Battery Thoughts on an Old Bird -- Buzzy's Question and Answer Forum

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Subject: Battery Thoughts on an Old Bird

Author:
rtpn60

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Date Posted: 02/ 5/ 09, 10:46pm

I was looking at the limited room in my old 78FC35 for batteries. The original location is pretty good for the four 6v batteries in series-parallel, well vented easy access, and not a bad deep cycle "house" bank. But I want a seperate starting battery too. The area under the passenger side looks like a good place for an 8D starting battery and is located right next to the starter, and would still leave storage room for windshield washer fluid, and spare oils & anti-freeze.

The inverter mounted under the drivers couch would be a short run to the deep cycle batteries and keep my very expensive ProSine 2000 clean, dry, and safe. The only other bays I have is one under the kitchen with the old chargers, and one on each rear side of the bedroom. So my options are limited.

BUT, I do have some "extra" space between the holding tanks and front wheel on the drivers side and between the entry door and propane tank on the passengers side. Just needs an access door installed and I could expand my deep cycle bank if needed. OR I could use a couple of 12 volt starting batteries in the original 4x 6v bay under the drivers seat and put the 8D in the new location to free up the front passenger bay for the Prosine?

My only other variable is that i'm adding a Jacobs Retarder and it can draw up to 275 amps. On the school bus I'm removing this from it has a dedicated 8d battery and uses another 8d for starting with a 160 amp alternator. I'm wondering why they didn't just share the starter battery? Could be for longevity as maybe this large continous load can shorten the life of a starting battery? Could I run this from my house bank while in motion? Or should I also install another 8d in one of my new found spaces to copy the original school bus design? The small bay under the kitchen that housed the old chargers could be a dedicated batter bank for the retarder? Being mounted in the middle of the drive shafts the run wouldn't be too long.

Looking for other thoughts and opinions to see if I'm missing anything here? If 2 heads are better than one then this should be a real Picaso when completed!

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Replies:

[> Subject: Re: Battery Thoughts on an Old Bird
Author: Dave [ Edit \| View ]	Date Posted: 02/ 6/ 09, 8:22am Mike, I don't know if you have a Redi-Line generator in the passenger side front compartment like I do, but I just read in the Redi-Line manual a few minutes ago that Batteries should NOT be mounted in the same compartment. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Re: Battery Thoughts on an Old Bird

Author:
Michael
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Date Posted: 02/ 7/ 09, 10:45pm

No Dave I do not. They put those in after my 78 was built. The only thing in there now is a resevior for the windshield washer (that doesn't work) so I'm pondering what to do in that bay. The starter is about 12 inches from the bay so it seems a good place for a starting battery. Then use the normal battery spot for the house deep cycle batteries.

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[> Subject: Re: Battery Thoughts on an Old Bird

Author:
mike hohnstein
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Date Posted: 02/ 8/ 09, 7:35am

I have an 8D in the road side front, 4 6v AGMs and the Heart inverter/charger in the battery boiler bay and two Optima 12v on the gen set tray. They are all tied together going down the road, a battery combiner solinoid seperates the 8D when the ignition is off.
The original 'bird set up was only 4 6v and the retarder operated OK. Make sure you have lots of grounds, I cannot over emphisize the need for effective grounds, lots of them.
Last summer, I lost the ground path to the AGMs and the alternator went to 16 volts, not good at all. I had to unhook the alternator cable and run on the gen set to make it home. Turned out the faulty cable was @ the original battery box, wasn't easy to see. Cleaned up the connection and all was good. Of course this was after I replaced the two hundred dollar LeeceNeville voltage regulator.
Watch All the grounds my friend.

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[> [> Subject: Re: Battery Thoughts on an Old Bird
Author: Michael [ Edit \| View ]	Date Posted: 02/ 9/ 09, 7:39am Thanx Mike. So you're not using your factory battery trays under the drivers seat or is that different on an '83? I'm thinking of the same arrangement but in diffenerent locations. Are you happy with the 4-6v battery setup for house? Do you boondock often? [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Battery Thoughts on an Old Bird
Author: Mitchell [ Edit \| View ]	Date Posted: 04/ 3/ 09, 8:02pm You should keep in mind that batteries often "leak" while being charged. If one battery is weaker than the others it may cause the alternator to over charge the others causing a boil over. Just be careful as to where you install them, consider where it "might" leak into. Just food for thought.........Bro ;} [ Post a Reply to This Message ]