Battery question for my F250

[Donald]

I am 2K miles from warranty being up so going over the truck checking everything. Today I pulled the neg cable from the drivers battery and but a BatteryMinder on it until done then measured CCA, was 717 out of 750. With the cable still off I put the BatteryMinder on the other battery until done then measured it 727 out of 750.

My questions:
1) The pos term on the passenger side had quite a green corrosion at the bottom of the post and bottom of battery connector. Its an JCI by the cell cover caps. Maybe I have a leaker?

2) As I put the neg cable back on (drivers side battery) it sparked a little and I noticed the mirror lights coming on. I do not understand why that happened. Aren't the batteries in parallel and the passenger battery should have kept the pickup powered up?

 

[CT8]

I think they are wired parallel for starting amps. My wife has a 2002 Superduty which is different but the batteries have never lasted over 3 years at best. Ford brand or Costco brand Batteries,

 

[Chris142]

Agm batteries! Never worry about corroded cables again under normal circumstances

 

[901Memphis]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Agm batteries! Never worry about corroded cables again under normal circumstances


Or buy an East Penn battery and you won't have to worry about that either.

 

[Soggydog]

Motorcraft batteries are [censored]. The factory units that came with my 2011 superduty failed in less than 2 years. They were replaced with more Motorcraft batteries under the 3/36. Now they're leaking and corroding the cables at 2 years old.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Agm batteries! Never worry about corroded cables again under normal circumstances
Will an alternator used for lead acid batteries charge properly?

 

[wrcsixeight]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Will an alternator used for lead acid batteries charge properly?


If the battery is never discharged much of its percentage, likely no issues.

However if/when the battery is drained to the point it needs a jumpstart, The Ideal recharge for the AGM and what the vehicle's voltage regulator will allow, are on opposite sides of the chart.

It takes time at absorption voltage to fully recharge. From 80% to 100% takes close to 4 hours on a healthy battery, when held at absorption voltage. There is no way to speed the 80% to 100% recharge. not without increasing voltage into the dangerous territory, and even then the reduction in time would not be more than 20%, and the AGM would likely vent.

AGMS do worse than their flooded counterparts when left below 100% charged. AGMs tend to be considered super batteries because of their price, but they are the petulant princess who will pack up all her shoes and stomp off when asked to work hard and not recharged according to its specific demands.

Specific demands Which can vary widely among the AGMS available.

A depleted AGM, below 60% charged can really max out an alternator, possibly overheating it. Do not idle to recharge as the underhood temps are likely higher than when moving, and idle speed rpms are too low for the alternator's fan to adequately dissipate the heat it will generate when charging a depleted battery.

 

[Dyusik]

AGM works just as well. Still an acid sloshing battery, if that makes you feel better. Both bikes I run have AGMs, though the R1's getting a lithium (1.46lb). Gel/agm/lithium/lead all are used with no alterations to the charging systems.

 

[Donald]

Well my initial thought was the corrosion on the passenger battery had taken it out of the picture. So disconnecting the drivers battery removed power from the truck.

However as I mentioned I charged each battery by itself using a BatteryMinder and on the passenger side, I did it via the battery connector before I cleaned it up with baking soda.

 

[Donald]

I assume if I went with AGM I would need to replace both at once?