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Eurocargo - temporary battery use
Topic Started: Jan 9 2013, 07:06 PM (2,133 Views)
Paul Evans
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Hi everyone. I'm in France with my 2003 Eurocargo 75E17. I've got one failed battery from my standard two fitted. The size of current fitted batteries is 12v 110Ah 680A (EN).

My question: I have two new tractor batteries (almost same dimensions as those fitted) which are rated 12v 72Ah 700A. If I fit these two batteries in place of the two originals to get me back to the UK will they do the job temporarily - say for a couple of weeks or so at normal usage? I'm due to go back within the next week or so.
Reason I'm asking is that a replacement battery in France is about 200 euros for one! This is about double what I'll pay back in the UK.
Probably not a very technical question to answer but thanks anyway if anyone knows.
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checkerplate
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Hi they should be no problem under normal conditions to get you out of trouble short term they may suffer a bit if it gets real cold and your trucks not a good starter ie has to turn ova a while before the engine starts they just havent got quiet as much umph when starting up the more amp hour the more umph
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Paul Evans
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Hi mate, thanks for that. Yeah, the truck usually starts on the first turn so hopefully should be ok in the short term then.
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radiotwo
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checkerplate
Jan 9 2013, 07:47 PM
Hi they should be no problem under normal conditions to get you out of trouble short term they may suffer a bit if it gets real cold and your trucks not a good starter ie has to turn ova a while before the engine starts they just havent got quiet as much umph when starting up the more amp hour the more umph
Just to correct you !

Its not the A/hr that you need for starting, its the cranking amps so in Paul's case the Tractor batteries are actually better
than the original ones, the only problem is the A/hr which is lower,which means the 72AH (if you draw 1Amp it would last 72 hrs
or if you draw 72Amps it would last 1 hr) the old one was 110Ah so 1amp would last 110hrs or 110amps would last 1hr )

So Paul just don't leave any thing on too long !

Radiotwo
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Paul Evans
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Hi radiotwo. Thanks for the info, never could get my head around the figures on a battery but that's given me useful information.
Just looking at your explanation again radiotwo. I reckon I'll disconnect the batteries again if the truck is going to be standing about as the tacho etc runs all the time and so Ah wouldn't last as long. Don't know how much juice this uses, not much I imagine but it would build up after a few days. The other original battery (110Ah 680) seems to be fine, maybe I could leave that one on and just replace the dead one with the tractor battery? Or is that bad practice having two different batteries to make up the 24v?
Edited by Paul Evans, Jan 10 2013, 03:27 PM.
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radiotwo
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Paul Evans
Jan 10 2013, 03:21 PM
Hi radiotwo. Thanks for the info, never could get my head around the figures on a battery but that's given me useful information.
Just looking at your explanation again radiotwo. I reckon I'll disconnect the batteries again if the truck is going to be standing about as the tacho etc runs all the time and so Ah wouldn't last as long. Don't know how much juice this uses, not much I imagine but it would build up after a few days. The other original battery (110Ah 680) seems to be fine, maybe I could leave that one on and just replace the dead one with the tractor battery? Or is that bad practice having two different batteries to make up the 24v?
Hi Again

The tacho wont draw that much(depends how long it is stood)but you should always replace the two batteries with a matching pair
so better to replace the two as one will pull the other down.

What I cannot under stand how do you know one is bad ?

Radiotwo
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Paul Evans
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Hi again,

Truck had been standing a while and batteries were very low when I went to start it. Took them both off and charged each one until full (got a green light on the charger). Then, was away for Christmas and so as a matter of course I put the two back on charge as I'd left them off the truck. First one was fine and had topped up in a matter of hours. The second one had lost nearly all its charge while standing with the other one just in a couple of weeks or so (there's a thing on the charger which will automatically only trickle charge if it senses the battery is very low. So, it did that on the dud one and then wouldn't reach full charge even after a couple of days. When I checked the cells at least two of them were bubbling (I'd made sure the water levels were ok). I'd always understood that this meant a battery had had it? Do you know if that's right? It shouldn't have lost all its charge in a couple of weeks so I'm guessing it's u/s. Thanks for your help. Paul
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checkerplate
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radiotwo
Jan 9 2013, 10:41 PM
checkerplate
Jan 9 2013, 07:47 PM
Hi they should be no problem under normal conditions to get you out of trouble short term they may suffer a bit if it gets real cold and your trucks not a good starter ie has to turn ova a while before the engine starts they just havent got quiet as much umph when starting up the more amp hour the more umph
Just to correct you !

