I use a battery tender on my diesel tractor and it has made a significant difference in cold starting and battery longevity. I've been thinking about adding one to the truck that can be used when I plug in the block heater. This would provide the benefit of topping off the charge as well as warming the battery for a cold start.

 

a battery heater willl guarantee a warm battery, but it may be a warm dead battery. on the other hand charging a battery warms it and guarantees its charged, i would expect to extend the life of the batteries by a good margin doing this, as well as the starter. one thing to remember about making it permanent if the charger isn't set for boosting its a pretty heavy draw for the wiring. best to unplug charger before cranking, or you could wire a relay so putting power to starter temporarily disconnected charger from the battery. the old man used to have a little 10 amp charger he boosted the car with. 10-15 seconds would trip the internal circuit breaker, when that croaked it was bypassed, then the diode circuit that converts ac to dc burned up. so us boys got some big *** diodes, the only thing left to fail did. the heart of it all the windings that step it down to 12 volt.

 

I use a battery tender on the Grand National, and I use a Ctek Multi 3300 on the truck. I have it wired to the Passenger side battery as well. I use it everyday. I already toasted 1 FICm and I am determined to preserve my 100.00 each batteries as well as the FICM with this. I like them both and the only reason I got the Ctek for the truck is because I got it for cheap.

The Cteck is nice cause it has the LEDs in the lead that attaches to the battery to tell you the charge state. The Battery Tender does the same thing through the transformer that plugs into the wall...All that being said they are both great products so either one that is available to you will work well on your truck...and you are doing the right thing by installing one.

Sarge

 

I think a few points might be in order here:

There are basically 2 major battery markets:

One, roughly North of Washington DC, that are "Northern" batteries, and South are "Southern" batteries.

You may buy the identical battery (on the name) at Walmart, etc. and they are in fact, different Part Numbers.


Here is the reason:

A) Northern batteries are optimized for cold weather CCA performance.

This is done at the expense of making batteries out of spongier lead, which has more surface area, but is physically weaker.

These batteries, if used in the South, have an extremely short life because they cannot withstand heat.


B) Southern batteries, on the other hand, are optimized for withstanding more heat but get less CCAs.


Which is best?

The one experience I had taking a "Northern" battery south meant that in the first season it was exposed to heat (under hood), it DIED.

Well within the 36 month free replacement period.


So basically, batteries are incompatible between these two different types.

If your batteries are under hood, they are exposed to fierce underhood temperatures under heavy load / high ambient temperature operation in areas like Phoenix in the summer.

Many drivers in places like that replace their batteries annually --- and live with it without regard to worrying about warranties, just buy the cheapest one and dump after every summer.

If you have a vehicle with a very hot underhood temperature... that may be your only choice.


On the other hand, if you have a truck, notice that most truck batteries are located on the frame rails, FAR away from the heat sources.

That normally greatly extend battery longevity.

So one of the best mods you can do to extend battery life if you operate in hot climates is to move it from the engine compartment to the frame where it is well ventilated and not warmed by the exhaust / etc. --- if it can be readily done.


Now, back to cold weather.

In cold weather, you have the converse problem --- how to keep the battery warm as batteries that are warm simply deliver much more energy.

One strategy I have seen is to insulate the battery cases (note --- battery in engine compartment is a way to keep it warm if the ambient heat gets to the battery and is not all gone by the time the battery is called to start the vehicle).

You can use battery warmers and chargers.

A good rule of thumb is, if you need a warmer, you probably need a charger too.

It is NOT true that charging will warm a battery enough.

When it gets cold enough, and the battery is discharged enough... I have seen batteries where the insides were... frozen solid.


To see how severe this issue is:



As a battery discharges, it is more and more prone to freezing.

At 50% charge, it will freeze ROCK SOLID at 5 degrees F


Needless to say, a frozen battery (or one that is frost damaged) is as good as wet toast.



Therefore, when the going gets real rough, I insulate my batteries with rigid foam, and if needs be, use a warmer AND a trickle charge charger.

The foam MUST be removed prior to operating in very hot climates, or you get the converse problem.


In extreme hot climates, the way to get extra battery life is to insulate it against heat (i.e. for an engine compartment battery: foam or insulation with foil facing the direction of the heat, but leaving faces exposed to ambient (presumably cooler) air to cool it.

Many cars now come with factory battery insulation and often, a duct to direct cold air from outside into the battery.


If the battery is mounted on the frame, heat shields against the exhaust / hot side is mandatory. Some insulation is OK but there must be sufficient surface area exposed to COLD so the battery can chill.


The bottom line.

There is no way to optimize a lead acid battery and heating / cooling systems for all climates.

Short of placing the batteries inside a vehicle (and venting fumes), and having the cab warmed or cooled, there is not a perfect year-around all year all climate solution.

 

Amazon.com has the waterproof 800 for 33.95
Amazon.com: Battery Tender 022-0150-DL-WH Waterproof 800 12V Battery Charger: Automotive

Batterytender wants 52.50
Waterproof 800 International - Automotive - Batterytender.com

 

Thanks.. I pulled the trigger last night on a Deltran 12v Battery Tender Plus on ebay for $43 shipped. Should do the trick.

 

I got to post up the pics of my 800 installed. I plug it in, there is an LED that shows charging state (GREEN=Done, Yellow=Charging). With the low amp draw of the 800 I can plug in my block heater and 800 at the same time with no issue.

 

Crap and I thought my truck was the only one that lived in a heated garage...

 

Did you notice an increase in your electric bill? Curious

 

Output 12v at .8 amps it sounds pretty low to me.

http://batterytender.com/includes/la...rproof_800.pdf

 

I recieve my 4 bank battery tender yesterday that I ordered off Amazon. I also ordered two 25' cord extensions from Ebay. I hooked up the ring terminal leads to the passenger side battery on the truck. I was dissapointed that the leads are not long enough to reach out the front of the grill on the truck. I had to leave the hood popped open and ran the 25' extension to the ring terminal. I guess I will order a 12.5" extension so I don't have to open the hood everytime. Has anyone elso come up with a different solution?

 

I contacted Deltran customer service regarding dual batteries in a diesel truck. They recommended their 2 Bank battery management system and hooking one bank to each battery.

Has anyone else done this?

 

I fabracated my extension useing common 2 pole flat trailer connectors which all auto parts stores carry. Needless to say,be careful to keep polarity correct on the extension (wire color is different).

 

I use a solar panel that came with my VW diesel. As long as you have reasonable light it seems to keep the battery's pretty well topped off. I am a pilot and leave the truck in the parking lot for days on end in cold weather and so far voltage is right up to snuff and rapid easy starts. Just plugs into the lighter socket.

 

That panel looks like a 5 to 10watt output device... not bad just to balance the PCM drain...

It will, however, not do much to deal with problems of extreme cold and battery power loss --- that is what the Battery Tender counters.

I think it is plugged in via the OBDII plug circuit, which goes directly to the battery, whereas (I am not certain) whether the cigarette lighter plug is subject to the PCM management.

Help us out here... anyone... is Cigarette lighter managed by the PCM? i.e. does the output gets "turned off" after a while?