M1078 remove 2 batteries

[MarkM]

Here's what I recommend for charging:

1) search eBay for "24V PulseTech Battery Solar Pulse Charger w/Mounting Kit"

View attachment 894962

or beter yet

2) charge your dual batteries via shore power (I prefer this over solar because the vampires come at night when the sun is down)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08G3STB1N

But as I'm sure someone has mentioned, the 100a alt in the A0 and A1 trucks is anemic as ****. The 12v side is only 50a and so much is pulling on the 12v side with just the OEM stuff (add more lights. radios, etc and it just gets worse). S&S terribly under-sized the alt (or oversaized the battery bank, depending on your perspective).

Factor in the vampiric drain on the 12v side, and....truck no go.

But if you insist on quad batteries, get two of the NOCO's listed above.

I second the solargizer unit as I've had mine for five years and have zero issues with batteries. If you use a cutoff switch get a good one.

Mark

 

[Ronmar]

You can also throw an equalizer/balancer into the mix (two if you run quads).

Just remember that if not on the charger/maintainer the vampire will suck them all down equally if a balancer is in the equation.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09GLMCNXK

You only need one balancer, even with 4 batteries, as the two series strings are wired in parallel, and parallel batteries are already hardwired to balance a single balance will balance the 0-12 to the 12-24 batteries(or vis versa). But you still need a source of power to replace that lost to the vampire or self discharge. Until I reconfigured mine to 24v only battery bank(use a 24-12 converter to provide for the 12v loads) i used a 5A balancer and a solar panel and buck converter set to a 13.2v float, attached to the 0-12v battery. Fed the vampire and the balancer kept them within .1-.2v of each other. Worked great.

since the conversion killed the 12v vampire on my truck, i charge with a 24v maintainer now. The equalizer is still in circuit, but has no real need to do anything as the batteries are still pretty-much in sync on my truck…

 

[MarkM]

If you have four batteries and believe one is pulling a tiny load I would electrically disconnect all the batteries and let them sit for a day or two and more than likely
the one with noticeably less voltage is your heat sink problem battery.

Mark

 

[tgreening]

Here's what I recommend for charging:

1) search eBay for "24V PulseTech Battery Solar Pulse Charger w/Mounting Kit"

View attachment 894962

or beter yet

2) charge your dual batteries via shore power (I prefer this over solar because the vampires come at night when the sun is down)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08G3STB1N

But as I'm sure someone has mentioned, the 100a alt in the A0 and A1 trucks is anemic as ****. The 12v side is only 50a and so much is pulling on the 12v side with just the OEM stuff (add more lights. radios, etc and it just gets worse). S&S terribly under-sized the alt (or oversaized the battery bank, depending on your perspective).

Factor in the vampiric drain on the 12v side, and....truck no go.

But if you insist on quad batteries, get two of the NOCO's listed above. Plug in when not in use. /done

Where did you mount the solar panel?

 

[tgreening]

No, the 1 and 2 indicate battery 1(gnd to 12v) and battery 2(12v-24v). In your pic the outermost batts are grnd-12v(batt 1 in my diag). The innermost are 12-24v (batt 2).

The connections near frame are 24v. One to the starter, one to the 24v batt term on the polarity box and one to the nato plug.

Tge connection where inner and outer batteries meet is the 12v line to the 12v batt terminal on the polarity box.

The connections furthest from the frame are ground, one to the inst shunt and one to tge nato plug...

Thanks for that. Btw, what is that plug with coiled cable in the middle of the battery hold down? Looks like big old style 12V cigarette lighter plug.

 

[TomTime]

Thanks for that. Btw, what is that plug with coiled cable in the middle of the battery hold down? Looks like big old style 12V cigarette lighter plug.

It’s a battery tester.

 

[Ronmar]

Yep, battery tester. On wet cell batteries, you removed the caps on the compartments/cells and inserted it to measure the electrolyte level. If the tip contacted electrolyte, the led would light indicating the cell was sufficiently full of electrolyte… unusable on sealed batteries…

 

[Third From Texas]

Where did you mount the solar panel?

Mine's a M1079 shop van, so I have a lot of flat roof space.

On an M1078 I'd maybe mount a pole with a flat plate on the top over the air intake or something. On my M1082 trailer, I have mounting points on each corner for flag poles. I use one for the trailer's solar charger. That's the general idea of how I'd attack it with a M1078.

 

[Ronmar]

I have seen some of the solargizer panels installed on top of the Air op hydraulic pump or air filter as they are not that large. Plenty of room up on the roof of the cab...

 

[coachgeo]

Here's what I recommend for charging:
'''''''

Factor in the vampiric drain on the 12v side, and....truck no go.

