I drive a 1997 OBS F250HDps 7.3L 445 V8 turbo. Is there a way to combine the engine block heater with an inverter, that can keep the batteries charged too; a way to just plug them both into a regular wall outlet. my current engine block heater just plugs into the wall outlet, I'm just looking for a way to add a battery charger to it.

 

I suppose you could mount a charger under the hood somewhere, running both the charger and block heater would need a hd outlet. Not sure why you would need a charger, if your batteries are ok and the vehicle charging system works you should be fine. I never had a problem with mine starting, usually didn't plug it in until it got into single digits.

 

Well my batteries are goen bad anyways, so thats my main problem, but I was just thinken about some kind of emergency battery charger that is already mounted. I probably could have just said that. Know of any really good well reputable brands of batteries?

 

I haven't heard of an emergency charger like what your talking about. Using the block heater will make it easier to crank over. You can do a search for best battery on here, you'll find a lot of opinions. I think there are only 2 or 3 battery manufacturers left, they build for the big 3, all the chain stores, auto parts stores etc. I've had good luck with the stock motorcraft, napa, and costco batteries. You definetely need decent batteries with a psd, glow plugs take some serious power and then they have to crank that beast over!

 

I could see maybe rigging a battery TENDER and a block heater together, extend youe battery life a little.

 

High price for them.... but I do recommend the Optima series... I had a Yellow Top in my Grand Marquis... I was running around 1100 watts of audio equipment on it regularly with the engine off..... Never managed to drain it, never had problems starting her... and I THINK they have a superior warranty when compared to other batteries... I may be wrong on that so don't sue me.

But right now I am running a deep cycle marine battery in my truck... This is perfectly fine I assume... Although, deep cycle batteries need a deep cycle charge and I don't know if thats how an alternator works or not. I guess I could possibly be messing something up.. O.o

Anyway good luck with the battery search.

 

odyssey batteries are the best, they are gel cells and last 10 years. but they are $$$$

 

Those are nice batteries, not that much more expensive than Optimas tho so I would go with these... My next battery purchase has officially been made, well unless something better comes along first.

 

My '96 F250 still has the ORIGINAL Motorcraft battery. It started up this morning with 5 degrees showing on the thermometer. I put a Motorcraft battery in my Jeep in 2000 and it's still going strong, too.

 

Here is what dad did. 1st: He added a little power strip under the hood it already has a circut breaker in it for added protection and he just runs a little 1.5 amp battery charger to it along with the block heater,so far it has served him perfectly for the last 2 years. 2nd: he went down to Interstate batteries and got a couple of their used/returned batteries. My 6.9l IDI is using them currently and fires off @ 5 deg with no heat and I also have a set off used Interstes in it. maybe you just need some batteries.

 

+1 for the Battery Tender idea....Its a very low draw so it can be tandemed with the block heater plug. Battery tender makes a small harness that can be directly wired to the posts of the battery (no more alligator clips) and has a quick-connect in case you have to disconnect it for any reason. I've used a battery tender on all my vehicles since day one and I routinely get 9-11 years avg, out of my batts. The reason they benefit you is that, while keeping the batts fully charged, they also eliminate something called 'sulfation' which is an absolute killer to batteries. It occurs mostly when batts are NOT being used. Tenders are cheap-something like 24.95 or about. Cheap insurance, in my opinion.
Roger