Are all truck batteries created equal?

Silverado 2500 3/4 ton. 2007 "classic".

i

Install an auxiliary battery and isolator (glorified relay.) It allows both to charge, but only the aux to drain when the key is off. Many trucks were built with the extra tray installed.

-- Experience is a good teacher, but she send in terrific bills. -- Minna Thomas Antrim

R&R Battery. Replace truck.

-- Experience is a good teacher, but she send in terrific bills. -- Minna Thomas Antrim

Not necessarilly true. If the combination starting/deep cycle battery has an adequate CCA rating (rule of thumb is 1cca per cubic inch displacement except in very extreme cold or extreme high compression (like diesel) useage) it will work fine and have the advantage that the battery will not be severely damaged by running it low on charge (running equipment with the engine shut off).

On a truck, particularly with Iggy's useage, he is likely better off to use 2 batteries - but NOT with an isolator. What Iggy should be doing is adding a second alternator to handle his accessory loads and charge his deep-cycle battery. This means he does not need to have a boost when he inevitably runs down his "coach" battery - and he can put a solenoid between the two batteries so he can momentarily connect the two batteries together if he DOES run the cranking battery down, or requires extra current for extreme cold starts.

A simple old delcotron from the seventies will do the job just fine, or a single wire unit if he wants to simplify things.

Is this vehicle older than 1963? Hasn't been a DC generator with a cutout relay installed on anything (except perhaps in Russia or elsewhere in eastern Europe) since that time. More likely an intermittently shorted diode.

Intermittents are difficult to troubleshoot, but back in the day I was pretty good at it (and still surprise myself every once in a while when I get called in on a "stickler")

The red and blue-top Optimas are designed for automotive use. The yellow-tops are not - but they stand up better in automotive use than most conventional batteries - and definitely better than conventional deep cycles.

Which engine? Gasser or oil-burner?

gasser

He did say he had a generator which almost never came with a solid state regulator. I installed a bunch of the Motorola alternator kits when I was a kid working in the local garage, as well as overhauling generators and starters. The sticky points on the regulator was usually the problem with intermittent dead batterys.

John

Interesting. I've got a yellow top in my 1990 ZR-1. It's been in the car for about 8 years now. I selected that battery because, unlike most normal Cheverolet's, this thing is nearly all electric and I drive it around the parking lot otherwise known as LA's freeway system. Even the water pump is electric... It has twin electric fuel pumps, an electric oiler, three ten inch fans on the engine side of the radiator with one 16 incher on the opposite side and on and on and on. It also had a 135 amp alternator that I've had replaced with a 200 amp custom rewind job that I had a local shop build. The serpentine belt and pulley system were upgraded at the same time.

Now, the reason I'm mentioning this is that I've got a red top for this car sitiing in the garage. It's brand new. Should I swap out the yellow top for the red?

My '85, '90, '92, '99 and '02 all have big gel pac's in them. I did that because gel pac's have much more capacity for the same size and are stable at the high underhood temp's my vehicles routinely see. The only warning anyone has mentioned is not to discharge them as far as a normal battery.

permanent magnet gear reduction starter? Then you'll likely never draw more than 100 amps with the starter. (likely not over 80) A 400CCA battery will handle your cranking just fine with lots to spare- and some outboards draw more than that Chevvy. The older "direct drive" starters could pull over 200 amps when cold - and I've seen some of the aluminum field ones draw over

300 hot!!

Have you checked the connection at the 175 amp MegaFuse on the passenger's side of the cowl??? There is a TSB out for a problem on those trucks.

You likely have a group 48 battery in that truck - which is 500 to 800 CCA, more or less, depending on the manufacturer and model of battery installed. I think the original Delco was optiminstically rated at

600.

Get an MTP H6A Interstate if you want the best available battery for that truck. It is an AGM battery, 800cca 1000ca, 116 reserve capacity battery - and is basically a Hawker Odyssey battery. They will handle moderate deep cycling without harm. They are about $200.

And isn't the GM warranty on the original delco good for 5 years?

Hey, I did a lot of "generator" work in years past , and saw the sticky points etc too - but my bet is he said "generator" meaning "alternator".

And most vehicles in the last 30 years don't even have external regulators any more. The ones that do, they are built into the main control computer.

I woudn't worry about it. Like I said, an Optima Yellow-Top, although not DESIGNED for normal automotive use it will outperform just about any standard automotive battery and has the advantage of being able to withstand deep discharge as well. The red-top has better high current output for starting, bud is not designed to handle the deep discharge as well. The Blue-top marine battery is a kind of hybrid of the other two.

I used to work for a guy who made industrial battery chargers, but that was 10-15 years ago and technology might have changed, but I wouldn't use a gel cell (unless it's rated for "cold cranking amps") in a motor-starting application.

For a house battery in an RV, they're wonderful, but they're not optimized for the hundreds of amps or so it takes to start a motor. Unless, of course, they've come up with a new design. If I understand correctly, a gel cell isn't the same as a "sealed lead-acid."

Good Luck! Rich

jsw

An alternator is a type of generator. Even the service manual for my

2009 truck refers to the "Generator", which is clearly a three phase brushless alternator.

"The PCM simultaneously controls and monitors the output of the generator. When the current consumption is high or the battery is discharged, the PCM will raise engine speed as needed to increase generator output. The generator charges the battery and at the same time supplies power for all of the electrical loads that are required. "

That is the theory anyway. However I've seen a number of dead gel-cells cut apart and it appears that they do, in some manner gas, as the gel drying was what kill them.

Shipping lead-acid batteries is not considered as hazardous as the electrolyte isn't loaded until the battery is sold.

But we were talking about a pick-up.

I believe that you are a bit misinformed. Deep Cycle batteries do not necessarily have more capacity then a normal battery. What makes them deep cycle is the heavier then usual plates and their advantage is that they can be discharged further and charged more often then the conventional battery without damage.

Here they use "Generator":

jsw