My boss wants me to add an extra battery to our skidsteer. I think the starter is about shot but he wants me to do it anyway. I figure I have to connect them parallel somehow. Somebody told me I'd need a battery isolator. Not sure what the point of that is. How would you do it?
Sorry Rob, but I've yet to see a skidsteer that has enough room to add an additional battery! :beatsme Aside from that, any skidsteer made is going to be 12V. It would be parallel if you were to add another battery. Before you "add" another battery, put a Group 31 battery in it. They are typically over 1,000 CCA, if that won't crank it...you got starter problems.
I was thinking the same thing as Atco while reading your question. Where are you going to place a second battery? A second battery is not going to cure a starting problem caused by a bad starter.
Thanks Atco but I'm not sure a 31 would fit- maybe. This Thomas has a spot for another battery but they only install them on their larger loaders. What do you think about the Isolator. Why would I need one?
Try telling that to my boss. :Banghead
. I understand about the boss. you dont need a isolator to install the second battery.
Cool. Thanks motrack Now to figure out how to cable them, they're side 'posts'. Napa's got to make something.
Motrack is right you don't need an isolator, an isolator allows you to use the regular battery as usual and for the second battery to be charged without discharging the original battery such as in campers and RV's to power accessories. Before you replace batteries or starters check all the connections and grounds as well as the cables. Won't take long and your boss will really be impressed if it turns out that was the problem.
If it is the starter then why add more headaches instead of fixing the problem{bosses }? I'd also check all conections 1st might just be a bad ground?? You can hook batterys without an isolater.
You've either got nice green fuzzy stuff and your cables are shot, battery's weak, bad ground, bad starter or a combination of any of the above, you need to do some checking with a meter first, check resistance and also current flow and as you start the engine and also make sure you don't have a short somewhere draining the battery down. As for adding a second battery go look at any diesel pickup or something 12 volt with two batteries, if there's room for it maybe. Can you switch them over to top thread batteries, like a semi, those are easier to add another battery to, side posts your probably going to end up changing the entire cable even if its good. We've been changing all cable ends and batteries over to top thread lately and putting in larger more powerfull batteries and they are cheaper as well from a truck dealer, at least the ones on my dozers, excavators, trucks, that way I can rob a battery out of about anything not running to keep going instead of chasing down a new battery right away. As for an isolator, forget it, just something else to go wrong and cause problems, likes been stated already. Never been around a thomas skid steer before so I don't know what you've got there but starting and batteries/starters are all about the same. As for the boss, well, since I"m the boss around here my crew tells me what they think and then I have to decide what I'm going to do next time if I didn't listen the first time around and get that look of "I told you so" without even speaking a word. They usually say something like I wonder how much cheaper your way was in the end over mine after we do it several times, I catch on pretty quick.
You've probably already tried it, but does it make any difference to starting if you just hook another battery up with jumper leads? might give you you're answer without mucking around fitting another battery. Just a thought.
That makes perfect sense but I did put the shop charger on the battery for a few seconds at 200amps and it only made a slight difference in how fast the starter turned. All the cables were replaced and the connections cleaned 2 months ago but our driver that moved it the other day said he jumped it at the starter and got it to start. Both of us think it may have been left over ether the guy's used to try to start it. Since Danny got it started at the starter, I was hoping there might be something wrong with that cable. I took it off and cut it open and it was fine. Made up a new one. Installed a brand new battery because the old (3yr) one looked a little sulfated and had an iffy cell. Starter still grunts like grandpa in the outhouse but it started. One thing though, I'ts amazing it even fires off the way the starter just lopes. Kabota
Theres a corollary to that story. I'm the only mechanic. Right now we have a skeleton crew of about a dozen guy's. They all like to tell me what they think or what I should try but I have to sort out who's right and who's wrong. Most of the time I appreciate the knowledge but sometimes I just get pissed off because It feels like getting second guessed. I get really pissed off when I'm wrong.
Since the boss is determined, if you can't fit a group 31, then get a group 78 dual terminal battery. They have both top post and side post. It has the most CCA, second only to a group 31, and comes in a small package.