Explain Battery/Electrical
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Senior User
Joined: May 2006
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From: Katy, TX
Explain Battery/Electrical
OK i am a little confused about the electrical system of our trucks.
2 batteries, are they in series or parallell
Is the starting system 24 and the rest of the truck 12?
i have a little battery maintainer that i have always use to trickle my batteries to peak charge state. Can i hook it up to each battery to peak or do i have to disconnect one of them since the charger is 12 volts.
thanks
2 batteries, are they in series or parallell
Is the starting system 24 and the rest of the truck 12?
i have a little battery maintainer that i have always use to trickle my batteries to peak charge state. Can i hook it up to each battery to peak or do i have to disconnect one of them since the charger is 12 volts.
thanks
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 14,541
Likes: 2
From: Dallas-Ft. Worth
They are in parallel -- everything is 12V. Anything you hook to one battery is connected to the other one, so if you want to trickle charge both, just hook to one. The other will get it too.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 9,293
Likes: 10
From: Parker, CO
Big engines with much higher compression than a gas motor, so it takes more amps to spin the starter.
In addition, the glow plug system draws a lot of amps.
When you crank the truck, both the starter and glow plugs are working. A single batter can't provide enough amps to power it all and get the truck running.
However, there are a few people out there who have bought one single large battery. IIRC, Joey at Terminator Engineering did this with his OBS truck using a gel battery.
So it can be done. It's just that for most people, especially in cold climates, having two batteries is more reliable, hence why Ford put them in.
In addition, the glow plug system draws a lot of amps.
When you crank the truck, both the starter and glow plugs are working. A single batter can't provide enough amps to power it all and get the truck running.
However, there are a few people out there who have bought one single large battery. IIRC, Joey at Terminator Engineering did this with his OBS truck using a gel battery.
So it can be done. It's just that for most people, especially in cold climates, having two batteries is more reliable, hence why Ford put them in.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,726
Likes: 5
From: Slatington, PA
To give you an idea of what it takes to start these beasts, heres a post of mine from a year ago. The OP asked what the max amp draw on start up was.
For a 2001 diesel starter:
No load amps 170 max
Normal cranking is 230-630 amps
Max load (stalled) is 2400 amps.
Add in the glow plugs and I'd guess around 800-1000 amps depending on the battery's age.
For a 2001 diesel starter:
No load amps 170 max
Normal cranking is 230-630 amps
Max load (stalled) is 2400 amps.
Add in the glow plugs and I'd guess around 800-1000 amps depending on the battery's age.
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Master of Strokes
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 6,808
Likes: 25
From: CA
Big engines with much higher compression than a gas motor, so it takes more amps to spin the starter.
In addition, the glow plug system draws a lot of amps.
When you crank the truck, both the starter and glow plugs are working. A single batter can't provide enough amps to power it all and get the truck running.
However, there are a few people out there who have bought one single large battery. IIRC, Joey at Terminator Engineering did this with his OBS truck using a gel battery.
So it can be done. It's just that for most people, especially in cold climates, having two batteries is more reliable, hence why Ford put them in.
In addition, the glow plug system draws a lot of amps.
When you crank the truck, both the starter and glow plugs are working. A single batter can't provide enough amps to power it all and get the truck running.
However, there are a few people out there who have bought one single large battery. IIRC, Joey at Terminator Engineering did this with his OBS truck using a gel battery.
So it can be done. It's just that for most people, especially in cold climates, having two batteries is more reliable, hence why Ford put them in.
Great minds think alike 
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