Battery charging question.

[Chickenbone]

My MTV 6x6 cargo truck M1083A1 has the default 4 24volt 6TL batteries.

I went out to start it up today and the batteries were dead. I was able to get it started by connecting a 12v Battery charger to just one of the batteries and jump it that way.

But my question is, what would be the way to charge these up other than letting it run for hours and charging off the Alternator?

EDIT: I guess saying the batteries were dead, is not totally correct. It cranked over for a bit, then went dead. I connected my 12v charger to one of the batteries and after a bit, I was able to start it.

 

[coachgeo]

you got lotttttt of reading ahead of ya lol.

DON"T ALTERNATOR CHARGE if you got any of them low

stop the truck. Charge one battery at a time with 12v charger. Take each one to be tested individually.

if you got two good batteries out of the four..... remove two of the four and run off two only ..... threads on here on that

Otherwise tons of threads in here on battery issues, charging issues etc. While your reading. Let us know what year truck and what engine.

 

[chucky]

Once you go to the 2 battery set up you can get a 12 or 24 volt solar trikle charger to keep them up

 

[chucky]

And drive your truck once a week even if it just around the neighborhood for 20 minutes helps alot !

 

[Chickenbone]

you got lotttttt of reading ahead of ya lol.

DON"T ALTERNATOR CHARGE if you got any of them low

stop the truck. Charge one battery at a time with 12v charger. Take each one to be tested individually.

if you got two good batteries out of the four..... remove two of the four and run off two only ..... threads on here on that

Otherwise tons of threads in here on battery issues, charging issues etc. While your reading. Let us know what year truck and what engine.

It's a 2006 M1081A with Cat engine. 3116 Diesel, I believe.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

It's a 2006 M1081A with Cat engine. 3116 Diesel, I believe.

2006 would be a C7 truck.

3116's are only found on A0 trucks from the 90's.

 

[Chickenbone]

2006 would be a C7 truck.

3116's are only found on A0 trucks from the 90's.

Sorry, typo. It's a 2006 M1083A1 6x6 cargo truck. As you pointed out, its the C7 Cat.

 

[coachgeo]

2006 would be a C7 truck.

3116's are only found on A0 trucks from the 90's.

A1 came with both 3126 and C7's. Yours being a 2006 A1 w/C7 changes EVERYTHING about charging compared to 3116. except DONT CHARGE LOOOW BATTs VIA ALTERNATOR. Do with a wall charger as mentioned in earlier post.. (one bat att a time)

Crud.. hard as hell to search the internet for two letters...... you need mostly A1 threads to review. Still though suggest you drop to two batts..... There are threads here on this. You just have to thumb thru more to find A1 "post".

PS- battery box kill switch and solenoids in that area is a known issue. Maybe where your problem is? Clean all that up. Also clean up all lines into and out of the LBCD (Load Balance Control Device) on A0's it is the Rev. Polarity box. It is under-ish behind the spare tire. clean all those points up too. The ground from alternator to chassis as well.

 

[coachgeo]

When your running it we need to know what the colors/ patterns of LED lights on voltage regulator attached too the alternator are flashing. Also what does the Dash volt meter say exactly.

 

[Ronmar]

You are probably looking at a bad connection, especially if it cranked a little then just stopped.

which alternator do you have in it, 100A or 260A?

as mentioned, keep the batteries charged. You can do this with a 24v charger or a 12v charger you move from battery to battery.

The 4 battery bank on these trucks was a gross milspec engineering blunder, and for much of the production was not given a big enough alternator to charge them properly(A1R finally shifted to a 260A alt). And that was for wet cells. When the military started using AGM batts, they nearly doubled the load on the alt… Cat specced a pair of group 31 sized batts(100Amp-hour each) for these 7.2L engines, and that is a typical size battery bank for other diesels of this size.

Do yourself and that horrendously expensive alternator a favor and drop to a single pair of batteries. It will reduce the number of connections and complexity, will be a much better match for the alt and will be easier to charge…

 

[Mullaney]

My MTV 6x6 cargo truck M1083A1 has the default 4 24volt 6TL batteries.

I went out to start it up today and the batteries were dead. I was able to get it started by connecting a 12v Battery charger to just one of the batteries and jump it that way.

But my question is, what would be the way to charge these up other than letting it run for hours and charging off the Alternator?

EDIT: I guess saying the batteries were dead, is not totally correct. It cranked over for a bit, then went dead. I connected my 12v charger to one of the batteries and after a bit, I was able to start it.

.
And don't think too badly of us telling you not to try and charge these batteries with the alternator... It isn't that it won't work, but it may cause more trouble than it is worth. The alternator (generally) on these trucks is under powered. MOST of the time, if the truck sits for more than a week - it won't crank unless you charge the batteries. That "click click click" sound. Makes you say bad words and climb back down out of the truck and charge the batteries...

