Yea, I wanted to run it by you guys and see if my truck does indeed need gas to run.



Last year I think it was, some guy at the auto store told me I have to put my Optima battery on a 48-hour trickle charge to charge it, otherwise it'll kill it. Or something. My truck was the only drivable vehicle we had at the time, so and my mom needed to get to work the next day (10 miles away), so I stuck the Optima on 6-amp auto charge and it was ready in 3 hours.

Why should I put it on trickle charge to bring it up after it's been ran down considerably, when the alternator would dump 60 amps into it when the truck's running anyway? I can understand trickle charging to maintain it, but I wasn't going to wait two days to let it charge.

Oh and if you guys ever want to get someone to stop smoking near your truck, just tell them you have an open fuel line coming from the tank, and if they're smart they'll go somewhere else. I used that today with great success....and it's true too, I have the vent line from the tank unhooked that's supposed to go to the carbon canister. Been that way for years...

lol


EDIT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4CPB...eature=related

 

I think the guy was full of it. You should be able to charge any battery at 8-10 amps without damage. Part of that 60 amps is running the engine ,ect. I'm not sure, but I think the voltage regulator limits the amount of current that charges the battery.

 

Grant, found this video today. It snowed, so I can't go to the dealer for a soundclip video.
So instead, I found a dyno video of the CLK 63
YouTube - Evosport 602HP CLK63 Black Series Dyno Pull to 200MPH+

 

Yea. I mean, my charger is an old automatic/manual 6 amp charger. Probably at least 10 years old, but it still works. Has an old needle-style ammeter on the front that tells me how many amps it's putting into the battery (reads 0, 3, 6, and 8 amps). When I first hooked it up to my Optima yesterday, it pegged the needle, a bit past 8 amps. In about three hours, it was at zero and my battery was fully charged.

If using a standard charger instead of a trickle charger would kill my battery, then how come my battery didn't just fall flat and die on me....

....when my voltage regulator went out and only let 12v worth of charge through to the battery? The battery held up perfectly and never gave me trouble.

....when the alternator died and put out NO charge? My mom drove my truck to work like this (no other choice)....when she got home and I checked the voltage with my multimeter, it read 10.5v.....and the engine was idling perfectly. During this time the battery was being ran down considerably, so sometimes it'd spin the starter slower than normal, but it'd still start the engine.

....when my headlight switch shorted out and the voltage regulator allowed over 17v through to the battery to make up for the excessive load? It was enough to blow out both my headlight bulbs. After the bulbs finally blew, the switch followed suit, and the voltage dropped back down to 14. We got it home fine (uncle drove 70 miles at almost midnight and made sure we got home safely....gotta love family), and the battery has still worked perfectly to this day.

....and finally, when I left it hooked up in my truck for three months, almost completely untouched? For a good amount of this time the radio was drawing power for the clock and presets. After it sat a whole month, it started the truck like I'd parked it the day before. Every other time I've ran it since then, it started it without a single problem, and it'd spin the starter nice and fast.


So yea, he musta been full of something.....if a battery can handle all that and come out still working like new, then by golly, it can handle an old 6-amp charger.


EDIT: Sorry for the life story, lol. I'm just really happy with my RedTop.

 

Man- I guess it's a good thing you got an Optima, a lesser battery would have bit the dust under those conditions. I never considered one because of the high price, but after reading about y'alls experiences with them, I may have to get one for my truck.
It will probably sit a lot. I have a 2002 Escort that I just rebuilt for resale a couple of weeks ago. I keep forgetting about it and I had to put a charger on it a few hours ago. 2nd time- if it goes 3-4 days it's dead.

 

wow, that is one tough battery.

 

Um, I want one.

I cant find the V10 vic, but I would take this too.

YouTube - Mustang v10 mule

Know just imagine a super charger SVT version...

 

your a cop?

 

Bill- Where are you at down there in central Texas?

 

Georgetown.
30 miles north of Austin.

 

About 170 miles south of me on the west side of Ft. Worth. It's been cold and wet here the last few days. Down there?

 

Seriously? We've talked about that many times :P

Everyone likes a supercharger
I'm sure it would be another 100% more epic with one

 

same.

been raining for a month

 

Really? wow I should pay more attention.

 

Just realized what time it was a little while ago so I fired up the BIG screen HD the Lord blessed me with a couple of weeks ago to watch the Cowboys.
I missed the first part of the game, so maybe there was an explaination I missed, but KC has a map of Texas with a star right where DFW is on it on their helmets. What's up with that?