So it's that time of year again where my F-250 starts trying to imitate an EV, getting plugged into the wall overnight before I want to use it. Honestly it should be getting that treatment with a bettery tender year round, but I neglect to do it. Chief problem with both is laziness and lack of forethought. I just don't think about, or feel like, popping the hood to hook up the tender when I park the truck and its often days or weeks between uses. With the block heater I don't think about it early enough to help, or don't want to get out int he cold and dark to plug it in.

It keeps popping into my head that I wish I could just plug in one cord and take care of both. Have a shore power inlet on the front or rear bumper like some of you have used, and let it feed both. Park the truck, plug in one cord, and done until next drive.

Of course the problems with this are two fold, power and time (which is also power). Those NOCO shore power inlets are rated at 15 amps. My NOCO charger is 5 amps (GENIUS5) and the block heaters appear to be around 9 amps of draw. That's a fair bit of load for a shore power inlet. The time aspect come from the fact that most of the time the block heater isn't needed, and when it is it's only for a short period of time. That's a lot of power wasted if used longer than necessary.

At the moment my best solution is to wire the truck up like christmas lights. Shore power outlet in bumper. Then use a weatherproof remote control (bluetooth or wi/fi) remote outlet. If I went with a dual outlet I could wirelessly switch between tender and heater. Single remote control outlet I'd just use it for the block heater and leave the tender running all of the time. If doing the latter I'd probably but one of the two channel Noco 2amp two channel tenders to mount in the truck.

Plug in when I park the truck and the tender starts working. Switch on the heater a couple of hours before I want to leave. Then unplug and hit the road.

Something else that would be nice is dual shore power inlets, one in the front bumer andother in the back. Tied together to use which ever is convenient. There may not be a safe practical way to pull that off though.

Thoughts? Did any of that even make sense? It did in my head, but that often doesn't translate to text very well.

 

Sounds easier to build a heated garage to park it in. Wouldn't think middle GA would be a problem often.

 

up here in the snow belt...

I have a outside lamp that is switched in the house with a 110 outlet

When 20f out, turn on lamp 40 min before startup

No tender needed for me. Started up 4 months after sitting, with out a jump.

 

I used to have a heavy duty timer rated for 1500 watts. I think I got it from Lowe's. Saved the cost of the timer in electricity within the first couple weeks of using it. A kilowatt draw adds up quick.

 

the Battery Tender for me is a Religion, without fail.
after 3 weeks, the battery is down to about 12.3 volts, that is barely half charge.
so, it sleeps at 12.6 to 13.3 depending on Ambient temps, the charger adjusts automatically.

the block heater, if I know I might use the truck, is on a Thermostat rated at 1500 watts, lowest setting is 41*F so that is where I leave it.


I have Battery Tenders on:
Kubota BX25D tractor/backhoe
Zero Turn mower,
Motorhome,
Excursion,
99 Dodge Cummins,
and will have the Toy Hauler and Suburban hooked up in a few days, ran out of Extension cords.

 

I have a 2002 7.3 diesel, bought new in 2002. In my experience she will start no issues @ 10 degrees F. Key on, wait 20 seconds after glow plug light turns off (glow plug light will only stay on around 15 seconds, but glow plugs will still run another minute or so). Cranks & starts in about 5 seconds cranking. You are either not following cold weather start procedure, or have glow plug issues. Make sure E-brake is set, tranny in N, to enable high idle. Give her 15 minutes to warm up, drive moderately till temp gauge comes to near middle. Takes around 30 minutes from key on to full operating temp.
Below 0 degrees I plug in the OEM engine heater for a minimum 3 hours before attempting to start following cold start procedure noted above.

 

BTW - If BOTH your batteries & connectors are not up to snuf, none of my suggestions will work!

 

I have a hard time believing this really worth wasting a lot of brain power on if you live in Georgia. It just doesn't get or stay that cold down there for long enough. Where I live? Yeah the cold is pesky for a few months out of the year and it can go several weeks in a row rarely or never even getting above freezing in the afternoon, and overnight is teens and twenties. (Right now it's 22).

If you're not going to drive the truck for weeks on end, just disconnect the negative terminals and let it sit cold. They wont discharge too badly and will fire right up. If its a daily driver just plug it in and eat the electricity bill for a few weeks and the batteries are a non issue if it only sits for a day or two at a time.

