Charging batteries

[Grimm21]

I know this topic is talked about quite a bit but I want to know will a standard 12 volt charger put out enough power to recharge hawker batteries? My m923 was rebuilt in 2010 at red River and they put new batteries in at that time they start the truck good in warm weather but as it is getting colder outside they are showing there age. I read through several old posts and several of them say the hawkers will live for over 10 years if taken care of and rotated annually. The posts say to charge them hard at over 12 volts to charge the lower half of the battery. I would like to know if my tractor supply car charger will do the job rite or do I need a better "smart charger" and if so can someone recommend a affordable unit.
Thanks
Mike

 

[MWMULES]

Smart is the way to go, I got one a couple years ago don't know if this is the cheapest price so Google. If weak, I would do them @ 12V AGM one at a time.
NOCO Genius Wicked Smart Multipurpose Battery Charger — 7.2 Amp, 12/24 Volt, Model# G7200

 

[Tinstar]

Smart is the way to go, I got one a couple years ago don't know if this is the cheapest price so Google. If weak, I would do them @ 12V AGM one at a time.
NOCO Genius Wicked Smart Multipurpose Battery Charger — 7.2 Amp, 12/24 Volt, Model# G7200

I have same exact charger and several other of their chargers.
Worth every penny.
Amazon has good prices on them.


If your letting it sit for days and weeks without a maintenance charge (plug in or solar) it will affect the life of batteries.
Hawkers need lots of power to recover.

Get a NOCO and charge your battery's one at a time.
It will take hours or even days but most of the time they recover.

Don't delay
It will only get worse

 

[simp5782]

Put them on trickle charge in a warm place and in about 72 hours they will come back good as new. Don't leave them in the garage or storage room to charge with these cooler temps.

Sent from my SM-G860P using Tapatalk

 

[74M35A2]

I'm of a little different opinion, but that is typically the case. I replace batteries at the 5 year mark, whether working or not. You could save the charger money and switch to 2 new group 31's for $100ea and free up some space at the same time. $200 total cost, minus what the scrap yard or another member will pay for your originals, and never need a smart charger.

The alternator on these trucks is 60 amps and not "smart", if you can make some noise for a while just start it up and set it at a fast idle for a few hours. Free shot to recover what you already have if it will start. Don't do it at 700rpm idle, there is not enough cooling in the stock alternator for extended full load on a 20 year old alternator that was crummy even when new.

Just another 2 options for ya'.

 

[Andrmorr]

Smart is the way to go, I got one a couple years ago don't know if this is the cheapest price so Google. If weak, I would do them @ 12V AGM one at a time.
NOCO Genius Wicked Smart Multipurpose Battery Charger — 7.2 Amp, 12/24 Volt, Model# G7200

I second the NOCO Smart Charger...it has the repair function that will de-sulfate a dead battery and bring it back to life and some models have a Smart Jump Start mode to start a dead car without hurting something...I wanted to test the repair function and pulled 13 old dead batteries from junkyard cars that had been sitting dead for around 10 years. I poured out the old acid, put in new battery acid I got from Oreillys ($12 for 5 qts) and ran the repair...I wanted to get a good average of how many out of the group it would save but all 13 batteries now hold at least 13v...(2 or 3 saved batteries paid for the charger)...I use it on my Hawker Military batteries also because it does 24v and once it finishes charging it goes into a maintenance program and holds the batteries at 100% indefinitely...it's waterproof/dustproof too so you can leave it outside your truck setup with a quick disconnect...I use the G26000 and the G4 for my vehicles and am very happy with their performance.

https://no.co/products/charging/multipurpose

 

[Jbulach]

According to the link you posted, the G7200 has the 12v repair (desulfation) mode as well. It also appears repair mode is only for 12 volt

 

[Doug Roberts]

Is there a place local for 6TL battery exchanges ? I'm thinking about doing Optima Red Tops. I'm 20 mins from Burlington

 

[Grimm21]

The 6tl battery is fairly common and can be traded in for the core at just about any chain parts store for a new one but it mite take a day or two to get them from a supply house.

 

[Andrmorr]

Is there a place local for 6TL battery exchanges ? I'm thinking about doing Optima Red Tops. I'm 20 mins from Burlington

Are your 6TL batteries bad? PM me...

 

[Tinstar]

You can get the 6TL battery's at Oreillys
They also do Military discounts.

 

[B3.3T]

Smart is the way to go, I got one a couple years ago don't know if this is the cheapest price so Google. If weak, I would do them @ 12V AGM one at a time.
NOCO Genius Wicked Smart Multipurpose Battery Charger — 7.2 Amp, 12/24 Volt, Model# G7200

So with the 24v, can you charge both at the same time?

 

[Andrmorr]

So with the 24v, can you charge both at the same time?

Yes, when batteries are connected for 24v you do not have to disconnect them to charge them (It is best to charge them individually though see below).

To charge an individual battery (12v), put the clamps on just that battery...

To charge two connected batteries (24v) at the same time, put the charger clamps on the same terminals the 2 truck cables are attached. That means put the positive charger clamp on the positive of battery A and the negative charger clamp on the negative of battery B...

Be sure and check the voltages of the two batteries before you charge two batteries together though...if one battery is low and the other is charged, the charged battery will get over charged as any charger will sense the low voltage and keep charging trying to bring up the voltage of lower battery. It's very difficult to balance a multi battery system with just a total volt sensing charge source like our trucks have. This is why a lot of guys find that there are two dead batteries and two good ones on a military 4 battery system.

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
What's nice about the NOCO wicked smart chargers 7.2amp and larger is that they support charging 12 volt and 24 volt.

After charging each battery individually, and you want to do simple maintenance, or walk away convenience. You can make a piece to connect to the NATO 24v slave port.

24v charging thru slave port