Which battery for this application?

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I need a battery for my trailer. It needs to operate the electric motor which powers the hydraulics used to tilt the trailer bed. That electic motor looks like it's probably a starter motor.

The same battery will also be used to power an electic winch. The larger (and I assume the more power hungry) of the two winches I have is a Warn 8000.

A standard auto battery doesn't get the charging from an alternator it needs. I tried a conventional deep cycle battery and within a month it wouldn't even hold a charge overnight. It seems like I've found two answers to the question, "What battery shouldn't I use?" While that's somewhat helpful, I'd really like to go at this from a direction.

What should I use for this type of application? Is there a way to determine how often to charge this battery? What about wiring it to my existing battery when I'm towing to charge it?

 

[njrqs]

Gary

I'd say a decent high capacity starting battery is what you need.

They out out a higher current for a lesser period, just the thing for powering winches.

I'd run a spare wire to your trailer plug from your vehicle alternator and run that to the trailer battery.

Just disconnect the trailer plug when you run the winches so you won't flatten your truck battery.

We run an isolator with our second battery in the truck so it is foolproof, but as long as you pull the plug, you'd be OK.

Cheers

they don't like to be run flat but it sounds like you won't need to do that.

 

[Mike_Dumond]

Gary, check into the gell-cell batteries. Starting to come out in alot of recreational vehicles. (snowmobile, ATV, water craft, ect) Holds a constant charge longer and stands up to abuse pretty good.

 

[Kodiak]

I don't have your battery answer here. But thought I would pass this along. A year ago my dad added one of those solar cell battery charging units to his boat. His twin 200 Hp Yamahas and lots of electronics, really put a drain on his batteries. Since then he has not had a problem with keeping his batteries charged.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Your load assessment is correct, the devices you are employing the battery for are very similar to starting loads, so go with a starting battery. Personally, I'd stay away from gel type.
As far as charging, use an isolator setup for a second battery, and run a wire thru the plug to the isolator to charge the battery. The isolator will prevent draining the truck battery when the truck isn't running. I'd recommend using a commercial 2 battery isolator for your application, such as the ones used in camper rigs.
Another consideration here should be employing some type of shock isolation system for the battery on the trailer, as it will be subject to a lot more vibration and mechanicle shock than the truck battery.

 

[Wingnut]

concur with Franz ... although I'd suggest truck/tractor starting battery ... bigger is better for winch duty. Forget gelcell and other "deep cycle" .... you need heavy draw, not extended use ...
Heavy Duty (RV style) isolator will do the trick. Also would be good to see how big an alternator you have ... most p/u alternators do not easily keep up with battery charging AND serving all the electrical needs (radio, lights, a/c fans, etc

pete - who has replaced far too many gelcells on his golf cart and on the mother-in-laws scooter ... too may atv and snowmobile and RV batteries.

 

[RobertN]

Get an Optima yellow top. It's made for winch applications.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.optimabatteries.com/>http://www.optimabatteries.com/</A>

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I called my regular battery supplier today and asked them the same question I posted here. The guy told me the same thing the route driver did and that was that the marine battery was what I needed. I then asked him why within 30 days it won't hold a charge overnight. His answer was that it must be a bad battery and they'll bring another one on their regular run here Monday. I honestly don't expect any different results but feel I owe it to them to give their suggestion a second chance. I think I will call them back tomorrow and tell them to bring a 1000 amp semi battery, too. That way if (when) the deep cycle does the deep six I'll be able to hook that up rather than wait for the next Monday. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I also called my local Crown Battery distributor (who also handles Optima) and they also recommended a marine deep cycle battery. I tried to make the point of this not being anything at all like running a trolling motor all day but rather a short burst, high amp draw but didn't fully convince him. He did waiver a bit and suggest that maybe a big semi tractor battery would be the way to go with it's higher amp output and inherent vibration resistance.

While I agreed that more output sounded better I wasn't convinced they were any more vibration resistant than any other battery. I then lost any faith I had in this guy when he tried to explain that these batteries are installed on the semi's where they wouldn't get the benefit of any suspension on the truck. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

I opted to politely agree rather than explain the only places like that were on wheels and axles and I'd never seen a battery box bolted to either./w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Gary, it sounds like he must be one of the young fellas who think the suspension is them 12 air bags between the frame and the cab & doghouse. Them springy things and air bags tween the axel and frame don't really do much you know.
Seriously, how has your relationship been with Crown? Interstate has had the market cornered here, and Crown just arrived and is starting to contact dealers and users. My bud had Crown set their display right next to Interstates, and we had fun watching the IS guy turn toe color of his truck cab when he saw it. Mr Interstate had his celphone to his ear in a second, and announced he was now able to give much better pricing than he had for the last year when only Interstate batterys were in the store. My bud let Interstate stay, right next to Crown. I'm wondering will Crown honor their warranty, or turn into another Interstate. Crown's pricing is better, but they do carry less variety.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Franz, I really don't have any relationship with Crown. The supplier I use is an out of town independent who sends a driver to me on alternate Mondays. I buy 700, 850 and 1000 CCA dual terminal batteries from them at a far better price than anyplace else. I've had others (probably including Crown) call on me and I just tell them what I'm paying for these and they leave shaking their heads. These people don't even really care if I have cores for them or not. I get the pricing for having cores, regardless. Warranties for me are never pro-rated. I just give them the bad one and the replace it with brand new. I've even miscalculated my needs and run out on occasion only to have them make a special trip to supply my needs between scheduled deliveries at no extra charge. Needless to say, it'll take quite a bit to get my business from these folks.