time2roll wrote:
Dad had a lifetime battery.... replaced 3 times free before the car was stolen.
I had coworker who had 1 back in 1970's.
In his case the 4th battery got stolen.
There is company FCPEuro who sells everything with lifetime warranty, what include wears. They will send you new oil when you send them used one. I only wish they would sell toilet paper.
Ponzi scheme if you ask me, but since they charge $10 more for AGM battery than other places, I bought 1 from them, hoping that since batteries die in 2-3 years, I will get 2nd before they close the door.
Eric&Lisa wrote:
Look at these golf-cart style cars that shut the engine off at every stoplight (stupid, IMHO). The car will then draw all its electrical load off the battery - radio, wipers, lights, HVAC, etc. A quick stab of the gas pedal and the starter hits it too. Then it gets 30-45 seconds of charge time before the next stop light. Yeah, that has got to beat the snot out of battery longevity.
-Eric
I actually love ECO stops as quite often we seat for 1.5 minute on red light, when in rush hr we need 3 changes to pass the intersection.
but in my Mercedes the "smart charging" is also recouping braking energy, so the battery is never fully charged to be able to take extra energy when available.
Not only car has 2 batteries for the system, but constant charging/recharging shortens the battery life. (isn't it working the same way in electric cars and hybrids?)
Still if I can save $100 + every year on fuel, I don't mind to spend $150 every 3-4 years on new battery.
2-tons Car makes 30-35 mpg in city driving.
You definitely don't need more alternator for winch.
Don't know what rating my 1999 F450 had, but I had 8000lb winch on it and I was pulling 10,000lb equipment with it on high flatbed without starting the engine.
The dual batteries would drag the forklift with front plate scraping the concrete at the approach and still have enough reserve for engine starting.
And that was 7.3 powerstroke who on cold start would run on batteries for few minutes to protect glow plugs from high charging voltage.
Don't know what rating my 1999 F450 had, but I had 8000lb winch on it and I was pulling 10,000lb equipment with it on high flatbed without starting the engine.
The dual batteries would drag the forklift with front plate scraping the concrete at the approach and still have enough reserve for engine starting.
And that was 7.3 powerstroke who on cold start would run on batteries for few minutes to protect glow plugs from high charging voltage.
Per my experience no winches and no inverters will run on alternator power alone.
They have high spikes and when alternator helps in recharging the battery, the power for high draw device has to come from battery.
Heck even my camper jacks will not operate on alternator. That's due the 30 amp charging wire, but still I need battery in camper to raise or lower 4 jacks.
Bottom line, it takes some calculation to make right call.
I was using 1500 W inverter for oven power -with single battery on my boat having 30 amp alternator. But boat did not have any other power draw, so the 30 amp was used for recharging in 99% and boat run at high rpm most of the trip.
Now if you have battery bank to power your AC and want to recharge it in 20 minutes, you need 200 amp alternator.
Actually I am thinking about doing such setup on my Sprinter.
120V AC on the roof, 2 house batteries with 1800 W inverter and the van 250 A alternator should keep the system running.
The 4-cylinder diesel in van probably sips less fuel than most RV generators.
They have high spikes and when alternator helps in recharging the battery, the power for high draw device has to come from battery.
Heck even my camper jacks will not operate on alternator. That's due the 30 amp charging wire, but still I need battery in camper to raise or lower 4 jacks.
Bottom line, it takes some calculation to make right call.
I was using 1500 W inverter for oven power -with single battery on my boat having 30 amp alternator. But boat did not have any other power draw, so the 30 amp was used for recharging in 99% and boat run at high rpm most of the trip.
Now if you have battery bank to power your AC and want to recharge it in 20 minutes, you need 200 amp alternator.
Actually I am thinking about doing such setup on my Sprinter.
120V AC on the roof, 2 house batteries with 1800 W inverter and the van 250 A alternator should keep the system running.
The 4-cylinder diesel in van probably sips less fuel than most RV generators.
