how to charge a battery

[Zero_cool]

I have a stupid question. My M1028 batterys are dead,so i bought a 24 volt 10 AMP charger-how do i charge them..will hooking the charger up to the front bat charge both batterys? thanks

 

[91W350]

I normally pull the cable between the batteries and charge them one at a time. They are in series to make 24 volts, not parallel. If they were set up to charge both at the same time on 12 volts, we would only need one 12V alternator.

 

[dittle]

Since you have a 24V charger pull the negative battery cable off (the one that goes to vehicle frame) and hook ground cable from charger to that one. The positive cable from the charger will go to the positive post of the other battery making it charge both batteries at once. Leave the cable b/t the batteries on.

 

[Zero_cool]

dittle , so i can understand this better how come i have to pull the neg that goes to the frame off?
leave the cable b/t the batteries on?

 

[Warthog]

If your charger is 24v then the following applies.

Each battery is only 12v. You leave the cable between them so you can charge both. 12v+12v=24v

Remove the ground so you won't fry any of the 12v components by accident.

 

[Zero_cool]

10-4 thanks

 

[drgreg]

The 24V charger is going to make the (2) 12V batteries act as a voltage divider. This will work OK with batteries that are equal and equally discharged. For dead or questionable batteries, they should be disconnected and charged seperate, 12V.
When these trucks are slaved (jump started) a 24v source is used, but that is intended for a start not a charge. The CUCV charging system is (2) 12V systems, unlike other MV's that use a single 24V charging system.

 

[91W350]

I would still prefer to charge them one at a time on 12 volts. I missed that you had a 24 volt charger, my fault... If one battery is really low or bad, you will really smoke the good one trying to recover the bad or low battery. I would also recommend pulling the front battery ground if charging at 24 volts. The CUCV is kind of an odd duck in the two 12 volt system and isolated alternator. One plus is though, the batteries can be mismatched without frying the weaker one.

 

[Zero_cool]

Thanks for the help guys decided to play it safe and charge one bat at a time.

 

[KsM715]

Thanks for the help guys decided to play it safe and charge one bat at a time.

You are using a 12V charger and not your new 24V charger right?

 

[91W350]

^^good point^^

 

[IdahoPlowboy]

I have the same problem, can I use a 12V charger without disconecting any cables?

 

[OL AG '89]

The charging system on the truck is designed to charge each battery independent of the other, if I understand the dual alternators each hooked to a separate battery. It would seem that you would want to mimmick the system. Unhook the batteries and charge each separately.
The big question would be for me, Why are BOTh batteries dead at the same time? Something in the charging system is not working to spec...

 

[electraman]

Ok everyone, I'm here because I just bought a AMG 71, M35A2, I need to charge my batteries. I was going to go buy a 24V charger form the local auto parts store. I like to charge them both at the same time, but now I have some concerns that may be not the best way. I even thinking of buying a golf cart charger. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I wire that from the plug to the batteries? What really comes down to. is that I want as little work to do when I need to charge my batteries. there has got to be an easy and quick way to make a safe connection.

Thanks