New Battery

Time to change the main truck battery. It goes flat after a week or two, which we just can't live with.
One in, two out

fixed in place with unistrut.

Job done .... but not yet tested.

They say that a pair of batteries should both be the same model and the same age, these could not have been more different - a leisure battery paired up with a truck battery. The replacement came from Battery Megastore, who have keen prices including free next day delivery.

Forum advice was:
get the biggest lead acid you can get: 100Ahr 900A cold cranking being adequate.

I bought an Alaphaline MF60038 100Ahr and 850A cold cranking for under £100
Size is 353(L) x 175(W)x 190(H)   which fits well in the battery box which is about 370mm square (surprising smaller than similar looking modern Iveco truck battery boxes which measure up at c500x500). The height makes a major difference for taking the cover off without having to lift the locker above.

The spare connectors look messy, but there is now a protected space for fuses and relays currently on the chassis rails.

Pity the time and weather did not allow for the battery box to be painted - add to the to do list!

Comments

  1. Unknown27 December 2012 at 05:44

    Hi dad, you took out two large batteries and replaced it with one smaller (but newer) one?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark Hadley27 December 2012 at 18:23

    Yes , as explained if you read the aptly named "read more". My one new battery should be more than adequate. The old pair of batteries were not matched up, as allowing them to drain power from each other. And the leisure battery was never designed to give enough current turn the engine round. So the pair of them are probably knackered now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. brian c29 December 2012 at 02:04

    nice blog Mark I like it, I like it...

    that battery tray is not on my truck, mine sits in the engine bay, i gotta go and try make my monster odyssey battery fit in there

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mark Hadley30 December 2012 at 22:26

    The "normal" place is in the engine compartment, as you say. Rich has his under the passenger seat (due to rust in the engine compartment). Mine is in a separate box as a DIY mod by the previous owner. It allows two batteries, but I can't see that is very important. The wiring then becomes a bit messy.

    ReplyDelete

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