Question on Battery Maintenance

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Feb 2, 2016 | 06:51 AM

jlillie

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Mountain Pass

Joined: Nov 2002

Posts: 242

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From: Cape Coral USA

Question on Battery Maintenance

I would like to get a full charge on my batteries. Should they be disconnected when I hook the battery charger up?
Another question comes to mind; are the batteries hooked up in parallel or are they setup on the 6.0 to different areas of the electrical system?
The truck is new to me. Both batteries are Sears Gold and were purchased at same time almost 2 years old to the day. I swore off sears batteries several years ago so not very happy to find them in this truck.
After getting a full charge on them, I think I'll take them out and get a load test on each.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks,

Feb 2, 2016 | 07:12 AM

69cj

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Joined: Jul 2005

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From: Middle Tn.

The batterys are in parallel so you can put the charger on either one.

Feb 2, 2016 | 08:49 AM

Tedster9

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Joined: Apr 2002

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From: Waterloo, Iowa

Sears doesn't make batteries though? I believe the Die Hard gold are East Penn (Deka) manufacture. Good stuff.

I'd be inclined to remove them and clean everything up, and charge individually to 100%. Once they are both on the same sheet of music they could be charged and maintained as a single battery. When they get mismatched badly one is going to hog all the current and outgas excessively.

Feb 2, 2016 | 08:57 AM

texastech_diesel

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Joined: Jun 2007

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From: Breckenridge, TX

I put them on the big charger separately so I can load test them separately without wondering the wiring interfered; but I use the trickle charger on the driver's side one with both in the truck.

Feb 2, 2016 | 12:24 PM

jlillie

Thread Starter

Mountain Pass

Joined: Nov 2002

Posts: 242

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From: Cape Coral USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tedster9

Sears doesn't make batteries though? I believe the Die Hard gold are East Penn (Deka) manufacture. Good stuff.

Wikipedia says the die hard platinum line (Gold?) is made by Johnson Controls which also makes Duralast, and 20 other brands. Ironically, i recently had to take back a Duralast that was still under warranty. My personal name for Duralast is "DuraDontLast" but not for the batteries, for their ball joints and brake shoes (china made crap) but i degress.
In any case, it is comforting to know the previous owner spent the extra money to put top-o-line batteries in as well as top-o-line Michelin tires. This was one of the selling points - I knew he took care of the truck.

Feb 2, 2016 | 12:48 PM

Tedster9

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Joined: Apr 2002

Posts: 19,311

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From: Waterloo, Iowa

The "platinum" line used to be relabeled Odyssey AGM, the "gold" line were regular ca/ca maintenance free by Deka. This is just one of the problems with the "what battery should I buy" questions because none of the major vendors manufactures batteries and what somebody purchased ten years ago doesn't necessarily mean squat today. They change suppliers.

Some folks run nothing but used $20 junkyard pulls and are happy with them. I try to buy fresh stock and always keep them charged up, and replace them prior to failure.