According to Odyssey, 31M-PC2150 is not suitable for our application

[jicko]

*thumbs up* bro!!

Great to know that you had verified that our system is good.

I am just wondering all those reports of premature failure (still like 3 years) of Odyssey or DieHard Platinum 31M batteries, and how did those happen.

I think running a "maintainer" (at least once in a while) will be good for the battery.

 

[2014 Warthog]

*thumbs up* bro!!

Great to know that you had verified that our system is good.

I am just wondering all those reports of premature failure (still like 3 years) of Odyssey or DieHard Platinum 31M batteries, and how did those happen.

I think running a "maintainer" (at least once in a while) will be good for the battery.

I don't know... All I can do at this point is wait and see I've got a year on mine, will be monitoring it regularly but will be years before I know if my usage is good long term or not for sure

 

[bimrunner]

Ok so I got my new ODYSSEY charger the other day.

This weekend While the truck was parked for at least 12 hours. I disconnected the battery from the vehicle and put it on the charger.

Charger read 12.8V and said 99% charged. Which for sitting over night after a commute home pretty much indicated to me that it was as fully charged as it can get.

I turned on the charge cycle, immediately after the battery check was done it said "100%" charged and went into it's maintenance cycle which I left on for about 5 hours just for fun.

So at least with the 5th gen runner and not having a lopsided charge discharge scenario (I.e. fridge 100% of the time, 4 mile daily commute), it looks like the vehicle itself it plenty capable of keeping the thing fully charged.

I ordered a charger just so I have it in case I need it. Good to know it is capable of keeping the deep cycle charged. I have 2x pc1200 batteries and put a digital meter on it and after taking top charge off, I show 12.8 on both batteries so I think the stocker is probably capable of doing the works. I just have mine for the "in case I need it." I'll probably charge mine up on the charger before/after long camping adventures where I'll be running the stereo and fridge a lot.

 

[Randyman...]

So at least with the 5th gen runner and not having a lopsided charge discharge scenario (I.e. fridge 100% of the time, 4 mile daily commute), it looks like the vehicle itself it plenty capable of keeping the thing fully charged.

Indeed. "The sky is not falling" for most of our use-cases.

 

[jicko]

Since the sky is not falling..... I will venture into this route!

Odyssey 31M-PC2150 "Trolling Thunder" Deep Cycle Battery Installation

 

[NasaE30]

If you'll please forgive a 3rd and 4th gen owner adding - slight hijacking -a little to the thread. Lots of great info, knowledgeable people here.

I just picked up a DieHard Platinum P4 aka Odyssey pc1500dt. Its a 34/78 dual terminal 68ah. Sitting overnight before starting its 12.72v and running it reads 14.23 right after start up. measures 1050cca - rated for 850.

I bought this to run a Cpap machine. (small forced air unit to help with severe sleep apnea) I installed it in the 3rd gen. Which has a 85amp alternator. After one night sleep 9+hrs or so the truck was very slow to start. I use a schumaker 410 watt inverter which I think is part of the problem. Very inefficient.

I didn't know quite as much as I do now and in hindsight should have topped off or charged the battery before I installed it roughly 3 weeks before the trip. Im still trying to figure out the exact draw the cpap uses but I could safely assume its much less than a fridge. 5ah roughly is what I can find. Is that 50ah per 10hr of use? Sorry Still learning.

My next step or maybe question is for the time being,

Am I ok to run as is or do I need a charger? Odyssey has currently discontinued theirs until december. The other approved chargers cost more than the battery itself. I have been looking at chargers that are rated for smaller Odysseys..
The Battery Minder 12248, the NOCO G7200, the CTEK 7002 and a lesser known brand but recommended by batterymart.com a Schauer cm16a a 16amp charger the most powerfull of the 4.

Am I over thinking this keep it as is or should I invest in a good charger and do a weekly top off?

Thanks
Zach

 

[ic0517]

NasaE30,

Bit confused, the Cpap machine, it runs off of 120AC? And you are sleeping in your 4Runner or a tent or whatever near it, running it off of the inverter, and you are draining the battery?

Then you charge the battery up in the morning?

If you put a good battery into just about any vehicle with a good charging system, and you drive 100 miles at say 40+ mph, battery should be charged.

You said it was 14.23, so alternator was good.

Got a clamp meter? Watch out if you go buy one, many are AC only.

 

[Titanpat57]

If you'll please forgive a 3rd and 4th gen owner adding - slight hijacking -a little to the thread. Lots of great info, knowledgeable people here.