The 6TL batteries are 12v. The truck runs on 12v and 24v. There is a lot of battery problems posted here as has already been mentioned here.

On the bright side - Welcome to the Outfit! Glad to hear that you are the proud owner of a new-to-you truck too!

 

[98G]

Charge each battery individually with a 12V charger if you have any doubts that they're all good.

Or charge them all together with a 24V charger through the slave port if you're sure you don't have a bad one.

 

[Mullaney]

Charge each battery individually with a 12V charger if you have any doubts that they're all good.

Or charge them all together with a 24V charger through the slave port if you're sure you don't have a bad one.

.
@Chickenbone , I purchased several of those chargers from @98G about a year ago.
They are first class good stuff and they will maintain those batteries for you...

Those chargers solved a bunch of small frustrating problems for me.
Especially if you can't reliably spend a half hour a week driving your truck.
Every week.
Without fail.

Or use the tool...

.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

I drive my 2008 A1R daily. But it occasionally sits for days and has sat for weeks on occasion. I run the 4 battery system - my 6TL's are in good condition and I have the 260A alternator - If everything is working properly the batteries hold a charge no trouble at all for me. Something is not right if you are having dead batteries after a short time. I guess the most important question is - how long did it sit before you tried to start it?

 

[Chickenbone]

When your running it we need to know what the colors/ patterns of LED lights on voltage regulator attached too the alternator are flashing. Also what does the Dash volt meter say exactly.

The 24 volt dash meter shows 28v. The 12volt meter is fluxuating between 12-14.

I'm not sure what you mean by the color/patterns of the LED light on the Voltage reg.

 

[Chickenbone]

You are probably looking at a bad connection, especially if it cranked a little then just stopped.

which alternator do you have in it, 100A or 260A?

as mentioned, keep the batteries charged. You can do this with a 24v charger or a 12v charger you move from battery to battery.

The 4 battery bank on these trucks was a gross milspec engineering blunder, and for much of the production was not given a big enough alternator to charge them properly(A1R finally shifted to a 260A alt). And that was for wet cells. When the military started using AGM batts, they nearly doubled the load on the alt… Cat specced a pair of group 31 sized batts(100Amp-hour each) for these 7.2L engines, and that is a typical size battery bank for other diesels of this size.

Do yourself and that horrendously expensive alternator a favor and drop to a single pair of batteries. It will reduce the number of connections and complexity, will be a much better match for the alt and will be easier to charge…

Im not sure on the Alt. I'll check tonight when I get home. Thanks for the other bits of advice.

 

[Chickenbone]

.
And don't think too badly of us telling you not to try and charge these batteries with the alternator... It isn't that it won't work, but it may cause more trouble than it is worth. The alternator (generally) on these trucks is under powered. MOST of the time, if the truck sits for more than a week - it won't crank unless you charge the batteries. That "click click click" sound. Makes you say bad words and climb back down out of the truck and charge the batteries...

The 6TL batteries are 12v. The truck runs on 12v and 24v. There is a lot of battery problems posted here as has already been mentioned here.

On the bright side - Welcome to the Outfit! Glad to hear that you are the proud owner of a new-to-you truck too!

I pulled one of the batteries last night and tested it with my voltmeter. I got a reading of 25.x volts?

 

[coachgeo]

The 24 volt dash meter shows 28v. The 12volt meter is fluxuating between 12-14.

I'm not sure what you mean by the color/patterns of the LED light on the Voltage reg.

If you have the 260amp alt.... no "need" to go go 2 batts. Not too many A1 C7's in civilian hands. You got a sweeet rig once you get her figured out.

on the regulator pretty sure your era truck would have the two LED's on the alternator voltage regulator. Red and Green I believe they are. They light up based on what the regulator is doing/not doing.

 

[coachgeo]

I pulled one of the batteries last night and tested it with my voltmeter. I got a reading of 25.x volts?

let us know the others. thanks

 

[Chickenbone]

I drive my 2008 A1R daily. But it occasionally sits for days and has sat for weeks on occasion. I run the 4 battery system - my 6TL's are in good condition and I have the 260A alternator - If everything is working properly the batteries hold a charge no trouble at all for me. Something is not right if you are having dead batteries after a short time. I guess the most important question is - how long did it sit before you tried to start it?

I'm starting to think it's not the batterys. I drove it about two weeks ago. And I've let that thing sit for months at a time before and it fired right up. I did notice that when the issue started yesterday, the "boot up" was different. I'm not 100%, but I swear normally, when I hit the power switch everything would come on almost instantly. But now there is a delay and sometimes the lights come, on...go off, then come on again.