dual batteries revisited....

[RootBreaker]

so I havent been up here in a while... so busy...
tonight I got bored and worked on the truck a bit..
glad I did.. I see I broke my winch already.. havent even used it yet..
I used 3/0 cable and it wont bend nicely to fit in the winch.. so I ended up going out the top and bending the cable... well something rolled onto it in the bed and pushed hard on the cable... broke one of my solenoids... so now I see I gotta get to it.. replace the solenoid and get the wire situation straightened out...

now on to what I was gonna originally say...
since I bought the ramsey patriot 15k... it draws 468A max load.... well when I got it all done.. I went to real the 90' of cable in.. with my truck running, dual 1000ca batteries and a 63A alternator... I killed both batteries at 40' of cable spooled.... well this is a problem... I want this winch to pull me out if I get stuck and the truck shuts off..... so 90A draw with no load and a 63A battery isnt even gonna do me good with the truck running...
so I tell this to my father and he says.. I got 2 batteries that are new (sitting for 2 years), never used and he had to get rid of them... so I asked him the stats... he said they were for a Ford LM8000 to which they got rid of.... Well I picked them up and BOY ARE THEY BIG!!!!
9" high x 12" wide x 19" long
395 reserve minutes
1200CCA!!!!
so my stock 1000ca batteries are 195 reserve minutes...x 2 = 390 reserve minutes vs 395 x 2 = 790 reserve minutes....
so now I gotta figure out how to mount them in the bed... they arent mounted yet but I made the mount... took a piece of metal ( old street sign metal ) that my father gave me as they get rid of that stuff all the time.... and cut it up.. welded together...
It isnt done though.. tomorrow I am going to the metal shop and get some threaded rod... one for each side with nuts to clamp down.... this is how it will look when all done ( minus in the truck )

some bitzes are big... and heavy.. what you think?
I gotta get 3/0 ends where I can join the 2 batteries together... basically a cable go to the first that also goes to second....
now where to get the 3/0 T style pieces....

 

[RootBreaker]

oh yeah I have a 90A isolator.. probably going to use that.. and bump my alt up to a 80A...
so dual 1000ca duralast gold autozones for the truck and those for the winch......

 

[ryoken]

they look like the D series batteries we run in the boats for diesels... always a bear replacing them.. sucks hauling an 80lb battery out of a bildge.. not to mention most boats run 4 to 6 of em...

you should just splurge and go for some 150 amp alt, no worries there...

 

[RootBreaker]

they look like the D series batteries we run in the boats for diesels... always a bear replacing them.. sucks hauling an 80lb battery out of a bildge.. not to mention most boats run 4 to 6 of em...

you should just splurge and go for some 150 amp alt, no worries there...

true that on the alt.. my biggest thing is I want to be able to pull the truck out on its own.. POWERED OFF!!!!

I have the stuff to do the pontiac trans sport swap.... but just havent done it....
my 63a alt is like 15a at idle... and the 140 pontiac is like 35a... I think the rule is 1/4 of max at idle...

 

[opfor2]

oh yeah I have a 90A isolator.. probably going to use that.. and bump my alt up to a 80A...
so dual 1000ca duralast gold autozones for the truck and those for the winch......

I would get like a 200 amp alt for them there batteries

 

[2Dogs]

Something does not sound right with your current setup - even with the engine off you should be able to spool in all the cable under no/light loads.....


You will need to upgrade the alt someday.

 

[6.2Blazer]

Something does not sound right with your current setup - even with the engine off you should be able to spool in all the cable under no/light loads.....


You will need to upgrade the alt someday.

I agree. Find out what's going on first before messing with the extra two big batteries.

 

[original balzer]

i totaly agree somethings wrong here.
first off you havent mentioned is that 1200cca combined or single? im asumeing combined as i have had d class batts in my dump truck and would remember if they was 1200cca single. i just did dual batt setup in my 77 gmc i used 2/0 cables and 2 red top optimas. combined i have 1600cca and 2000 reserve amps. acording to my calculations thats plenty to run warns 16.5 winch, engine off, for about 3 hours. i also went to a gear reduction starter and had them build me an externaly regulated big body alt. It puts out about 210amps, the regulator is bolted to the back of the alt. i dont have it installed yet because all i have is the small body alt mounts and need to fab mounts for the big body alt. i know theres a name and a size for the alt im running but i cant think of it right now.

as a side note my alt/starter guys have a guy working for them that used to work building optimas who told me the colored tops are a gimmick. he says red yellow or blue top optimas are the exact same batt only tested differntly to get the desired result. so for those of you looking at optimas dont spend more for a yellow or blue top when the red top is the exact same.

i think you have ground issues make sure you have good ground to the engine block and from thre engine block to the frame also a good 8g ground wire from the block to the body/cab for all your grounds inside. i learned this from the alt/starter shop because after i got dual batts my sterio system still made my headlights dim to the beat of the musicand they told me a poor ground or not enough ground actualy uses MORE power to operate elec. components then a fully well grounded system. now that i have good grounds everywhere the need to be i have all the electricity i can use and more. sorry this was so long.

balzer

 

[RootBreaker]

i totaly agree somethings wrong here.
first off you havent mentioned is that 1200cca combined or single? im asumeing combined as i have had d class batts in my dump truck and would remember if they was 1200cca single. i just did dual batt setup in my 77 gmc i used 2/0 cables and 2 red top optimas. combined i have 1600cca and 2000 reserve amps. acording to my calculations thats plenty to run warns 16.5 winch, engine off, for about 3 hours. i also went to a gear reduction starter and had them build me an externaly regulated big body alt. It puts out about 210amps, the regulator is bolted to the back of the alt. i dont have it installed yet because all i have is the small body alt mounts and need to fab mounts for the big body alt. i know theres a name and a size for the alt im running but i cant think of it right now.

as a side note my alt/starter guys have a guy working for them that used to work building optimas who told me the colored tops are a gimmick. he says red yellow or blue top optimas are the exact same batt only tested differntly to get the desired result. so for those of you looking at optimas dont spend more for a yellow or blue top when the red top is the exact same.

i think you have ground issues make sure you have good ground to the engine block and from thre engine block to the frame also a good 8g ground wire from the block to the body/cab for all your grounds inside. i learned this from the alt/starter shop because after i got dual batts my sterio system still made my headlights dim to the beat of the musicand they told me a poor ground or not enough ground actualy uses MORE power to operate elec. components then a fully well grounded system. now that i have good grounds everywhere the need to be i have all the electricity i can use and more. sorry this was so long.

balzer

thanks for the replies.. guess I will work on it before going with these batteries.. they were free so hell I could turn thim into a portable welder...

now they are class d batteries.. that is what the guy at napa said...
also the specs were from napa...
1200CCA Each
395 reserve minutes EACH

Also 3hrs on dual batteries I really dont see you getting that long of a time on it...

what I will do is try and get my wiring messed with and the battery draw fixed first.... then go get the truck stuck and see how it does ....


Here is my grounding situation...

passenger side battery ground to alt bracket
motor to cab
driver side battery ground to motor (header bolt)
headlights are grounded to radiator support... each side... driver and passenger
Winch ground is from second battery 3/0 cable, straight to winch to which is mounted to a piece of 12" wide x 35" long C Channel thus tying the driver side battery to the frame.....
I got grounds all over the place!!!!!