I just picked up a DieHard Platinum P4 aka Odyssey pc1500dt. Its a 34/78 dual terminal 68ah. Sitting overnight before starting its 12.72v and running it reads 14.23 right after start up. measures 1050cca - rated for 850.

I bought this to run a Cpap machine. (small forced air unit to help with severe sleep apnea) I installed it in the 3rd gen. Which has a 85amp alternator. After one night sleep 9+hrs or so the truck was very slow to start. I use a schumaker 410 watt inverter which I think is part of the problem. Very inefficient.

I didn't know quite as much as I do now and in hindsight should have topped off or charged the battery before I installed it roughly 3 weeks before the trip. Im still trying to figure out the exact draw the cpap uses but I could safely assume its much less than a fridge. 5ah roughly is what I can find. Is that 50ah per 10hr of use? Sorry Still learning.

My next step or maybe question is for the time being,

Am I ok to run as is or do I need a charger? Odyssey has currently discontinued theirs until december. The other approved chargers cost more than the battery itself. I have been looking at chargers that are rated for smaller Odysseys..
The Battery Minder 12248, the NOCO G7200, the CTEK 7002 and a lesser known brand but recommended by batterymart.com a Schauer cm16a a 16amp charger the most powerfull of the 4.

Am I over thinking this keep it as is or should I invest in a good charger and do a weekly top off?

Thanks
Zach

Check out your transformer (from the wall socket to the stepdown cable) output transformer...I'm in a betting mood, and I'm going to bet that it goes form 110 v to 12v to run the cpap. So your inverter was doing "double duty" in a sense. Contact your cpap manufacturer and see if they offer a 12 volt travel plug....mine did, and it was covered under my insurance at no cost.

I did install a NoCo charger under the hood to keep both batteries in good shape..my Sears group 31 is 5 years old.

 

[DannyLlama]

Huh. My Northstar battery seems to work just fine. 3 years old and managed to fully drain it twice but it still starts the truck in -35C no problems. Guess all those guys who left Odyssey to start Northstar knew what they were doing.

Which specific model? Any other reviews of Northstar batteries?

 

[NasaE30]

NasaE30,

Bit confused, the Cpap machine, it runs off of 120AC? And you are sleeping in your 4Runner or a tent or whatever near it, running it off of the inverter, and you are draining the battery?

Then you charge the battery up in the morning?

If you put a good battery into just about any vehicle with a good charging system, and you drive 100 miles at say 40+ mph, battery should be charged.

You said it was 14.23, so alternator was good.

Got a clamp meter? Watch out if you go buy one, many are AC only.

Yes Sir its 120Vac. That's why im running the inverter. I had good results doing this, but wanted a more permanent solution. I sleep in the truck with the inverter hooked to the +- leads from the battery.

Recharge is done with the alternator

It did seem to be pretty close to charged after my trip home. Maybe a tad slower the next morning.

I don't have a clamp meter. Just a good mulitmeter.


Titanpa57:

You're on to something there with the double duty thing. Ill look in to that more tonight.
Ill look at Resmed site and figure it out.They do offer a CONverter maybe that's what I need instead.
Thanks guys

 

[delloro]

I sold auto parts for years, we were always told that deep-cycle batteries don't work as car batteries. It had to do with the charging and discharging characteristics being different.

Nice to see the detailed explanation of why.

You could always get a cheap, small generator to run your stationary loads and charge your deep-cycle as needed, to usee overnight during quiet time.. The Harbor Freight small generator is on sale for $90 right now, it was $80 recently.

Just a thought.

 

[Intruder]

Which specific model? Any other reviews of Northstar batteries?

Oh man, I don't remember. I'd have to go look at the battery after work to see. The only reviews I got were other guys I know running Northstars who swore by them and the guy at the battery store recommending it over the Odyssey even though it was the less expensive of the two.

 

[SierraMare]

And for those who want a refrigeration system that bypasses all this while doing the job for many? Consider a Yeti cooler, the KISS concept in action: YETI Coolers- Premium Ice Chests, Apparel, and Gear

 

[jicko]

And for those who want a refrigeration system that bypasses all this while doing the job for many? Consider a Yeti cooler, the KISS concept in action: YETI Coolers- Premium Ice Chests, Apparel, and Gear

Yeti is a cooler, NOT a fridge or freezer. While it is a GREAT cooler, so do many others (Yeti is just ONE of them), these are ALL great coolers (most made in USA, not chinese ripoffs)
K2 K2 Coolers - Real Cold Real Value or
ORCA ORCA Coolers - Made in the U.S. by US? or
BISON http://www.bisoncoolers.com or
Pelican Elite Pelican ProGear Elite Coolers
and some others....

