When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
New WalMart batteries installed. Wow! What a difference new batteries make in cranking power.
I recall reading how much difference @Sous's battery cable made, and it's something I intend to do in the future. Seeing the difference made by the batteries makes me excited to see how much better it can get.
I just got my truck back from the shop, he had it 3 weeks,
started it daily to move it outside when not working on it.
I took my 5 amp Battery Tender down, and asked him to keep it plugged in when the truck is sitting idle.
his comment to me was " won't be needed, I start it every day, so it gets a charge ".
well, I drove it home, about 4 miles.
turned the key off and noted the Digital dash voltmeter was at 12.33 volts right away.
we all know, that the 7.3L pulls a ton of Amps to get it started, and 5 minutes of idling will NOT recharge the batteries.
I went out at midnight to check on the battery voltage, 12.88
it should be okay by now, after 18 hours
Well, no it isn't.... close but No Cigar...
I will need to put the big Desulphater charger on it
3 weeks of sitting alone would draw them down pretty good just on the parasitic draw. Then add starting the truck every day with the glow plugs and running it for a brief few minutes, yeah they’d be down pretty far I bet.
3 weeks of sitting alone would draw them down pretty good just on the parasitic draw. Then add starting the truck every day with the glow plugs and running it for a brief few minutes, yeah they’d be down pretty far I bet.
I totally agree,
that is why I have the DVM gauge monitoring Full Time,
when I walk by the truck for any reason,
I look inside to see what the battery status is.
This pix is with engine idling.
I spoke too soon. I put the batteries in Wednesday. Today they were drained too low for the truck to start, no lights came on, even the key in chime wouldn't sound like it was supposed to.
I cranked it up Wednesday and let it run for about 20 minutes after putting the batteries in, and hadn't touched it since. Went to crank it and go to hunting club this afternoon and nothing.
Seems like I have a big drain somewhere, or after the extended cranking (always necessary after sitting a bit) on Wednesday the alternator didn't charge and they were too drained. It didn't crank like they were getting low though, it was cranking strong right up until it started.
Disconnected the batteries from the truck and left them on the charger, I'll try to look into it next week.
Big draw from somewhere to drain them that quick. Mine sits around 95 mA or so after the GEM shuts off last time I checked it with a meter.
That's what I'm thinking.
Originally Posted by John in OkieLand
mine is around 150mA now since i found the bad parasitic draw.
get a good Clamp On ammeter is you don't already have one.
makes for Fast testing of current draw.
Amazon has them for a decent price
this pix is from the Passenger side battery, to the Fuse Panel Key OFF
I have a pretty nice Klein Multimeter, but it doesn't have the clamp type ammeter built in.
Going to show my ignorance about them a little. Do they make a clamp on test lead setup that would do the same thing with my existing Multimeter? I hate buying a second meter when leads would do and it seems like it would be easier to put in tight spaces.
I have a pretty nice Klein Multimeter, but it doesn't have the clamp type ammeter built in.
Going to show my ignorance about them a little. Do they make a clamp on test lead setup that would do the same thing with my existing Multimeter? I hate buying a second meter when leads would do and it seems like it would be easier to put in tight spaces.
yes, they do, they read out milli-Volts per Amp,
they are available from Klein supply sources, Granger, etc.
and other places also... don't matter the brand, just that you know the MilliVolt scale per Amp.
I have one but it is cumbersome, and does not allow me to LOCK the PEAK values... so, the Clamp ON dedicated meter is handier to Quickly jump around looking for high current draw.
the Adapters are almost as Expensive as the meter is, so I didn't want to do that, way too much wire hanging around to get tangled up.
Guess I shouldn’t admit to using a NOCO 1amp maintainer.
I really like the NOCO except for the special fitting which requires buying an adapter for normal SAE connection. Or cutting it off to swap in an SAE on it. I liked the secure connection for the alligator clips so decided to spring for the NOCO adapter and keep their fancy lock version.
We have lots of stuff that sits idle all winter. Typically I’ll rotate the device through them all about once a month to just keep them topped off. Seems to work ok. 🤷♂️ Josh I feel like this is similar to your plan.
I’ve had the little cheapo Harbor Freight ones that are made to leave on all winter and it seemed to kill the lawn mower battery. Not a fan of those.
Anyhow, most of the batteries now have SAE connectors to make for a quick connection. The truck does not (yet).
Josh, I was considering adding one of these behind the grill. Figured it would be out of sight and make easy access without popping the hood. Just wanted to share the thought.
Jason, I put one of those plug in ports on the front of the Subaru and VW. The mower has one too, but on the side of the engine cover.
They work great and because of where I put them in the bumper cover/front, you can barely see them. When parking the cars in the garage, there is a battery tender cord hanging down from the ceiling 2x4's for each vehicle and they get plugged in.
We have "reminders" to unplug them placed on the driver seat, but if we happen to forget the cord will pull right out of the outlet in the front.
yes, they do, they read out milli-Volts per Amp,
they are available from Klein supply sources, Granger, etc.
and other places also... don't matter the brand, just that you know the MilliVolt scale per Amp.
I have one but it is cumbersome, and does not allow me to LOCK the PEAK values... so, the Clamp ON dedicated meter is handier to Quickly jump around looking for high current draw.
the Adapters are almost as Expensive as the meter is, so I didn't want to do that, way too much wire hanging around to get tangled up.
I see. I may get one, we'll see. Might be a day or three before I get started tracking down the draw. Got a project I've been putting off on the F-100 that I want to tackle first.
Is that one you have the UNI-T UT210? Looks like it from what I can see in the picture. The previous version of this one. Can be difficult to judge the solid reviews from the shills on Amazon sometimes, so if you like that one it'll go to the top of my list ofr these.
I think while I'm diggin into this I'm going to have another look at Sous's batter cable thread if I can find it. The way these new batteries spun the engine over got me excited, and I remember him saying that the cable upgrade made a similar improvement. Could be remembering that wrong, been a while since I read the thread.
My battery time is here. Last two times I've gone with Motorcraft FLA, got a bit more than 5 years out of them both times. (Actually one of my present Motorcrafts is still fine and passes a load test). The Motorcrafts are now $249 each. Costco has Interstate FLA for $120 each. I am also looking at CAT SLA for $186 each,https://parts.cat.com/en/empire/230-6368 but they are sealed. I like that the CATs are made by East Penn Deka.
Has anyone gotten 5 years out of Costco Interstates? As a side note, the truck is not a daily driver and sees maybe 4,000 miles a year now.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
