My dump truck has a Cat 101-4000 battery. It has one bad cell, and I'm going to replace it. Although it's a 4000amp/hr battery, it only has 1400CCA.(it's one of those huge deep cell batteries) I'm thinking of putting 2 1000CCA truck batteries in parallel, instead of the single larger one. If I'm correct that would give me 2000CCA (more than the Cat battery). I would lose the deep cell benifits, but can't see why I'd need it in a dumptruck. It's only going too be starting a DT-466, and won't be used in the winter, so I'd think it would be enough. Is there any reason to keep/replace the large battery that I could be missing?? I don't see them used in semi's anymore. Thanks.
The best batteries for the most reserve and cranking power is 6 volts but for what you have couple 12 volts in series will work. A 8D would have enough cranking power its just finding a place to put a 8D.
How about just rigging in a pony motor and a motorcycle battery?:laugh You KNOW that whatever is the most expensive is what it needs...:yup Seriously - I'd guess that if you aren't powering any deep draw stuff like a plow power-pack, that should work fine. If you kill those 2 batteries trying to start that 466 it deserves the day off anyway.
My DT466 is started by 2 12V batteries in parallel and all is well. They replaced the single battery you have with the 2 in parallel somewhere in the years between your truck and mine. Mine is a 91.
Who needs batteries get a hand crank for the front :bouncegri You will want good batteries old International motors can be cranky to start,
I bought two 6D Cat batteries at the truck shop. They're 825cca, and are deep cycle also. They were $69 w/o a trade in, so I thought a pretty good deal. Musta been on sale. The two together are about 2/3rds the size of the original. I put the batteries in, and fired it up. The volt guage still only showed 12-12.5 volts, and would go down when I turned on lights, fan ,etc. That didn't seem right too me. I then got 4 flat braided ground straps.I put one from the dash too inside of firewall, one from outside firewall to frame, one from frame to engine block, and one from alternator to frame. Then when I started it the volt gauge went right too 14 volts, and doesn't change when I turn on anything:thumbsup Musta been a ground problem somewhere, but she's good now!! The original battery maybe wasn't bad?? I did put a hydrometer in it too check before I replaced it. 1 cell was 3/4 charged, 4 cells 1/2 charged, and one almost dead. I'll try recharging it, and maybe it'll come around. I'll Use it for a back-up jumpstarting battery, if so.
Smart move on adding the ground straps. I bet a lot of problems could be solved by that technique, but I haven't heard of too many people doing it.
Thanks Bob. I noticed my dash and dome lights were alot brighter after the new grounds too, so the problem may have been with the cab ground. The original one "looked" fine, but sometimes looks are deceiving. I had a cab-over Freightliner that developed starting problems. I had the cab jacked up half way, hit the starter button, and the joints in the telescoping shifter linkage started smoking.(joints w/zerks) That one was the engine to frame ground. It also appeared fine, but was corroded through inside of the plastic coating.
I figured I'd grab a pic of one of my grounds, since I was taking pics under the hood for another thread. I could've saved my money on the new alternator, and new batteries, had I been a better troubleshooter, and fixed the grounds first. After being on a 10 amp charger for two days the original bats. specific gravity is now at 1.275 on all cells. Must be ok, just wasn't getting a proper charge before?:Banghead