Pick up battery low

[james.d]

Looking for a little advice from more knowledgeable than myself.

 

The Panasonic battery on my pick up is low, not enough power to start the engine.

It was replaced 26/10/63.

I haven't used the truck on a long run (a few kms only and stop/start etc) for about 1 month.

Is it worth buying a battery charger or just get a new battery?

Thanks in advance.

Edited June 29, 2022 by james.d

[Kwasaki]

The Panasonic on my new truck didn't last long maybe they sell them with old batteries.

 

I have always had a good experience and long with life Heavy duty GS on car & trucks so I still with em. 

[transam]

Go to B-Quik, get them to do the professional battery test readout. It tells all, you don't have to buy their battery.

Think 2 years here batteries do go tits up, all depends on usage.

 

For few 100bht you can buy a battery "repair" charger on Lazada, it works really well getting the carp off the plates and giving it new life, l bought one and was impressed, I even got our dead bike battery back to life with it ....????

 

The last battery I bought was the new kid on the block, that gives a 2 year guaranty and is not expensive, called Amaron, it was recommended...

 

[james.d]

34 minutes ago, transam said:

Go to B-Quik, get them to do the professional battery test readout. It tells all, you don't have to buy their battery.

Think 2 years here batteries do go tits up, all depends on usage.

 

For few 100bht you can buy a battery "repair" charger on Lazada, it works really well getting the carp off the plates and giving it new life, l bought one and was impressed, I even got our dead bike battery back to life with it ....????

 

The last battery I bought was the new kid on the block, that gives a 2 year guaranty and is not expensive, called Amaron, it was recommended...

 

Many thanks for you feedback.

I was looking at those chargers on Lazada and didn't understand what the repair function was ... now l do.

I'll try a charger (6A is sufficient?) 

Thanks again.

[transam]

53 minutes ago, james.d said:

Many thanks for you feedback.

I was looking at those chargers on Lazada and didn't understand what the repair function was ... now l do.

I'll try a charger (6A is sufficient?) 

Thanks again.

Hang on, I will let you know what I bought. It will only work with a battery with a minimum of 7 volts, but that can be overcome....

 

It is a 12v 7 amp 7-stage automatic battery charger....A tip, look via your phone, not PC, usually stuff comes up cheaper. I paid around 300 bht for mine a year ago.

 

[Lacessit]

Heat in Thailand is quite destructive to battery life.

I get 3-4 years out of a car battery here by lifting the hood after a long run, and letting the heat escape from the engine bay for half an hour, before closing the hood again.

 

The date the battery was bought indicates the OP only got about 1.5 years out of it.

IME recharging only works for a couple of months, then it's the inconvenience of a flat battery again.

[transam]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Heat in Thailand is quite destructive to battery life.

I get 3-4 years out of a car battery here by lifting the hood after a long run, and letting the heat escape from the engine bay for half an hour, before closing the hood again.

 

The date the battery was bought indicates the OP only got about 1.5 years out of it.

IME recharging only works for a couple of months, then it's the inconvenience of a flat battery again.

De-sulphation mode, it does what it says on the packet...????

 

On my auto smart charger has a screen, you can watch what it is doing, including the up and down amp charging, desulphating the plates etc....

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, transam said:

Go to B-Quik, get them to do the professional battery test readout. It tells all, you don't have to buy their battery.

Think 2 years here batteries do go tits up, all depends on usage.

 

For few 100bht you can buy a battery "repair" charger on Lazada, it works really well getting the carp off the plates and giving it new life, l bought one and was impressed, I even got our dead bike battery back to life with it ....????

 

The last battery I bought was the new kid on the block, that gives a 2 year guaranty and is not expensive, called Amaron, it was recommended...

 

I had an Amaron fitted after the preferred Boliden's became scarcer than hen's teeth. Did the job for a tad over two years but eventually went the same way. The same guy who was touting the Amaron was all about Panasonic which is what's been under the bonnet now for 11 months.

 

Funnily enough (but not for Mrs NL), the Boliden and Amaron both expired while I was away at work. I noticed a battery shop the other day that had a rack full of Boliden's so I may just go and get one as a spare. I'll be away again in October and that's when her birthday is.

[worgeordie]

I once got 11 years out of a battery on my pickup, 

I check the battery ,oil ,water every week ,has the

OP checked levels of distilled water, the current

battery has been on for 5 years.

 

regards Worgeordie

[NanLaew]

14 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Heat in Thailand is quite destructive to battery life.

I get 3-4 years out of a car battery here by lifting the hood after a long run, and letting the heat escape from the engine bay for half an hour, before closing the hood again.

 

The date the battery was bought indicates the OP only got about 1.5 years out of it.

IME recharging only works for a couple of months, then it's the inconvenience of a flat battery again.

Good point on the heat. I used to giggle at the older Thai blokes at PTT stations on the long road trips who pop the bonnet and gaze lovingly at their hot dongers on their ancient Vigo's while the tribe hit the 7-eleven, noodle shop or dunny. My sports lorry is now old enough to be inspected and I do two things every time I get home after any sort of journey, either a road trip or back-to-back school runs or a multi-stop shopping trawl.

 

1 ) Let the engine idle for a couple of minutes. This apparently helps with turbo lubrication rather than killing a hot engine.

