Page 39 - Newcom

Electrical Systems
Your battery box looked like this once. Keeping a like-new appearance
is a losing battle. Maintaining the electrical integrity and performance
is within the reach of even a driveway mechanic. (Photo: Jim Park)
Battery Blame
Battery failures are often the
symptom of larger electrical problems
By Jim Park
When your truck won’t start, the batter-
ies usually take the rap. While there may
not be enough juice there to turn the
engine over fast enough to start it, the
batteries probably didn’t get that way on
their own.
Batteries are part of a broader system
that includes the alternator, starter, and
all the cables and terminals that con-
nect everything together. If there’s some
weakness in that system, it will eventu-
ally manifest as a weak or dead battery.
More likely, four weak or dead batteries.
For modern sophisticated fleets with
well-equipped shops and trained tech-
nicians, dead batteries are little more
than an inconvenience. For single truck
owner-operators, dead batteries mean at
least a day’s downtime, possibly a service
call for a jump-start, and the expense of
replacing at least one and possibly all
four batteries.
How does a single-truck owner-op stay
on top of his or her batteries? Start by
making a point to do a starting/charging
system health check at least twice a year.
It’s best done just before winter sets in
and again before the heat of summer can
cripple the batteries.
Also, regularly clean and tighten
battery terminal post connections and
inspect heavy cabling between the bat-
teries, the alternator and the starter for
looseness and corrosion. And make sure
the restraints in the battery box fit tight-
ly on the battery. Batteries that ­ rattle
around the battery box can be ­ easily
damaged.
Battery basics
You’ll hear this a lot when it comes to
spec’ing trucks and buying parts: start
with the right battery for the job. Your
application will dictate the type of bat-
tery that will serve you best. For example,
a low-mileage P&D operation with doz-
ens of engine starts each day will require
a different battery than an over-the-road
truck. Such a truck might start five or
six times a day with lots of drive time
(recharge time) in between starts.
Each time the battery starts the truck,
a certain amount of capacity will be
used. The cumulative effect of multiple
starts with little recharge opportunity
is a battery that is partially discharged
most of the time.
“You can only discharge the battery so
deep so many times before it fails,” says
Joe Puff, vice-president of truck technol-
ogy and maintenance at NationaLease.
“For example, on a truck with a liftgate
that’s not used very often, that battery
may never get below 80% state of charge.
It may last four years. But in a scenario
with more liftgate cycles and shorter
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