Maintaining battery life

[Viper1]

I drive a 2017 Longhorn and this is my first diesel. When I rode motorcycles I would keep a battery tender on my motorcycle which always gave me a charged better and longer battery life. My Ram may sit for two weeks or longer before being driven. With there being two batteries my questions are:
1. Can I trickle charge both at same time and if so does it matter which battery the charger goes on.
2. Does anyone have a preference of brand names?
3. Has anyone mounted a trickle charger in the engine compartment and if so where? I would run the power cord out by the engine block heater.
With my diesel sitting for 2-3 weeks are there any other measures I need to take to prevent problems. This is a great site. Thanks

 

[dougsram]

I've used a Battery Tender Junior (bought on Amazon for $20) on my 2011 since new. The original batteries are still going strong. My Ram is strictly used for towing and hauling, so it sits for a few weeks most of the time in between traveling. Because my wall outlet in the garage is closer to the passenger side, I connect the positive to the passenger side and the negative to the engine lift eye for ground. That charges both batteries since they are hooked up in parallel. I've read where some have mounted a cable through the wheel well so they don't have to open the hood. I usually check fluid levels when charging, so opening the hood is part of the process. Check your water level at least twice a year (use only distilled water to add) and make sure your cable connectors are clean and posts lubed. I've found my tender warns me of a battery going bad if it doesn't achieve a full charge overnight or at all.

 

[nukegm]

agree with above reply. i have 9 cars/trucks. battery tenders on every one. hook to either battery. doesnt matter. my 02 diesel is on its second set of batteries in 16 years. i credit battery tender for long life. amazon is where i got my chargers. cheers comrades!

 

[dougsram]

Newest version of Battery Tender Junior on Amazon is $26 with free shipping. Guess inflation has its affects over 7 years. Battery Tender 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V, 0.75A Battery Charger.

 

[dougsram]

Off subject a little, but I bought half a dozen or so of these for family a few years ago for Christmas gifts. Not fun gifts, but very practical.

 

[nukegm]

ps. i have mounted another version of a battery tender on a 1986 military k5 blazer on the inner fender, and have the cord coming out next to the block heater cord.....

 

[Cummins12V98]

For two weeks a tender should not be needed!

 

[Removed at users request]

Viper1,
Battery chargers of any kind are designed to charge/maintain one battery only. If they could charge more than one at a time they would come with two or more sets of leads so you could hook up to two or more batteries at the same time. Why?
Simply put...Any charging device with more than one battery will track the batteries charge(voltage). If a battery goes bad (lower battery charge) than the good battery then the battery charger will increase the amount of voltage/amperage to bring it up to the proper charge level. The good battery will be overcharged. An overcharged battery can and will boil. When this good battery boils the excess/overflow
pours out of the battery wherever it finds an outlet. If your battery is in your vehicles engine compartment with this, what a mess it is.
AND a boiled battery has a chemical change that produces a Hydrogen gas (reads explosive gas). How explosive... First was the A-Bomb
(Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Second was the H-Bomb (Hydrogen). 1937 in New Jersey at the docking station for the zeppelin Hindenburg
(Germany). This burst into flames in air at the dock and burnt to the ground. Hydrogen gas was used to maintain air lift. Hydrogen gas has been used as fuel in automobiles.
Driving your baby, with hopefully an eye on your batteries charge level, you will know when you have a problem. With an outside source charger/tender are you there to watch it all the time? I think not.
Boiled batteries produce Hydrogen gas and that gives off a distinct smell of rotten eggs. Hydrogen gas does spark at around 800-900 degrees F.
When you charge in your vehicles engine compartment air circulation is important. Circulate any gases out of the engine compartment so they don't linger. It is your vehicle, your batteries, your time and your money. Always learn both sides in order to make a learned decision.
I have dealt with a lot of boiled batteries and one battery that blew up (I saw it blow). One battery charger/one battery only. I use C-TEK chargers due to their low amps. They do take time to bring up to a full charge and maintain at same. They do sulfating and some do a regen phase. To each his own.
Need more info let me know.

 

[jhenderson]

If that’s so, why does your truck only charge the pass side battery while monitoring the drivers battery?

 

[dougsram]

Chopsuey, I can't help myself concerning your hydrogen comments. As a retired Explosive Ordnance Disposal Tech., I have a understanding of hand grenades to nuclear weapons. Isotopes of hydrogen such as Tritium and Deuterium (created in nuclear reactors) are employed in nuclear weapons to create fusion or a Hydrogen bomb. Fusion requires fission of nuclear material (enriched uranium and or plutonium) to join the isotopes of hydrogen together. Hydrogen gas that is created during the charging of a lead-acid battery and is an explosive gas. Big difference between having your garage doors blown out and an entire major city disappearing from the face of the earth. And I don't believe .75 amps from a battery tender is going to cause a nuclear melt-down.

