Starting Battery October 10, 2022, 12:14:41 pm Looks like my starting battery has indeed gone bad after five years. Seeking recommendations for a replacement.
Re: Starting Battery Reply #1 – October 10, 2022, 12:20:25 pm I have an Interstate battery I got at Costco that has held up well.
Re: Starting Battery Reply #2 – October 10, 2022, 12:42:45 pm This is the battery that I had installed in (what was) my 2003:NSB-AGM65
Re: Starting Battery Reply #3 – October 10, 2022, 01:07:54 pm Quote from: HiLola - October 10, 2022, 12:14:41 pmLooks like my starting battery has indeed gone bad after five years. Seeking recommendations for a replacement.Hum, is 5-6 years about it for a chassis battery?Wonder if I should preemptively change before next season. 1 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #4 – October 10, 2022, 01:11:34 pm I checked Amazon for a price on the North Star and then RockAuto. Rock Auto sells a “Performance AGM” battery (Full River 93065), that appears to have slightly better specs than the North Star at a considerably lower price ($305 vs $542). Here is the Rock Auto link. Allow the page to load and the. Scroll down to the “Performance AGM” section. 2019 FORD E-450 6.8L V10 Battery | RockAuto 1 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #5 – October 10, 2022, 01:11:57 pm Hey Greg,I have an Interstate from Costco but I am not sure I would get another one from them. Originally they had a great warranty with a good replacement program but the program has changed to a 1 year free replacement program. My experience the last few years is that the Costco battery doesn't seem to hold up. That has been true with our Lazy Daze and my wife's Subaru.I think I would be tempted to get another battery from Ford if I had to pay retail. Steve K.
Re: Starting Battery Reply #6 – October 10, 2022, 01:13:32 pm "...starting battery has indeed gone bad after five years. Seeking recommendations for a replacement."When I switched from wet cell to AGM I bought an Interstate MTZ 65 AGM at BigO tires. I'm now on the 2nd one of that type.
Re: Starting Battery Reply #7 – October 10, 2022, 01:16:46 pm Quote from: Dave Katleman - October 10, 2022, 01:07:54 pmHum, is 5-6 years about it for a chassis battery?Wonder if I should preemptively change before next season.Many variables, of course. I started noticing slow cranking last week. The glow light indicator on top of the battery was still green at that point, and the voltage was a bit low but not too bad. This morning the voltage is at 11.7 and the glow indicator is not glowing. 1 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #8 – October 10, 2022, 01:49:32 pm Also, since this will be my first time removing the LD battery, other than removing the negative cable first are there any other concerns (not concerned about radio settings since I have none)? Should the solar fuse(s) be pulled first?
Re: Starting Battery Reply #9 – October 10, 2022, 01:58:16 pm Hi Greg; I'm not familiar with your 'Glow light'. Are you referring to a 'specific gravity of the electrolyte' indicator? What is the voltage of the battery just sitting there. If it has some charge being applied from elsewhere it should be at about 12.9 volts or higher. If not, you should be aware that periodically starting the engine and running it for just a few minutes, (say 30-45) is detrimental to the charge state. It takes a long time to charge lead acid batteries properly. Especially big engines with cold oil. In addition, electricity generation is a result of instant chemical reaction inside the battery. It really doesn't store any electricity. It releases electrons as a result of sulfuric acid reacting with lead to form lead sulfide. Cold temperatures slow down this reaction. Many times a poor or contaminated connection point on the way to and from the starter motor can give the appearance of a 'bad' battery. So check that first. And to Dave K. it has been my experience that 5-6 years is a realistic time period to start watching a battery for signs that it may be time for a new one. Like Jota, I replaced my chassis battery this last February '22 with a Costco size 65 Interstate battery. As mentioned a while back, Costco has had problems with recent Interstate batteries, I think as a result of the covid delays and disruptions in the supply chain. (my interpretation). RonB As an aside; Interstate is a contractor who selects batteries from other manufacturers. They don't actually make them. So one of their vendors may have issues. Interstate Batteries - Wikipedia 2 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #10 – October 10, 2022, 02:02:22 pm Hi Greg; Just remove and replace the ground lead first and last, Don't short the positive lead to anything, your R3000i solar controller may have a charging voltage present. That's a good policy anyway, anytime to not touch that positive lead to anything that isn't the positive terminal of the new battery. RonB
Re: Starting Battery Reply #11 – October 10, 2022, 02:04:46 pm Ron, I’m probably not using the correct terminology but this is what I meant by glow light. You can barely see the green glow in the photo. It's dark now. 1 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #12 – October 10, 2022, 04:13:21 pm For what it is worth, when I am getting concerned with a lead acid battery, I use a battery hydrometer to check the condition of each cell. Of course this only works with batteries where you can remove the battery caps to add distilled water. What I do is charge the battery, let it rest with no load on it for at least an hour, and then check each cell's specific gravity with the hydrometer.I want each cell to register a similar value. A noticeable discrepancy would indicate one or more cells are going bad. That is probably being indicated by the green "glow" light on your battery. I think the green light only indicates the condition of a single cell.Of course you could take your battery to a parts store and they will "load test" if for you. Steve K 3 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #13 – October 10, 2022, 04:24:06 pm Thanks for all your help on this. The Northstar is a little pricey for my tastes and we are over an hour away from Costco. Decided to go with the NAPA Legend AGM. Don't really want to deal with maintaining the battery and we have a NAPA store right here in town, plus I got 20% off using an online coupon.https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BAT9865?impressionRank=6
Re: Starting Battery Reply #14 – October 10, 2022, 04:33:46 pm Looks like a solid battery choice Greg. Great warranty and I like that NAPA discloses the battery manufacturer.Steve K 2 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #15 – October 10, 2022, 06:02:50 pm For the record, the indicator isn't a light and doesn't glow. As Ron said, it's a very basic float-type hydrometer--a colored plastic ball of a certain specific gravity at the bottom of a tube. Depending upon the charge state of the battery electrolyte, the ball will or won't float to where it's visible. This video shows what it looks like. (No, I don't know how the demonstrator gets away with handling the wet-with-acid indicator assembly barehanded!)I second Steve's recommendation to test each cell individually. Since the cells are in series, if a single cell goes bad it will bring down the whole battery.
