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Battery dead after flashers?!?!

Duracell AGM (made by east penn) from batteries plus or Sam’s club is The best battery value IMHO. Batteries plus you can save money buying online and picking up in store.
I’m looking at the $350 X2 AGM batteries but can’t find more than one in stock ugh…..
 
Stock batteries are trash, but it also sounds like you’re expecting to not have to idle much for high electrical loads and that’s not going to work well without a decent separate battery setup.

It sounds like you may have to just idle more, and possibly enable the voltage sensing auto idle up feature with AlfaOBD.

Does the crash cam transmit the video?
I would only use a powered hose reel with a third dedicated battery. I can’t idle more, I run service calls, and don’t want to guzzle fuel and put unnecessary wear and tear on the engine. I do “idle up”, manually in between stops watching the battery voltage go from 12-14 volts. I like the AlfaOBD idea though. I don’t care how much a rock solid solution is.
 
I would only use a powered hose reel with a third dedicated battery. I can’t idle more, I run service calls, and don’t want to guzzle fuel and put unnecessary wear and tear on the engine. I do “idle up”, manually in between stops watching the battery voltage go from 12-14 volts. I like the AlfaOBD idea though. I don’t care how much a rock solid solution is.
And no the video is sent to an SD card. Other trucks around me run their cams too. It’s embarrassing to say that all the fords run their hazards a LOT, and never complain of a no start issue.
 
And no the video is sent to an SD card. Other trucks around me run their cams too. It’s embarrassing to say that all the fords run their hazards a LOT, and never complain of a no start issue.

So you’re running your camera for theft of another truck, and they do then same for you… gotcha.

I’ve run my traeger off the inverter for 30 minutes, which is a heck of a lot more than flashers for an hour and the voltage stays 12.4 or higher. You likely just have bad batteries and if they have gone dead more than once they are really bad. The truck is 4 model years old, about the lifespan of modern batteries. You likely won’t have an issue with new batteries.

I would only use a powered hose reel with a third dedicated battery. I can’t idle more, I run service calls, and don’t want to guzzle fuel and put unnecessary wear and tear on the engine. I do “idle up”, manually in between stops watching the battery voltage go from 12-14 volts. I like the AlfaOBD idea though. I don’t care how much a rock solid solution is.

A rock solid solution would be a 200AH lithium battery in the bed that is recharged with a 60A DC-DC charger when the truck is running. Keep it 100% isolated with the engine off, which could be done with a HD/CD relay off an aux switch (if you have those). That would give you a lot of engine off power and not leave you stranded. Just know that if you run it down to a 20% SOC it would take 4+ hours of charging to get back to 100% SOC. Then also install a 10A 2 bank 120V charger for overnight charging. The starting batteries on one bank for the camera, and the service battery on the other. If you ever needed more power you could add a 2nd 200AH battery.


 
So you’re running your camera for theft of another truck, and they do then same for you… gotcha.

I’ve run my traeger off the inverter for 30 minutes, which is a heck of a lot more than flashers for an hour and the voltage stays 12.4 or higher. You likely just have bad batteries and if they have gone dead more than once they are really bad. The truck is 4 model years old, about the lifespan of modern batteries. You likely won’t have an issue with new batteries.



A rock solid solution would be a 200AH lithium battery in the bed that is recharged with a 60A DC-DC charger when the truck is running. Keep it 100% isolated with the engine off, which could be done with a HD/CD relay off an aux switch (if you have those). That would give you a lot of engine off power and not leave you stranded. Just know that if you run it down to a 20% SOC it would take 4+ hours of charging to get back to 100% SOC. Then also install a 10A 2 bank 120V charger for overnight charging. The starting batteries on one bank for the camera, and the service battery on the other. If you ever needed more power you could add a 2nd 200AH battery.


Wow! Thank you for the killer information. I will implement all of this no doubt. I never thought about dc-dc via aux switch, and love the idea. I just need to add an aux switch, since 4 are already used. I also plug the truck in nightly to a fixed trickle charger, to minimize drain from the crash cam, and almost forgot…. an ultrasonic/light pest/ mouse deterrent. It has saved my wire harness from being chewed on. My neighbor had mice chew right through his wire harness and it cost him 3k to have it fixed. No food left in the vehicle, they just love the peanut oil wire insulation. Once I get a big ole battery in the bed, I’ll move all that little stuff over. I just installed an X2power AGM battery, and second one to be installed tomorrow. After a cold start the battery voltage climbs from 12.5 - 14.0 in about 3 seconds. It was taking about 15 seconds before. I really appreciate all the help in this forum! I used to be a mechanic, fix everything myself, but these days technology always complicates definitive solutions to ever growing complex problems.
 
If you go lithium you may need a battery heater for charging, but a simple heated pad/blanket would do the trick to warm it up above 32° before you turn on the DC-DC charger.

Since you already have a truck trickle charger the supplied 10A charger with a Dakota Lithium, if you go that route, would be perfect for overnight charging.

Also, some DC-DC chargers have the ability for a remote on/off so you may not need a HD/CD relay for it. One less thing.
 
If you go lithium you may need a battery heater for charging, but a simple heated pad/blanket would do the trick to warm it up above 32° before you turn on the DC-DC charger.

Since you already have a truck trickle charger the supplied 10A charger with a Dakota Lithium, if you go that route, would be perfect for overnight charging.

Also, some DC-DC chargers have the ability for a remote on/off so you may not need a HD/CD relay for it. One less thing.
Thank you kindly!
I have quite a few spare RV tank & pipe heaters, I’ll just pick one with minimal heat output
 
What is the correct size battery for a 22 6.7? I have put vehicle information on a couple of different websites and get information not available and conflicting sizes H7 or H8 on others. Thanks
 
I’m done with these ***** batteries!
What’s the best batteries you guys have tried?
I definitely want to go AGM with plenty of AH’s and reserve capacity. I plan on adding a lot more accessories, and I NEED to be able to use flashers without the engine running to stop at multiple houses for my work (heavy traffic, and I work on the side of the road). Sometimes I need flashers for an hour in addition to my safety cones. My last ram NEVER had a problem running flashers
What’s not expected is pulling over to change a tire on an interstate, and not being able to start your truck because you used your hazards for an hour or less! Hazards are a requirement not an exception. @RamCares wtf
Update: upgraded to X2power (4 year full warranty)

X2power GROUP 94R 840CCA PREMIUM AGM CAR AND TRUCK BATTERY​

If they fail completely at the typical 3 year mark like others, I guess I’ll be getting free batteries. I will try the 1 hour flasher test, and post the results. 1 hour on flashers @ 10,000 miles (1 year) with the original batteries, led to a no start.
 
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