mattn124

I do not drive my truck everyday, in fact it is usually less than once a week.

I am curious about the best way to charge/maintain the batteries. Can I hook up a charger to each battery if I need to, or will that overload the system with 24volts instead of 12?

My truck has been turning over slower lately, so today I disconnected the batteries and cleaned up all connections, wiped off the top of the batteries, popped the covers and topped off with distilled water (have a battery filling tool so I didnt overfill)

All of this seemed to have helped as the truck turns over faster now on the 4 year old batteries. But now I am wondering if I can hook up 2 chargers at once, or just one charger.

Also, I have a bunch of those little "float" chargers that charge real slow. I used them to maintain tractor batteries over the winter. I would love to put one of them on each battery in my truck,, I am just not sure if 2 chargers at once are ok or not.

Thank you for any and all replies

SIXSLUG

We keep a tender on the 04 SD. Its hooked to the outboard battery, the one attached at the end of the line in other words, and they stay maintained at 12.76 volts.

mattn124

I build aircraft for a living, so I am familiar with the term outboard, but i dont know which battery you mean, they are both equal distance from the center of the truck. Drivers or passengers side?

So, just one charger (or tender) will maintain them both?

Thanks

rickf

Yes, The batteries are hooked in parallel so if you charge one you are charging both. There is no 24 volts anywhere in the system. Four year old batteries are a no start waiting to happen in the worst place! Batteries nowadays don't really start to slow down as they start going bad, they just go, BANG, no start. I would bet that if you had both batteries tested you would find that one of them is going bad and pulling the other down with it. Make sure you disconnect one ground wire before having them tested, the idiot doing mine swore the battery was in perfect shape when in fact he was testing both together.

Rick

mattn124

Thank for the clarification about the batteries being hooked up in parallel Rick!

I actually tested them myself today. I pulled both negative terminals off both batteries first.

I use a Chicago Electric load tester. it may not be the highest dollar piece of equipment available, but I have trusted it for years.

It does put the battery under a load, not just a voltage check like some other meters. Both batteries tested ok but on the weak side.

I am hoping that they have not been charging completely when the engine is running due to the low electrolyte levels and dirty connections. You may be right about 4 year old batteries being a gamble, but I have had many car/truck batteries last for 6-8 years where I live.

With times being what they are, I am not going to shell out for 2 new batteries right before christmas. Hopefully I can get by with the ones I have for a couple more years.

Thanks!

rickf

As long as you have AAA. Problem is that these truck don't seem to jump start well. That 200 amp draw for the grid heaters is a killer.

Rick

mattn124

my last set in this truck lasted 7 years. Luckily for me they died at a friends house. Weren't totally dead, we were able to jump the truck from his single-battery gas powered chevy.

Maybe the climate here is not as hard on batteries..? Probably not as cold here as NJ

Thanks for your insights and opinion

zx14on2

if a guy was to disconnect 1 negative cable on a cold morning, and start it..then do the other battery the next morning, would that tell you anything?

rickf

It would tell me I now have one dead battery and then when I hook it back up I will have a severely unbalanced set and then I will find there is not enough left to start the truck.
One battery will not start one of these trucks on a cold morning. The grid heaters alone draw 200 amps for about 10-15 seconds and after starting they alternate drawing 100 amps at a time for another couple of minutes. One battery will NOT handle that! Maybe on a warm summer day you can get by with one.

Rick

zx14on2

10-4