 

I have never been able to notice any difference in my electric bill, even when I had the block heater on for several nights in a row.

and no one, will ever notice the tiny sip of juice that a Battery Tender uses.

but your Starter will sure notice the difference. 12.6+ on a full charged battery does not drag down as low as a 12.3 volt half charged battery not on a Battery Tender.

 

Thanks for the replies. Not exactly what I was looking for, but still great feedback. I know the shortcomings of my truck, the things I need to look at and fix. Fixing them doesn't change the interest in the project.

That's on the to-do list, but not soon and not for parking in unless it's getting wrenched on. Most it'll be able to hope for parking under is a carport at some point in the future.

Lamp, like a heat lamp under the truck? That's not a bad idea, but not very practical for when and where the truck is usually parked. It is usually fairly close to an outlet though.

Hard starting and tender is about more than weak batteries, they aren't weak. I'm thinking that I have either a leak in my HPOP Reservior, or a weak LPOP, so after sitting for a couplke of tays it has to refill before truck will start. That's for another discussion. Actually that discuission has already been had, but as long as it starts and runs, that is a low priority.In addition, it probably needs glow plugs and/or a relay, but that's in the same boat. Actually have the glow plugs, but not pulling things apart to install them right now. Relay is quick enough to replace that I might pick one up in the next week or two. I don't really suspect it, but it wouldn't hurt to have a spare. (I know AIH relay, but I don't know that it works either. Maybe I'll pull out the multimeter or test light.)

Having topped up batteries helps after sitting, and the tender helps to preserve the battery life. Block warmer makes it easier to start and quicker heat in the colder months. Might not spend much time in the teens, but to us down here, the 20s and 30s is friggin cold.

If I were driving it daily I'd definitely consider something like that. Though in my climate if I were driving it daily, I probably even be considering this. The source of the problem, if not glow plug related, is likely the draining HPOP reservior mentioned above. If not for those it would probably start easily every time. I'd still like to have a single plug in for both block heater and battery tender, and a remote for the block heater for quicker warm up (or atleast heat) during the colder months.

First, its manual transmission, so no "N, to enable high idle." Do have a hydra installed that bumped up idle speed some. Also have a high idle setting programmed in if I'd remember which one it is.

Second, I do know and follow the cold weather starting procedure. I also suspect a glow plug problem, either relay or plugs themselves. As long as the truck is starting, it is not very high on my list of things to do at the moment.

Installing a new thermostat is also on the on the list, but again, not high priority. I suspect that it is stuck open because it has never reached the middle of the temp gauge even in middle of summer. Normal full operating temp for this truck unloaded is just above the low end of the normal range.

As long as the truck is still starting I've got higher priorities like another truck that need to finish building and get tuned and (at least) a kitchen that needs to be remodeled due to soft floors. That's just my stuff, somewhere in there I've also got to help dad tear down his camper and rebuild the front wall due to roof leak. Yeah, as long as the F-250 is still starting it's low on the list. If it stops starting, it'll be bumped up some, but since I have other ways to go, still lower on the list.

I hear the argument coming from someone that those higher priorities will also trump doing what I started the thread about. Sure in the short term. I'm not talking about doing this tomorrow, or even in the next couple of months it's just something I'm considering. Even when I get to fixing that I'll still be interested in this. If I can walk out the door when it's in the 20s, hop in the truck, and have heat as soon as it's running, sign me up. I can afford to run the block heater for an hour or two to achieve that. I'll still be wanting to mount the tender to maintain the batteries for longer term parking.

This don't take a lot of brain power, and I haven't put a lot of effort into it. Even if I had I've got plenty to spare, got to think about something to stay occoupied at work, because the job certainly doesn't do it.

It may not get or stay cold for long, but having near instant warm air out the vents when it is worth the effort. Also makes getting engine and oil up to operating temp quicker, and makes for easier starting with the other issues I may or may not have.

How often I drive the truck varies. Right now I'm driving it almost every weekend. Other parts of the year it may sit for a few weeks inbetween. If I've got to disconnect and reconnect the battery, it'll sit indefinitely. Ranger will be done in a few weeks and it would be so much quicker to hop in it and go for general truck stuff that it wouldn;t be worth the effort to connect the battery. Really only need the F-250 for pulling the bigger trailer loaded and a camper. Former doesn't get used often, and I don't have the latter yet. Just not worth the added time to drive it.

