2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Remote mount Battery setup

[Dkevdog]

I know there have been some posts about this in the past, but I'm looking to relocate my passenger side battery down to the frame to make a little room up top. Anyone have any good pics or suggestions? I will go with a Gell cell type battery (replacing both) ... . maybe Optima or Trojan. I just need some ideas on a mount for the frame. Doesn't need to be fancy or pretty- it's under the truck .



Kev

 

[EricBu12]

DO this.

Go to mr bob's dist and buy the Odessy 1700 battery. it is a little spendy but it is a dry cell not even a gell cell I use this now as a single battery have had reports of it doing good even in the winter. Dry cells are not as affected in the cold as wet batteries.



http://www13.inetba.com/mrbobsdistributing/ODYSSEYbattery.ivnu



<img src=https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=5420&width=2/src img>

 

[illflem]

Kev, I'd venture to say that if you stay in So Cal one stock battery would be no problem. It's the grid heaters that pull the load.

 

[RoryTek]

Hey Kev, Rory here, I don't run my grid heaters at all here in the desert even if it gets down to the teens. Truck still starts up with no problems.

 

[Dkevdog]

Hey Rory. Still trying to get everything together on that network:{ ... ...



On the grid heater- did you remove it or just disconnect it?



Kev

 

[monkfarm]

Odessesy 1700

What kind of battery is that Oddessy (or sp) 1700 from Mr Bob's?? I saw the ad, but I wanted to ask my batteryman (works on Solar Panels, battery hookups for RVs, and batteries for same) about it, and I don't know if the ad ever did say. It is intriguing, maybe finally give me enough room for some other stuff I have planned for the old dodge.

 

[Ted Constantine]

Eric,





I have been eyeing the Odyssey 1700 for years now. Are you running one or two? Any problems? For that price I want to make sure it is worth it. What are you using for a mounting system?



Thanks

Ted

 

[Cooker]

The Odyssey is a dry cell battery, which is different than the Optimas that many guys are running. Is it better than a gel cell battery, I don't know. Eric's point that they are not affected by the cold as much seems logical, but looking at the specs for the battery it doesn't seem to be the case. It has 840 Cold Cranking Amps, not too much different than any of the other batteries we are all running.

 

[Dkevdog]

The Odyssey 1700 "will eliminate the need for two batteryies" as I was told from Mr. Bob. The Battery supposedly has enough reserve capacity to do what 2 normal wet cell Group 34's will do. If you check the CA and CCA numbers... ..... it doesn't make sense .

$200++ is a pricey single battery for sure.



I am becoming more interested in running a single battery though. I guess the grid heaters don't cycle too often around So Cal, but what about when they do cycle? Won't that create a drain? And, what about towing? Is a single battery enough to do the Cummins and sufficiently run all of the trailer charge, brakes, etc?





Kev

 

[illflem]

Kev, if you just start your truck up without waiting for the light to go out you should have no problem. The grids shut down during cranking and once started the alternator will have no problem keeping up with the demand for a few minutes. If you want to disconnect the grids entirely it takes about 5 seconds, just pull the push on connectors on the small wires that slip over the screw studs on the heater relays located down and a little to the rear of the drivers side battery.

As for cruising down the road with a trailer, it's the alternator output that makes the difference, the batteries are just a reservoir for short term high amp needs or for when the engine isn't running. If you are drawing more amps than the alt puts out the batteries will eventually go dead no matter how many you have.

 

[EricBu12]

Also the battery life is 8 - 10 years and since there is no water or gel for platelets to settle on the bottom, it is better. On the ad also it is rated to do 400 complete 100% discharge and recharge so it is a crank battery but enough reserve to act like a deep cycle. A person said they put 2 of these in a RV and loves the battery life it has. better than 2 golfcart batteries... .

 

[Josparkz]

Originally posted by EricBu12

Also the battery life is 8 - 10 years and since there is no water or gel for platelets to settle on the bottom, it is better.



What kind of warranty do these carry ? And are they available anywhere besides Mr. Bob's ?

Thanks

 

[Steve Campbell]

Quote from Wier Cummin about how he "disabled" the Grid Heaters after startup...