But if you insist on quad batteries, get two of the NOCO's listed above. Plug in when not in use. /done

Solargizer (military versons) are confusing. They appear the same but some wayyyyyyy more expensive that another from same company... They are actually different. Priced right, the more expensive actually will charge batteries, balance batteries, and desulfate/pulse..... the less expensive the solar panel ONLY powers the device with enough juice to do the desulfate/pulsing.

Problem is some of the sellers who get a load of these at auction dont know the differences and will sell a pulse only version at same price as the charge/balance/desulfate. So do you research by model number first.

But still.... IMHO they are all ridiculously over priced. Just make your own. In the link below is some ideas for you on how to make one that does the charge/balance/desulfate. Links are likely to venders who may not sell that item anymore.. or changed the price etc..... but you still should be able to get enough detail to then search for similar on your own. Let me know if the below amazon idea list link no longer works. there is some duplicates in the list if I recall right. Since it is a charger too the solar panel is larger but not a full size panel.

Amazon.com - Idea Lists

Idea Lists created by

www.amazon.com

 

[MarkM]

Below is the unit you want.

Mark

 

[coachgeo]

Below is the unit you want.

Mark

View attachment 895063

you can make two or three of those yourself for the price they sell the solargizer system if your so inclined. Solargizer is nice unit for sure though.

 

[Ronmar]

What causes sulfation: when you draw electrons out of a battery the plates obsorb sulphur ions from the electrolyte. The deeper the discharge the more sulphur is absorbed. When you add electrons to a battery it pushes the sulfur back into solution.

When the plates hold sulphur too long it starts to create a scale(sulphation). This scale coats the plates/reduces surface area.

Lower plate surface area reduces current capacity. So the deeper the discharge and the longer the discharge lasts, the shorter the battery life with diminishing current capability as the plates get coated with scale. Think of it like a battery life clock that counts down faster, the deeper the state of discharge.

To avoide sulphation, and keep that life clock counting down as slow as possible, you need to keep the sulphur in solution as much as possible by maintaining 100% state of charge as much as possible.

Do pulse chargers work? You couldnt prove it by me, as I have never been able to resurrect a battery that has spent too much time at a low state of charge using one.

Do pulse maintainers work? Again couldnt prove it by me as I have never used one.

What I have used are small float chargers running 13.1V To keep batteries as close to 100% as long as possible. My longest running batt is 15 years and still going... i routinely get 10, but that is with good quality batts, so... how good batt quality is being maintained post pandemic is a thing to consider also...

People are happy with the solargizers. Does the pulsing create the magic, or is it simply the fact that the solar panel providing energy maintains a higher average state of charge...

I have maintained with an inexpensive panel and a buck converter, and some times with just a small panel, which simply does not have enough capacity to overcharge the battery, but it is enough to make up for losses...

 

[coachgeo]

What causes sulfation: when you draw electrons out of a battery the plates obsorb sulphur ions from the electrolyte. The deeper the discharge the more sulphur is absorbed. When you add electrons to a battery it pushes the sulfur back into solution.

When the plates hold sulphur too long it starts to create a scale(sulphation). This scale coats the plates/reduces surface area.

Lower plate surface area reduces current capacity. So the deeper the discharge and the longer the discharge lasts, the shorter the battery life with diminishing current capability as the plates get coated with scale. Think of it like a battery life clock that counts down faster, the deeper the state of discharge.

To avoide sulphation, and keep that life clock counting down as slow as possible, you need to keep the sulphur in solution as much as possible by maintaining 100% state of charge as much as possible.

Do pulse chargers work? You couldnt prove it by me, ....

Agree..... the pulse system in reality works best IMHO in associaton with maintaining 100% charge..... by increasing odds a smidge more that max amount of sulfur is kept from adhereing to the plates; but that is even debated. For a few extra bucks.. with a build your own system worth the try though. Paying our your arse for one that is mostly pulse oriented and not capable of a charge.... nah likely not worth it.

 

[thomaspc]

Thanks for that. Btw, what is that plug with coiled cable in the middle of the battery hold down? Looks like big old style 12V cigarette lighter plug.

Since I just did this an hour ago, I have pics. As Ronmar said, the two shorter cables inboard left close to the frame are 24v. If you leave off the stuff going to the NATO port for now, you're left with two long wires, one is 12v and one is ground. The 12v one has 4 connections on it, unless you already took it apart. To be safe you can ohm out the ground to another ground point, and even trace the 24v cable back to the alternator. Mine is hooked up temporarily, got it to crank, but not start. That's been covered elsewhere so I'm off to do some reading.
Oh... this might be my first post, just got a '97 1078 delivered yesterday. I'm Tom.

 

[coachgeo]

delete this post mod. Thanks