Also considering the few hundred dollars worth of batteries under the hood, it's worth running a maintainer on them even if I did unhook them. Maintainer doesn't just keep them charged up, it helps prolong their life.

 

Pretty much my thoughts on it.

Not too concerned with the energy used by the heater, it's all of 9 amps. Barely noticeable on my bill. I really don't have a problem using it and leaving it plugged in overnight even if my climate doesn't really need it. Benefits outweigh the small electricity usage. That said I don't want to leave it plugged in for days or weeks that I'm not using it. If I wake up in the morning and decide I want to drive the truck to work, it would be nice to turn it on when I wake up and let it run the hour or so until I leave the house, all without ever walking outside.

Absolutely on the starter and battery charge. Installing an onboard maintainer is definitely in the cards, but as mentioned in the OP I'd like a single plug in point for both. One of those shore power inlets like some of you use, probably in one of the bumpers.

 

I definately don't live in this camp. If I have a vehicle that I know is going to sit for an extended period of time, I simply disconnect the battery. When I lived in temperate climate Seattle, I had a pair of lead/acid Interstate batteries last for 9 years on my Ford. Now that I live in AZ, they wouldn't last two years so I've switched to AGM to see if I can get 4 or 5 years out of them which would make them worth the extra expense. But I've never had a good reason in my head to have to plug in a battery tender on a daily basis. It's an extra level of fussiness that I just don't want to have to bother with.
Battery failing? It's done and needs to be replaced anyway. You cannot guarantee yourself an outlet to plug into to get yourself back underway 100% of the time and if you have to rely on that option to guarentee your transportation needs are met, then something has to change. My choice is to buy batteries at the first sign of weakness and make sure that the charging system, glow plugs, etc are all up to spec.

 

I have 2 Marinco inlets, one for the block warmer and one for the Battery Tender. I leave the BT plugged in all the time now and I don't use the block warmer any more since the truck is rarely driven these days, but when I did use the truck I had it plugged into a 15 amp wireless remote switch like you use for holiday lights. If I decided I was going to need the truck that day and the weather was cold I could turn the block warmer on from the bedroom window. Of course it was just for convenience as we never had really cold temps like some of you do but the idea works anywhere.

 

Congrats. I'm not talking about a battery drain or failing battery issue at all. I'm talking about using a maintainer to help prolong the life of a good battery that may sit for extended periods. I've never seen a study on it, don't care to hunt one down and read it, but according to the ancedotal evidence of the internet they do help to proling the life of a battery.

As for the battery dying when underway, I finally bought a nice sized jump pack this year, so I've got that covered. No I didn't buy it because of issues with these batteries. I bough it because in 2023 the old betteries gave out on me at work and I almost had to call for assistance since there were only a couple of us still there. Replaced them that weekend. Then the starter failed in my Ranger this year. Jump pack isn't going to help with a dead starter, but I thought it was the battery at first and there was no one around with jumper cables. Turned out to be that the nut for the battery cable at the starter backed off, guess we overlooked that during the engine swap. Anyhow twice thinking that I needed a jump at work and no one around was enough to convince me to buy one. It generally is in what ever vehicle I'm in.

For the hard starting, as said previously in the thread, I've probably got glow plug issues that cause the hard starting when cold. That's got nothing to do with the battery other than ensuring that I have enough charge to get it to crank. So far it has every time, just not quick about it. Once its got some heat in it, it restarts no problem, so no need for an outlet when underway.

That's what I'm talking about. Just with the idea of having that remote switch onboard and both tied into a single "Marinco" inlet.

 

I think Knotty Rope was saying he has a “light switch” controlled outlet that is outside. This is a reasonable choice for what you’re wanting to do in my opinion, but depends on level of hassle for adding such a switched outlet if you don’t have one (I don’t).

I understand this isn’t what you’re wanting to accomplish, but I’ll float another idea incorporating Knotty’s recommendation.

Go on and install 2 shore plugs on the truck. You’ll use the battery tender one all the time. The second one will only be connected in the few months of cold weather. If it’s not too much trouble to add a switched outlet, you can put the block heater cord on that and just flip the switch to turn it on from inside when you plan to drive the truck.

That doesn’t address your desire for a single plug or remote control. But it may provide an easier and more dependable result.