"Here is what I did to stop the cycling of the GH.



Get yourself a Borg Warner S320 oil pressure switch, it is N. C. (normally closed, open on rise) or equivalent. There is a port on the oil cooler/filter assy, 1/8" NPT. Put the switch there ( for the auto's you will need a 90* elbow due to the extra coolant line for the transmission's liquid to liquid fluid cooler.



For the wiring, it is only the control ground circuit that you are breaking so 16 to 20 gauge wire will work. From the switch you'll want to run a wire to both of the ground terminals on the GH solenoid coils. They are the two that are towards the firewall on each solenoid. The wire can be run in series since the factory wiring is done the same way. "



I (Steve Campbell) did this last winter and am very happy.

 

[EricBu12]

I bought the Prac. solutions Heater saver. If the coolant is over 70 deg, the heaters are disabled.



The Batteries are 3 year direct replacement, I asked about beyond that and he said there was no real pro-rate on them but could work somthing out if need to... .

I think only Mr. bob is the warrantee since he is a dealer for them.....



I am getting a new RV soon and as soon as the batteries wear out on them, I will replace them with 2 of these batteries for it.

 

[Cooker]

Odyssey Batteries has some additional information on their site:

http://www.odysseybatteries.com



They also have a list of dealers:

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/specialists.htm



I found it interesting that Summit Racing sells these as well. Mr. Bob has a pretty good price on them as Summit sells them for $275:

http://store.summitracing.com/searc...searchtype=both&v=ODY&part=PC1700MJT&x=25&y=4

 

[Ted Constantine]

ERICBU12,



How did you mount the 1700? Did you alter the stock battery mount or fab up something new?



Ted

 

[MCrossley]

There is a customer of my roomates father's auto business that owns a custom service bed company and he is a dealer for the Odysey batteries in fact he runs them in his Cummins. If anyone is interested I sure could ask him what kind of price break he would do on quanity if anyone is interested. I was told by him that it is 3 year direct replacment but he stated there was a prorate after that (don't remeber the numbers) He does fire, police, and communications along with the service beds so I know he has some "real world experience" with the Odysey batteries. I was looking at optimas myself but he is also a dealer for them and said he gets an awful lot of waranty issues with them in comparison and the Odysey is not all that much more than a yellow top optima. Also a note on the cca of these batteries they are 900 somthing cca but they have a pulse capacity of 1700 amps and I believe that is for 3 or 4 seconds which I know my Cummins does not take that long to crank...

 

[krs]

My trucks both start and run just fine without grid heaters. At first I set up a switch in the '01 to manually control them but found that I never needed it even through our mildly cold winter (maybe two weeks worth of below freezing temps). Now I just disconnect one wire on each solenoid. Having them disrupted either way does set codes, one for each solenoid, but not the kind that light the "check engine" light and I can clear them with my reader if I need go see the dealer. Both trucks start just as quickly as before and neither one runs rough or smokes after the start.



I've experimented with starting on one OEM battery but still carry both of them. The trucks start fine on one battery but I think that they'd crank a little slow in cold weather.

 

[Ncostello]

Good info on the Odyssey battery... but where would one mount a second battery if thats the route chosen? I cant seem to find any spare room unless its all the way back on the frame somewhere. That would require some fairly long wires. Not too big of a deal but the elements will sure make life hard on it.

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

Hey man I live in alaska and ran a single gel cel for an entire winter. Had to plug it in if it was colder than 10 below. Had a battery warmer also that helps a lot. The battery warmer was only plugged in when I plugged the block heater in. The battery was also not quite up to par. I had ran it dead many times. Two batteries is overkill. In the summer not needed. In the winter might need it two weeks out of the year. Speaking of which. The radiator fan is also overkill. I ran without a fan for 8 months and i was running the comp 5x5 with SMs. Dont powerbrake it is all I can say.

On old cars the batteries were charged via a generator. Thats when this truck might have needed two. The alternator does way more than you think. I pull 125amps off mine presently to run my stereo. 80+60+40. Well I have a 125 amp fuse and it hasnt blown yet. But the 80 amp amplifier isnt running full bore. I have to send it back to be repaired. Its running about half throttle.