 

[Removed at users request]

Three Phase Alternators are in our pickups. Three phase describes the three stators(stationary) that are installed every 120 degrees. The rotor (rotating)has positive and negative magnets. Each magnet on the rotor, through an electromagnetic induction, incites this field into the stator. The regulator monitors both batteries voltage by the lowest reading. One battery is bad (low voltage) and the other is good (normal voltage). The regulator reads the low voltage and will put the correct amount of DC voltage into the magnets to induct, through electromagnetism, the field into each stator to produce the correct amount of AC voltage to charge the low voltage battery up to the correct voltage. The good battery receives this same voltage overcharging it. IF the bad battery is low enough the good battery can be boiled. As you are driving, etc., most will always scan gages for shifts in normal readings.
When you have a bad battery you are replacing, you always replace both batteries at the same time, irregardless. I have worked on more than enough diesel equipment with two batteries, three batteries; two batteries, three batteries, one 4D battery, two 4D batteries, 8D batteries and batteries of different configurations with all kinds of voltage. I've seen boiled batteries when the operator did not monitor his gages.
This is your baby. Believe what you want to believe. That is your right to do. I'm just passing on my experiences and knowledge over many decades of hands on.

 

[p-Bar]

Three Phase Alternators are in our pickups. Three phase describes the three stators(stationary) that are installed every 120 degrees. The rotor (rotating)has positive and negative magnets. Each magnet on the rotor, through an electromagnetic induction, incites this field into the stator. The regulator monitors both batteries voltage by the lowest reading. One battery is bad (low voltage) and the other is good (normal voltage). The regulator reads the low voltage and will put the correct amount of DC voltage into the magnets to induct, through electromagnetism, the field into each stator to produce the correct amount of AC voltage to charge the low voltage battery up to the correct voltage. The good battery receives this same voltage overcharging it. IF the bad battery is low enough the good battery can be boiled. As you are driving, etc., most will always scan gages for shifts in normal readings.
When you have a bad battery you are replacing, you always replace both batteries at the same time, irregardless. I have worked on more than enough diesel equipment with two batteries, three batteries; two batteries, three batteries, one 4D battery, two 4D batteries, 8D batteries and batteries of different configurations with all kinds of voltage. I've seen boiled batteries when the operator did not monitor his gages.
This is your baby. Believe what you want to believe. That is your right to do. I'm just passing on my experiences and knowledge over many decades of hands on.

Curious how it can monitor voltage on both batteries when they are hooked in parallel? Am I missing something?

 

[Removed at users request]

Hydrogen gas. I used examples of the uses of Hydrogen gas. Please to read it again. I should have included the following " Safety first, last and always, always, always". You can do whatever you prefer with your baby. I am not telling anyone what to do, that is each's choice/option. Safety is my choice.

 

[Removed at users request]

The regulator monitors the lowest voltage. If both batteries are the same voltage then the regulator reads this. IF one battery is bad (low voltage) that is what the regulator reads, irrespective of series or parallel or series/parallel connection. The regulator will always read the lowest voltage reading and react accordingly to charge that one low reading battery up to the proper voltage. Checking the lowest voltage is exactly how your alternator knows how to keep your batteries charged up.

 

[p-Bar]

The regulator monitors the lowest voltage. If both batteries are the same voltage then the regulator reads this. IF one battery is bad (low voltage) that is what the regulator reads, irrespective of series or parallel or series/parallel connection. The regulator will always read the lowest voltage reading and react accordingly to charge that one low reading battery up to the proper voltage. Checking the lowest voltage is exactly how your alternator knows how to keep your batteries charged up.

Are you answering my previous question or just going to ramble on about hydrogen gas?

 

[tractorhauler]

If you look at Chopsuey's profile, on the left, you'll see where he hasn't made any friends yet!

 

[Cummins12V98]

If you look at Chopsuey's profile, on the left, you'll see where he hasn't made any friends yet!

What are you saying?????? I don't have any friends either.

Actually I do have a friend request, I just don't do that sort of thing.

 

[tractorhauler]

I don't have any either but that is by my choice.

 

[jhenderson]

Three Phase Alternators are in our pickups. Three phase describes the three stators(stationary) that are installed every 120 degrees. The rotor (rotating)has positive and negative magnets. Each magnet on the rotor, through an electromagnetic induction, incites this field into the stator. The regulator monitors both batteries voltage by the lowest reading. One battery is bad (low voltage) and the other is good (normal voltage). The regulator reads the low voltage and will put the correct amount of DC voltage into the magnets to induct, through electromagnetism, the field into each stator to produce the correct amount of AC voltage to charge the low voltage battery up to the correct voltage. The good battery receives this same voltage overcharging it. IF the bad battery is low enough the good battery can be boiled. As you are driving, etc., most will always scan gages for shifts in normal readings.
When you have a bad battery you are replacing, you always replace both batteries at the same time, irregardless. I have worked on more than enough diesel equipment with two batteries, three batteries; two batteries, three batteries, one 4D battery, two 4D batteries, 8D batteries and batteries of different configurations with all kinds of voltage. I've seen boiled batteries when the operator did not monitor his gages.
This is your baby. Believe what you want to believe. That is your right to do. I'm just passing on my experiences and knowledge over many decades of hands on.

200+ words and no answer.

 

[tractorhauler]

Tell me you didn't waste your time counting the words.