Battery Question

[ihamner]

Where would be the best place to have our batteries checked to see if one is bad? Would it be better to leave them in the truck to have them checked or take them out and take them to a "Battery Plus" type place for testing? We think ours are not holding a charge since we have to crank the generator first THEN the truck if it has been sitting for an hour or so. Thanks! india


India Hamner
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[bamamule]

how long has bat's been in truck
are they still under war
with apu might need deep cell
taking bat out and having them tested is better rember they are selling bat to and extra charge to remove and put in
while a napa or simular place don't make extra money
but if ones bad better to replace them all

 

[RichM]

One thing you can and should do is to disconnect them from the truck ,wait a couple of hours,reconnect them and see if they start the truck and sound strong. If this is the case then it is something in the truck that is draining them. Then you have the fun of locating wherever the short is. Auto Zone, Battery Depot have testers to check the battery under load and can tell you if they are good. You might have a bad starter that is requiring huge amount of amps to crank the engine. This happened to me and I went and bought batteries before I had the starter checked. The starter not only drained the batteries but took the alternator out too.

 

[LDB]

As mentioned, be sure they are load tested and not just tested. I don't know just what they do but there is a difference and only load testing gives a complete picture.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[nightcreacher]

ok here's my 2 cents.if you have a multi battery system,like in a class 8,any major truck stop or garage can check them for you.from experiance,if 1 battery is bad,replace all 4,as the new battery will get drained by the older batteries.my batteries usually go 3 years till need replaced.when you shut down truck,make sure you shut down qualcom,and fridge,they will drain alot.another thing,have them make sure all the grounds are tight.i just replaced the batteries,then the starter,but grounds also had a problem,everything fine now.