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Posted by John Eickhof on Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 13:00:03 :
In Reply to: Batteries, alternators, and related problems posted by Jerry in Idaho on Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 00:53:06 :
I have had a plow on several of my Dodges through the years, originally on a 1970 W300 with stock system, I never had any problems, still got average battery life too! Then my 67 W200 had the plow, same thing, no problems, now the same plow ( old myers w/ power angle ) and a western pump & hydrualics ( I found the western pump to be way more powerful and dependable than the older myers ) anyway, the plow is now on 'Rusty' the M-37, the truck was converted to 12 v by the previous owner, I have a delco alternator ( I think a 95-100 amp ) with a single better quality battery. Again, using it with all original lights on as well as set of plow lights on the front and a non stock heater out of a M-35 duece, I have no charging system problems, Now for the secret... Once a month, I pop the caps off the 'sealed' battery, fill with distilled water to the full marks, I average a pint or so every time, as the charging system will tend to boil the battery when under severe use. I still get 4-5 years out of a battery! I would venture that failures are more common to the battery getting low on electrolyte, rather than the charging system itself. Remember to add distilled water only! Not tap water, and NEVER add acid as the PH of the battery will remain fairly constant even though some of the electrolyte has boiled off.
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