 

2 ) Lift the bonnet (gazing lovingly optional). I read somewhere that the engine compartment temperature will drop 80% faster with the bonnet up. That means your battery will also cool down quicker. (I also hear that leaving the bonnet up and a small light on deters rats moving in if that's an issue down on your farm).

 

Oh yes, I sometimes lift the wipers off the hot glass (but not very often).

[transam]

3 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

I had an Amaron fitted after the preferred Boliden's became scarcer than hen's teeth. Did the job for a tad over two years but eventually went the same way. The same guy who was touting the Amaron was all about Panasonic which is what's been under the bonnet now for 11 months.

 

Funnily enough (but not for Mrs NL), the Boliden and Amaron both expired while I was away at work. I noticed a battery shop the other day that had a rack full of Boliden's so I may just go and get one as a spare. I'll be away again in October and that's when her birthday is.

Our lad was the one who told me about the Amaron battery 2 year guarantee, he had one on his Civic that was over 2 years old, he has not long ago sold the car, battery must be 3 years old, still going strong.

My Amaron is exactly 1 year 3 months old, after sitting overnight shows 12.7v, but I thought I would give it a blast with the smart charger. It went through the desulphation mode and after a few more minutes showed "finished", I put my tester on it to show 13+v. So all is well at the mo....????

[transam]

4 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I once got 11 years out of a battery on my pickup, 

I check the battery ,oil ,water every week ,has the

OP checked levels of distilled water, the current

battery has been on for 5 years.

 

regards Worgeordie

11 years................????

[james.d]

17 minutes ago, transam said:

De-sulphation mode, it does what it says on the packet...????

 

On my auto smart charger has a screen, you can watch what it is doing, including the up and down amp charging, desulphating the plates etc....

Thank you again, any chance of a photo or model please when you have time?

My battery is 12v 71Ah.

[Kwasaki]

19 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I once got 11 years out of a battery on my pickup, 

I check the battery ,oil ,water every week ,has the

OP checked levels of distilled water, the current

battery has been on for 5 years.

 

regards Worgeordie

It was a GS battery wasn't it. ????????

[transam]

37 minutes ago, james.d said:

Thank you again, any chance of a photo or model please when you have time?

My battery is 12v 71Ah.

This is it on Shopee.......Must be where I ordered it from...

https://shopee.co.th/FOXSUR-FBC1207D-Car-Smart-Battery-Charger-เครื่องชาร์จแบตเตอรี่-12V-เครื่องซ่อมแบตเตอรี่-รถยนต์-มอเตอร์ไซค์-แบตแห้ง-AGM-i.37896532.7763372459?sp_atk=18986ee2-5606-47fb-83a2-24fd59cde19a&xptdk=18986ee2-5606-47fb-83a2-24fd59cde19a

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

I once got 11 years out of a battery on my pickup, 

I check the battery ,oil ,water every week ,has the

OP checked levels of distilled water, the current

battery has been on for 5 years.

 

regards Worgeordie

Most batteries nowadays seem to be the sealed type, zero maintenance.

[transam]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Most batteries nowadays seem to be the sealed type, zero maintenance.

Cheap ones are usually water filled and are still out there. But in the temps they work in, a close eye is needed.

When I had a pickup the first 2 water filled batteries lasted exactly 2 years, then Boliden with some of its fill missing (don't ask) lasted 3.5 years, then I bought a cheap water filled battery to get out of trouble,  religiously opened the hood when parked up at home, 3 years old when I sold the truck...

[james.d]

52 minutes ago, transam said:

This is it on Shopee.......Must be where I ordered it from...

https://shopee.co.th/FOXSUR-FBC1207D-Car-Smart-Battery-Charger-เครื่องชาร์จแบตเตอรี่-12V-เครื่องซ่อมแบตเตอรี่-รถยนต์-มอเตอร์ไซค์-แบตแห้ง-AGM-i.37896532.7763372459?sp_atk=18986ee2-5606-47fb-83a2-24fd59cde19a&xptdk=18986ee2-5606-47fb-83a2-24fd59cde19a

Thank you for your help.

[Kwasaki]

39 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Most batteries nowadays seem to be the sealed type, zero maintenance.

So far found the gel type sealed battery really good so far. 

GS Heavy Duty Gel type in truck just over 3 years old still reading new. 

 

Old Devil sealed gel battery on my bike about a 1. 1/2 year old left for 2 or 3 weeks at a time when checking with charger within 1 or 2 mins fully charged.

[G Rex]

I am a big fan of C-tek chargers.  I have trickle chargers running on some of my cars to keep the batteries topped up and to enable me to drive the car whenever ‘I’ want!     

C-tek make ‘normal’ charges with the De-sulfation mode as well as the lower output trickle chargers that will not ‘cook’ your battery - just keep it operational.  On Lazada you can find Chinese knock offs of these - some ok - some not. You get what you pay for.

My suggestion is that if you don’t use the vehicle regularly, once you have ascertained the status of your current battery, consider a trickle charger to maintain the battery ????

[Lancashirelad]

There may  be nothing wrong with the original battery, from what the OP says the vehicle hasn't been running for long enough, often enough to put back the power drain from frequent use of the starter motor on very short trips. Jump start it and take it on a longer trip, at least an hour, then see how it goes on.