Battery recommendations.

SARTech

SARTech

Well-known member
I looking for a replacement battery for my 89 ROW D90. It was imported from England several years ago and still has the European battery that came with it. Now these cold Montana winter temp are taking its toll. It doesn't have the power to turn the motor over unless I plug the block heater in and pre-warm the motor. Im wanting to replace it but also considering a dual battery system. I occasionally us the winch for pulling logs out of the woods and think a dual battery would be useful for that. Any suggestions or recommendation for a battery or dual battery system? I haven't purchased a battery in years and don't know where to start.
 
erover82

erover82

Well-known member
It's easy to get far down the research and opinion rabbit hole here. For general use, a premium-quality standard lead-acid battery will work great for most people. In other words, don't get the cheapest Walmart option, but it's not necessary to spend a fortune on the latest fad non-rectangular/bright colored battery either. Whatever you get, put it on a maintainer if you don't daily drive it.
 
Napalm00

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Group 31 is the largest that will fit in the stock box . Lots of options:
  1. Flooded if you want cheap and potent
  2. AGM if you want low maint and vibe resistance
  3. 31M if you want extra terminals

I use a 31M with big CCA and like the extra terminals . Deka, Odyssey and Interstate are goin to be the best with a price from $150 to 600+



No need for a dual battery if you get a big one and have a legit charging system. I consider duals for camping and long term deep cycle needs , not winching. /opinion
 
A

aeo

Well-known member
I'm in a similar situation. I have a 300tdi and the cold is sucking the life out of the battery, it takes a few cranks to turn on over it the AM and it has killed the battery a few times. It's after it has sat overnight in negative temps. I had a parasitic draw that was killing it and I think that may have damaged it. Plus my commute to work is 2 miles so not sure how much charging it's getting from being driven.

It has an Autocraft Gold in it that is probably a year and a half old. It says it should put out 800 amps at 0 deg

Thoughts on what I should put in there? I'm actually considering a dual battery set up just to switch over to the secondary battery and not have to dig into the box every time this happens to jump it.
 
rocky

rocky

NAS-ROW Addict
You aren’t doing enough miles to charge it. Add one of those conditioners that has a permanent battery connection with a plug you can disconnect.
Works wonders for a my MIL’s car that only gets driven once in two or so months.
 
WreckITFrank

WreckITFrank

Technical Excellence Contributor
Have 2 of these for mine, work great, saved some batteries from recycling even. 1 or 2 amp will do you right, and can perm mount cabling for easy plugin.


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A

aeo

Well-known member
Awesome. Thank you.

For my own knowledge, how many miles does it need to be driven to really charge it?
 
Napalm00

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
hard to say , maybe 30 min worth of driving above idle? dont think there is a rule but, 2-10 min isnt enough.
 
D

dsh

Active member
I mounted this trickle charger to my roof rack. It constantly tops-off or maintains the battery (built-in regulator). It has been up there getting bounced around for three years now and it still works. Left my lights on once; on a sunny ☀️ day in Boulder I was able to start the NAS D90 in about four hours.

Battery Tender, 830mA, 15W Solar Battery Charger 12V - Weatherproof by Deltran 021-1165 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Q820T...abc_GTGMZ40JDRHC2WPV089J?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 
LRNAD90

LRNAD90

Well-known member
There are many threads about this over on the other board as well, here is one with links to several others in it..


Realizing most of those are pretty old, and that many of the links no longer work, but there is still a lot of good information in general in them. My thought process is CCA's are mostly a non issue, as most batteries produce plenty. That being said, I also believe the higher the better when you are running a winch, as the more current it gets, the cooler and more efficiently it runs. But AH, or Reserve capacity is going to give you a better idea of how long it will run, or how long you can run accessories (engine off)..

For a basic single battery replacement I recommend (and currently run) a simple Interstate Commercial Group 31 battery (950 cca, 196 min res). It is a age old flooded electrolyte style battery (semi-sealed, but its going to leak if inverted)..

The Odyssey PC2150 is of course a well regarded AGM choice (1150 CCA, 205 min res) that is the same footprint, slightly better specs and a sealed AGM design, but is also more than twice as much as the traditional Interstate above..

Another great choice that I don't hear mentioned often is Lifeline batteries. They have a Group 31 (GPL-3100T) with a 950 cca and 225 min res rating. Again, same basic size/footprint as the above two, but also not cheap..

For Dual batteries, I've always wanted to set my truck up with dual Odyssey PC1500s (850 CCA, 135 min res - or 1700 CCA and 270 min res wired in parallel)

For a wildcard, you might be able to make two Lifeline GPL-4CT's fit/work. You'd have to get creative, and It be a tough fit, but trying the two together in series (they are 6V batteries) basically gives you one big 12V battery with 925 CCA and 492 min of reserve capacity..
 
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rover4x4

rover4x4

Well-known member
I'd vote for any AGM! Every conventional battery I've owned has rusted the battery tie down. Leave it rover to put the battery under the driver seat in a steel box.
 
D

dsh

Active member
I'm considering the following:

1) https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/31m-agm-a

2) https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli31php

3) https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli31agm

4) https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli31pagm

5) https://www.batteriesplus.com/produ...ose-(starting_cycling)/bci-group-31m/sli31mdp

6) https://www.amazon.com/Best-Deep-Cy...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932701563394&psc=1

They are within the reasonable price range, have more than enough CCA and very good AH / reserve ratings as I will be installing a new winch. Are these options a good fit?
I will be installing an acid neutralizing battery pad.
 
LRNAD90

LRNAD90

Well-known member
You know it occurred to me, as I had to replace the battery in my wife's overly computerized X5, that the Defender's old school, non computer controlled, charging system may not be able to properly charge AGM batteries. It very well may be leaving them undercharged or worse, overcharging them. Either way not allowing you to use the battery to it's full specifications, and quite possibly shortening the life from what it could be?

The X5 is to be coded differently for flooded batteries or AGM batteries, and my understanding is that it changes the charging voltages as well as the charging profile of the battery. Of course I also learned that the X5 is designed/programed not to full charge the battery, but only to charge to about 80-85%, but that is whole different can of worms..

Anyway, something to research and consider when deciding to go to an AGM battery, The OEM world treats them differently, there must be some rational for this..
 
jymmiejamz

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
Fwiw, I put an Interstate H8 AGM battery in my d90 back in 2016 and only just replaced it last year. It probably would have been fine had I not let the truck sit close to a year.
 
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