Dead truck battery

[harrisgowing]

Thank you for that advice, Monti. We will check what sort of device our storage owner is using and make sure that we have the right one.

[Vlamgat]

I do not know if this problem was resolved with a charger on the truck batteries. But 2 issues for the lurkers on this forum.

I believe you need 2 chargers for the Diesel F550 as there are two batteries and they will not charge in parallel from one charger, especially if its only rated at 2 amps or less; and
When I had this "surprise" problem, it was a firstly a starter relay fail; and then just one of the batteries failed despite having always been on a charger if standing for more than one week. The batteries sold to Ford for these trucks are the lowest quality (least pure materials) that Interstate makes in order to manage the price point driven by Ford. Or so says my Interstate dealer.

[Mike Jean Bandfield]

I do not know if this problem was resolved with a charger on the truck batteries. But 2 issues for the lurkers on this forum.

I believe you need 2 chargers for the Diesel F550 as there are two batteries and they will not charge in parallel from one charger, especially if its only rated at 2 amps or less; and
When I had this "surprise" problem, it was a firstly a starter relay fail; and then just one of the batteries failed despite having always been on a charger if standing for more than one week. The batteries sold to Ford for these trucks are the lowest quality (least pure materials) that Interstate makes in order to manage the price point driven by Ford. Or so says my Interstate dealer.

My little 1.5A Battery Minder handles the 2 12vdc parallel diesel batteries or the 2 6VDC series coach batteries just fine. I don't disconnect the chassis batteries and charge them every ~3 months in storage. I'd be looking for problems somewhere else - bad charger or a parasitic drain (i.e., radios cited earlier in this thread or mismatched parallel batteries.)

[Vlamgat]

I agree that your 1.5 amp charger will work while attached to both batteries on the truck. But as one begins to fail, it will inhibit the charge to the other, leaving you with the good battery trying to refloat the bad one until it too is discharged. Over the Winter or several weeks, this will serve to shorten the already short life (4 years or less) that these batteries tend to have.

[bornnorm]

Bounder 32 Motorhome, batteries

We owned a 1997 Bounder 32H for 8 years. It was 4 years old when we bought it selling it in 2009. It had two 6 volt Trojan 105 house batteries. We always kept the Bounder plugged in when we were not using it and kept the fridge on typically about 5-6 months though occasionally longer. Those batteries still functioned well when we sold it.

The cost of the electicity was trivial.

We have a park model in Florida. We keep the Fridge and AC on while we are away. The typical charge is $20 a month. I always have felt that the Fridge prefers to be functioning than totally idle.

[Mike Jean Bandfield]

I agree that your 1.5 amp charger will work while attached to both batteries on the truck. But as one begins to fail, it will inhibit the charge to the other, leaving you with the good battery trying to refloat the bad one until it too is discharged. Over the Winter or several weeks, this will serve to shorten the already short life (4 years or less) that these batteries tend to have.

12VDC batteries in parallel must remain matched quite closely to keep them from destroying each other. Even the slightest difference in voltage will result in micro current flows. Over time differences can grow and exacerbate parasitic drains. If you buy them at the same time and wire them properly, maintain electrolyte and temperature evenly, etc - they should last at least 4-6 years. However, from the moment one begins to fail you're SOL - both will need to be replaced. Connecting an old battery with a new one will doom both to a short life. To disconnect the two batteries and connect separate chargers on them while in storage, IMO, simply inserts more variables into the equation that could result in imbalances that could accelerate a mismatch condition. And, it's a lot of work. If your goal is to save the good battery as the other fails - that only works to your advantage if you have another use for the surviving battery - as you'll still have to buy two new matching batteries.

I replaced my chassis batteries at 9+ years. For the simplicity, I chose to continue using parallel 12's because they are low maintenance and modern mfg tolerances are very close - and the OEM batteries did very well. The new ones are going strong at 5 years.