Its not the A/hr that you need for starting, its the cranking amps so in Paul's case the Tractor batteries are actually better
than the original ones, the only problem is the A/hr which is lower,which means the 72AH (if you draw 1Amp it would last 72 hrs
or if you draw 72Amps it would last 1 hr) the old one was 110Ah so 1amp would last 110hrs or 110amps would last 1hr )

So Paul just don't leave any thing on too long !

Radiotwo
cheers radio 2 i new it was sumut like that bottom line they will get him out of trouble which is what was asked my truck has a 120 amp battery on it and i had to use a 60amph battery on it to get me out of trouble once but it knocked it out real fast which lead me to belive more amph more umph i kinda got half right cheers
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radiotwo
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checkerplate
Jan 10 2013, 07:32 PM
radiotwo
Jan 9 2013, 10:41 PM
checkerplate
Jan 9 2013, 07:47 PM
Hi they should be no problem under normal conditions to get you out of trouble short term they may suffer a bit if it gets real cold and your trucks not a good starter ie has to turn ova a while before the engine starts they just havent got quiet as much umph when starting up the more amp hour the more umph
Just to correct you !

Its not the A/hr that you need for starting, its the cranking amps so in Paul's case the Tractor batteries are actually better
than the original ones, the only problem is the A/hr which is lower,which means the 72AH (if you draw 1Amp it would last 72 hrs
or if you draw 72Amps it would last 1 hr) the old one was 110Ah so 1amp would last 110hrs or 110amps would last 1hr )

So Paul just don't leave any thing on too long !

Radiotwo
cheers radio 2 i new it was sumut like that bottom line they will get him out of trouble which is what was asked my truck has a 120 amp battery on it and i had to use a 60amph battery on it to get me out of trouble once but it knocked it out real fast which lead me to belive more amph more umph i kinda got half right cheers
Hi Paul

Batteries/charging can be a law on to them selves,the problem with some chargers is different things depending opon the state
of the battery its self.

in other words if a battery is duff then most chargers cannot charge then, so you get a indication it is charged very quick (which
is opposite to what you said), if the charger is only a low output amperage then it could take ages to charge but that could mean its
a good battery !

The best way to check a battery is to do what is known as a drop test (no I don't mean drop it from a certain height) but its a tester that puts a load on the battery and then volts and amps (there is a modern version that does it electronically, and gives a percentage reading ) but I have and have used the old fashioned one and it gives good results.

getting back to charging you need a regulated power supply that is capable of say 30 amps and adjustable voltage, so as we are talking 12 volt batteries, set the voltage to no more than 14.5 volts and leave it on (hopefully you have a ammeter) till the ammeter to drop to "0" and as I say this could take some time, but if it drops to nearly "0" right away I would say the battery is dead.

Now getting to bubbles, if you get bubbles after a few mins that is fine, this is called Gassing, but if you get the bubbles when the battery drawing current while say starting or drawing heavy current then this indicates the battery is kaput.

Another tip when using two 12 volt batteries, make sure the connection between the two is very good, as you can get high resistances and cause problems

Hope this all makes sense ?

Radiotwo
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Paul Evans
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Hi radiotwo. Thanks for your explanation - I never realised batteries and charging could be so complicated! Think the best thing I can do is get something to test it with then hopefully I'll be able to tell what's what.
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radiotwo
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Paul Evans
Jan 11 2013, 05:20 PM
Hi radiotwo. Thanks for your explanation - I never realised batteries and charging could be so complicated! Think the best thing I can do is get something to test it with then hopefully I'll be able to tell what's what.
Where about's are you ?
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Paul Evans
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Sorry radiotwo, been away and offline. I'm in Brittany, France and travel between here and the South West of England (Devon). I also go to Eastern Europe a couple of times a year.
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radiotwo
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Paul Evans
Jan 20 2013, 02:51 PM
Sorry radiotwo, been away and offline. I'm in Brittany, France and travel between here and the South West of England (Devon). I also go to Eastern Europe a couple of times a year.
Thats ok

I was just going to suggest I could test them if you were closer, but a bit far away

Radiotwo
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