Re: Starting Battery Reply #16 – October 10, 2022, 06:08:39 pm Another question. Now I’m noticing that the house batteries are low at 12.2 volts. Could a bad engine battery affect the house batteries?
Re: Starting Battery Reply #17 – October 10, 2022, 06:38:00 pm Greg, we use NAPA battery's in our 400 hp Piston Bully groomer and they are good batteries. I have always gotten a 5 year battery and they will last 6 to 7 years on a vehicle that is driven most every day. 12.2 seems a little low.Jon
Re: Starting Battery Reply #18 – October 10, 2022, 08:58:17 pm Quote from: HiLola - October 10, 2022, 06:08:39 pmAnother question. Now I’m noticing that the house batteries are low at 12.2 volts. Could a bad engine battery affect the house batteries?House battery voltage is down to 11.7. I went ahead and disconnected them with the disconnect switch, and pulled the solar fuse in the converter. Should I disconnect the engine battery until I can replace it?
Re: Starting Battery Reply #19 – October 10, 2022, 08:59:23 pm I have run Costco starting batteries in our LD for years. While there are better batteries (for a much higher price) the Costco batteries have worked fine ever since changing to the Blue Sky 3000i solar controller, it keeps the starting battery fully charged, even with the converter turned off, when parked at home. AFAIK, Costo's warranty is a one-year replacement and prorated for the rest of the warranty. I replaced one of my Jeep's batteries about 6 months ago and it was prorated. In case the starting battery dies, the lithium coach battery is wired through a marine battery switch that allows jumping the starting battery with a turn of a switch. We carry a portable lithium battery jumper for use with the LD or Jeep.The Wrangler's battery is also available for jumping. It's good to have a backup plan(s).Larry 2 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #20 – October 11, 2022, 02:01:54 am I run a yellow top AGM Optima battery in Harvey. It's not cheap, but Harvey started right up after sitting for 18 months!
Re: Starting Battery Reply #21 – October 11, 2022, 01:24:19 pm Picked up the new battery from NAPA this morning. Removed the old one and installed the new one with no issues. The old battery was down to 10.7V so definitely dead. Now I’m just monitoring everything to make sure all is well. Just a note for those who haven’t done this before. The wrench size for the battery clamps, as well as the battery retainer, is 5/16”. Be sure to clean off the old terminal clamps and put some dielectric grease on them before installing the new battery.Notice in the photo where the mice were nibbling on the battery cozy. I elected to leave it off the new battery. I’m still curious as to whether the starting battery was drawing down the house batteries? 2 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #22 – October 11, 2022, 04:43:59 pm Gregg,As far as I know, unless someone got into your electrical system, the chassis battery and the coach batteries (house) are isolated from one another. Therefore the bad chassis battery has no effect on the coach batteries.Remember that the dash 12 volt (two) are fed by the chassis battery. Anything drawing power via those outlets will eventually drain the chassis battery. This has been stated before but it bares repeating: The solar will only charge the chassis battery once the coach batteries are completely full. Hope your chassis battery remains charged but I wouldn’t rely solely on the solar charger to keep it to 100% SOC.Kent 1 Likes
Re: Starting Battery Reply #23 – October 11, 2022, 04:57:49 pm Hi Greg. The chassis battery is separated from the house battery system in older LD's by a diode isolator. Newer systems from LD use a relay (contactor) to isolate the systems. The relay is only on when the engine is running, and directly connects the two systems. The SB3000i only provides power to the chassis battery when in absorption or float modes, and is limited to 2.0 Amps at most. So the house batteries may not charge to as high a voltage, if the Solar Boost controller is diverting some power to the chassis battery. That 10.7 Voltage is characteristic of a shorted cell. Each cell is about 2.2 volts, and 10.7 is short one cell. RonB
Re: Starting Battery Reply #24 – October 12, 2022, 10:44:06 am Quote from: RonB - October 11, 2022, 04:57:49 pmHi Greg. The chassis battery is separated from the house battery system in older LD's by a diode isolator. Newer systems from LD use a relay (contactor) to isolate the systems. The relay is only on when the engine is running, and directly connects the two systems. The SB3000i only provides power to the chassis battery when in absorption or float modes, and is limited to 2.0 Amps at most. So the house batteries may not charge to as high a voltage, if the Solar Boost controller is diverting some power to the chassis battery. That 10.7 Voltage is characteristic of a shorted cell. Each cell is about 2.2 volts, and 10.7 is short one cell. RonBThat’s what I thought, Ron and Kent. Just curious why the house batteries were losing voltage (down to 11.7 volts before I disconnected them). Could the Trik-L-Start unit have something to do with that?
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