None of them can keep ice-cream tho.

 

[jicko]

NasaE30,

Bit confused, the Cpap machine, it runs off of 120AC? And you are sleeping in your 4Runner or a tent or whatever near it, running it off of the inverter, and you are draining the battery?

Then you charge the battery up in the morning?

If you put a good battery into just about any vehicle with a good charging system, and you drive 100 miles at say 40+ mph, battery should be charged.

You said it was 14.23, so alternator was good.

Got a clamp meter? Watch out if you go buy one, many are AC only.

Your statement is not true. Mainly due to our alternator.

I now have the Odyessy PC2150 for a few months now. While it is ALL FINE with my use-case (and same thing for many of us), the battery is indeed NOT fully charged.

While it is all good for starting our truck, running the fridge and LED lights overnight etc... having 24-36 non-driving time and running the fridge etc... I think no matter how much driving we do during the day and afterwards, the battery is ONLY going to be charged up to somewhere between 75%-80% charge.

If you measure the open circuit voltage (basically measure the battery with your car off), you will see that your battery is only at around 12.5V ish; which indicate 75% state of charge.

So, a periodic "top up" (using an external charge) will be needed to keep the battery is top shape.

Now, these are tough battery, they probably can hover between max 75% SOC and 25% SOC (PC2150 only need this for starting cars) for years.

PS. set the fridge to cut off at 12.0V, you are GTG.

 

[RedStripeRanger]

Bringing this back to life...

Just got my 31m installed and bought the Noco G7200. Plugged it in and it was only at 25% (good thing I got that charger).

I choose the normal cold/AMG mode but should I of selected the AMG+ mode? Anyone have experience with this?

 

[Randyman...]

My 31M is generally never below 75% when I get the itch to "top it off".

I didn't even have a suitable battery charger for the first 18-24 months I had the 31M installed and never had a problem (strictly letting the stock alternator do its thing) - even with a monster audio system enjoyed responsibly. Just rolled over 100K miles (approx 90K worth on the 31M) - and 31M still holding everything together like a champ! I'm in a hotter climate to boot...

It would seem our alternators are somewhat finniky or have a broad tolerance? Others have mentioned issues with AGM's and our very miserly voltage regulators (tuned for MPG, not maximum power or a stout 14.4v). Maybe I'm lucky - but no issues over here...

Best luck

 

[RedStripeRanger]

My 31M is generally never below 75% when I get the itch to "top it off".

I didn't even have a suitable battery charger for the first 18-24 months I had the 31M installed and never had a problem (strictly letting the stock alternator do its thing) - even with a monster audio system enjoyed responsibly. Just rolled over 100K miles (approx 90K worth on the 31M) - and 31M still holding everything together like a champ! I'm in a hotter climate to boot...

It would seem our alternators are somewhat finniky or have a broad tolerance? Others have mentioned issues with AGM's and our very miserly voltage regulators (tuned for MPG, not maximum power or a stout 14.4v). Maybe I'm lucky - but no issues over here...

Best luck

Thanks for the input. I know it will be fine if I dont use a charger to top it off every now and then, but the place I bought my battery at had its for $50 ($70 off Amazon's price). I got the battery and the charger for $360.

Just wanted to make sure I was using the correct setting.

 

[e60ral]

everyone still happy with their deep cycle batteries on stock charging system?

anyone have a problem with starting their vehicle with the battery at 11.8V?


i realized that i have a way to periodically maintenance charge (i can just do it at the office) so i'm leaning towards this option again.

 

[JSparky]

everyone still happy with their deep cycle batteries on stock charging system?

anyone have a problem with starting their vehicle with the battery at 11.8V?


i realized that i have a way to periodically maintenance charge (i can just do it at the office) so i'm leaning towards this option again.

I had one in my 2013 that I sold my pops. I used it for a year with an ARB fridge in place of the stock battery, then it went another year in baja without any extra loads and it died.. he had it replaced with I don't know what down in Mexico. Either way it only lasted about 2-years. Learned about the recharge issue after I had installed it. Whether it was a recharge issue or baja beating I couldn't say, but given this battery's reputation I'm prone to believe the former.