Batteries
- Thread starter tknight
- Start date
fr8hlr521
Active Expediter
I tried Interstate group 31 AGMs and was very disappointed. Am using the Interstate lead-acid group 31s, three of them on a single bank, and that works well. I like the Interstate warranty and national availability.
mrgoodtude
Not a Member
If planning to use flood batteries and you have an inverter look for batteries with 18 mos full replacement.. At least I used to. Turtle is the resident expert for anything battery..
Somewhere in the search section there must be 20,000 post on batteries, volts,amps,kva,parallel and series circuits, motor control auto shut off, fuses, wire sizes, compression clamps,relays,reduced voltage transformers, cutoff switches,power supplies of all kinds,generators that are noisy and those that are quiet,plus more watt charts for running your 2 amp fridge,your microwave and laptop,not to mention a case of beer your gonna need now.............when in doubt---ASK TURTLE........
I don't know the first thing about a Freightliner M2 or what kind of batteries they require.
I do know that most any truck batteries will start the truck, and that the starting batteries should be used to start the truck and not be used as a house bank with an inverter, because if you do the latter you will be replacing the batteries sooner than if they were being used for what they were designed for.
Cranking batteries for cranking.
House batteries for everything else.
I do know that most any truck batteries will start the truck, and that the starting batteries should be used to start the truck and not be used as a house bank with an inverter, because if you do the latter you will be replacing the batteries sooner than if they were being used for what they were designed for.
Cranking batteries for cranking.
House batteries for everything else.
well, i have interstate 975's that are currently 5.5 years old. you can talk all the bs you want about this type battery for this and this for that. what is really important is how you treat them. nobody or pretty close to nobody has as much stuff running off their batteries as we do and what is important is the charge going in as oppose to the charge going out. if you have a generator then let it run always to charge your batteries. none off this draining down then charging back up. do it this way and you will get 5 years out of batteries also. decharging is what kills batteries. keep them alive and they will last.
mrgoodtude
Not a Member
5 Years? WOW (not being sarcastic). I agree with you on the recharge/discharge killing the batteries. My broad point was every operation is different. Genset's are not infallible, low voltage recharge can fail and if they do, probably will do so when your enjoying home time. Due diligence is the key, by as you said "charge your batteries" but.. For that one week your truck is in the shop twice a year, and Mr Goodwrench doesn't care about the life of your batteries, a warranty Can be a lifesaver.
Batteries don't die, their owners kill them. Words to live by.
The most common ways owners kill batteries is using a battery in a way that it is not designed to be used, such as using cranking batteries as if they were a deep cycle battery bank, or as in the case of truck batteries, which are hybrid cranking and deep cycle, using them as if they are genuine deep cycle batteries drawing more amps than they can handle for too long a period of time.
Truck batteries and marine deep cycle batteries are internally identical (the only difference is the terminals). They are designed both for cranking the engine, and for low amp draws of 5 amps or less for extended periods (the lower the draw, the longer the period), such as a trolling motor, running lights, or small inverter loads. They are not designed for high amp draws like a microwave oven or even multiple low amps draws combines to more than 5 amps for more than an hour or two.
But more specifically, people kill their batteries by discharging too deeply (lights dim, inverter buzzers going off, etc.), and/or then failing to fully recharge them whenever they start the charging process. It's known as chronic undercharging, and it causes sulfation to build up, greatly decreasing the life of the battery.
Like the man said, what's important is how you treat them.
The most common ways owners kill batteries is using a battery in a way that it is not designed to be used, such as using cranking batteries as if they were a deep cycle battery bank, or as in the case of truck batteries, which are hybrid cranking and deep cycle, using them as if they are genuine deep cycle batteries drawing more amps than they can handle for too long a period of time.
Truck batteries and marine deep cycle batteries are internally identical (the only difference is the terminals). They are designed both for cranking the engine, and for low amp draws of 5 amps or less for extended periods (the lower the draw, the longer the period), such as a trolling motor, running lights, or small inverter loads. They are not designed for high amp draws like a microwave oven or even multiple low amps draws combines to more than 5 amps for more than an hour or two.
But more specifically, people kill their batteries by discharging too deeply (lights dim, inverter buzzers going off, etc.), and/or then failing to fully recharge them whenever they start the charging process. It's known as chronic undercharging, and it causes sulfation to build up, greatly decreasing the life of the battery.
Like the man said, what's important is how you treat them.