1996 4.0 Overcharging

[Jim Oaks]

8 years out of a battery is outstanding!

Ya, but I don't use it that often.

I had one of those Pro Comp Off-Road batteries, and it took a dump within about a year.

 

[Jim Oaks]

You may find this entertaining.....

I had taken the alternator & regulator to Autozone. They tested it and stated it failed. Their tester is just pass or fail. I took it to Advance Auto Parts. They failed it as well. They said it wasn't putting out enough voltage. It took this guy forever to figure out how to hook it up and kept wanting to connect the positive cable for testing starters to the + output of my alternator. Both places failed it....but it works.

 

[Will]

I don't want to start another rant about Autozone--might get me stoned with rotten tomatoes.

A starting battery has plates with lots of area exposed to the electrolyte. The plates are good for lots of amps, briefly. But they break down under deep cycling--meaning lots current drawn out of them. They should not be drawn down to under 90% capacity.

A deep-cycle battery has heavy duty plates that thusly have less area exposed to the electrolyte. They can't put out as much current, but can be drawn down to 50% regularly without damage. So if you have had batteries for 8 years and been winching on them, they could be building up damage. I have had an old battery that would immediately smoke when I hooked just a 10-amp charger to it.

I had another battery buried under the seat in an RV. I left the RV plugged in all the time, and the converter had a 12v charger. Over the years the battery had boiled all of the electrolyte out. One day as I was running the electric jack to unhook it from my truck, the battery exploded. There was no flame, just a bang that moved the curtains and brought half the campground running. Fortunately it was before 9-11.

Yeah, an 8-year old battery can just die. That's a long life for a starting battery running a winch. If your alternator is checking out fine, which it seems to be, I would install Wal-Mart yellow tops and move on. I take mine in every 3 years and get a new one for $20 whether it's bad or not. The first one died in 3 so I figure they always will.

 

[Quiksurf]

According to my schematics for a 1997, the wire from the alternator "A" terminal is a YEL/WHT, and is fused with fuse #6 (15A) in the engine compartment fuse box.

well it was late and i guess i saw v/w not y/w

close enough

 

[Jim Oaks]

My trucks haven't gotten a lot of use out of them over the last couple of years.

One major problem with TRS-2 is that the battery goes dead if it sits for a few days. I have to disconnect the ground when I'm not using it, but even then the battery eventually dies and needs recharged.

 

[Will]

Yeah, that's bad for them too--you are taking them below 90% when you leave them set. It's worth having a battery maintainer. I have a 2-amp auto charger on my Chevy that I leave on now that I only drive it once a week. It has a pair of Optimas I don't want to trash. My dad has about 4 motorcycles and he has all of his batteries on one auto charger in parallel. They last decades like that.

Optimas are great if you want a replacement and don't like my Wal-Mart stratedy I use with the shit B2. I would get a pair of yellows for your truck. A gas motor doesn't take much to start and the yellows are better for winching.

But I would kill a set of flooded batteries every other year in my last diesel. I've had these red top Optimas for 4 winters and they are just the same as when I go them. They are a high quality thing. Last winter (or the one before?) I had that air leak I could not track down and I ground the batteries to the nub every morning--but they always started it and survived the ordeal without harm.

Batteries are worth knowing about. In a car, it's no problem. You have a low cost starting battery--it starts the car, never sees even 10% discharge, and then the balance of electrical use and alternator attendance keeps it alive for 6 years and you replace it. Anything else, a battery needs good treatment. Maybe if you have a magazine planned I can expound at length on the subject.

 

[Jspafford]

Don't get me started on how people think about deep cycle RV batteries....

 

[Jim Oaks]

Ya, I think batteries may make a great magazine story.

 

[Will]

I have a couple of ideas for stories. I'll sumit at least 2 articles to the next magazine if you give me a heads up.