m35a2 batteries

[JawSaw]

how long do the batterys in a deuce last? have 24 volt solar charger on mine plus 12 volt trickle charges on both batterys I believe they are about 4 plus years old. very weak on start ups. can you direrct me to where I can purchase new batterys?

 

[M543A2]

Four to five years is normal for battery life. You do not need to spend big bucks for the big military style batteries. We use the off the shelf heavy truck/industrial equipment batteries, I believe they are called group 31, with no problems for over 35 years in any of our trucks. They have not given us any indications that they are not adequate even in cold Indiana winters, lasting 4 to 5 years and usually more.
With that said, be sure all of your connections at the battery cables, frame ground, etc. are clean and good. With post type batteries we find it works very well to put grease on the terminals before re-installing the cable clamps. This helps prevent the corrosion between the clamp and terminal that happens over time, weakening the connection and affecting charging and starting. Your kind of problem can sometimes be traced to poor maintenance with these connections.
Regards M543A2

 

[Warthog]

Batteries are not built like they use to be. 4 years is a good average. I have seen many last longer and some not last at all.

We have covered different replacement batteries hundreds of times. Using the Search function reveals hundreds of threads.

Which one is right for you depends on how much money you want to spend.

Many have had great luck with refurbished Interstate's Group 31 units.

One item every MV owners should have is a battery load tester. You do not need a high dollar unit (they are nice). A unit can be bought at Harbor Freight for about $20. Sure makes it easy to check your batteries at home and not have to take them out and lug them to the parts store for testing.

http://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-612v-battery-load-tester-61747.html

 

[rustystud]

As has been mentioned battery life depends on a lot of factors. The average life for a standard lead acid battery is around 5 years. You can extend this by years with careful maintenance. Faithfully check the battery fluid level and always fill with "distilled" water. Not purified or mountain fresh or whatever. Always use "distilled" water. Also keep a good battery maintainer on it. Not just a charger, but a maintainer. This will actually exercise the battery keeping it from "sulfating" and degrading the lead in the battery. If you do just these simple things your batteries live can be measured in decades not just years. I actually have batteries that are over 20 years old now and still work fine. I usually remove them from service when they reach 10 years and then keep them as back-ups for other equipment around the property.

 

[KaiserM109]

In searching threads for info, I came across this one.

I have an M109 I picked up in 2007 (8 yr. ago) and one of the batteries won't take a charge. it shows all the symptoms of bad sulfication (sp?). Open circuit it shows 12+ volts, but upon putting a load on it, i.e. trying to start the truck, it drops to 0, even -0.1. I have tried "Repair" on my NOCO G7200 several times and no luck. The "Repair" cycle raised the voltage to 16.5 for one second (~) then drops back to 14.7 for ~1 second. I tapped on the battery with a dead blow hammer, thinking it will help shake the plating; nothing. I'm giving up on it.

In the short term, I am going to borrow a battery out of my M923 and run it on 2. I will check out truck suppliers as M543A2 suggested.

Anybody have other suggestions? Anybody in the Denver, CO area have a battery for sale? I'd really hate to have to pay for shipping from farther out.

 

[RodUSMC1962]

I go to Napa and buy $100 batteries and I replace them at 5 years. Keep battery maintainer chargers on them. I don`t like to have the batteries go bad before I replace them, always happened at the worst possible time.

 

[theeDIZ]

I use 2 of the shelf truck battery's

 

[rustystud]

In searching threads for info, I came across this one.

I have an M109 I picked up in 2007 (8 yr. ago) and one of the batteries won't take a charge. it shows all the symptoms of bad sulfication (sp?). Open circuit it shows 12+ volts, but upon putting a load on it, i.e. trying to start the truck, it drops to 0, even -0.1. I have tried "Repair" on my NOCO G7200 several times and no luck. The "Repair" cycle raised the voltage to 16.5 for one second (~) then drops back to 14.7 for ~1 second. I tapped on the battery with a dead blow hammer, thinking it will help shake the plating; nothing. I'm giving up on it.

In the short term, I am going to borrow a battery out of my M923 and run it on 2. I will check out truck suppliers as M543A2 suggested.

Anybody have other suggestions? Anybody in the Denver, CO area have a battery for sale? I'd really hate to have to pay for shipping from farther out.

You should never "tap" on a battery ! What you are doing is dislodging material which goes to the bottom of the battery and eventually shorts out the plates after building up enough layers to reach the lower plates.

 

[steelandcanvas]

I'm usually using my truck about 9 months out of the year; the other 3 months I keep the batteries out of the weather and on a maintainer. I keep them watered, terminals and cables clean and don't have battery problems. Going on 6 years with this set of batteries.