control doesn't make die hard or interstate anymore and that is why they don't hold up.

 

[VanBoy]

May I ask what brands Johnson Control does make batteries for?

 

[typ4]

I will find out.
I may have got some bad info, I called my buddy and he said they ,JC ,quit making diehard and interstate for a while but they are back at it, he said to check this link, it is the latest info. and he agrees with it.
sorry for the misinfo.
check this link.
http://www.galttech.com/research/cars/buy-car-battery.php