PACCAR Genuine Parts Tips To Keep Your Battery In Top Condition

PACCAR Genuine Parts knows that a dependable battery is key to your success. Follow this checklist to help extend your battery’s life.

Maintaining your battery appropriately is essential during both the icy winter months and the scorching summer months.

The same testing, checks, and maintenance you use to prepare for winter driving should be employed for summer driving as well. Just like cold weather, hot weather also places significant demands on batteries.

Inspect the battery pack as part of your regularly scheduled vehicle inspection, any time the operator is experiencing “hard starts”, or the truck is being used for shorter runs with hotel loads.

When the battery pack is tested look for the following factors:

• State of charge of the battery pack.
• Full charge is 12.6 volts for flooded batteries and 12.8 volts for AGM batteries.
• Hold-downs and battery connections are securely fastened.
• If the battery pack is found to be in a discharged state, the batteries should be fully recharged and tested with either a load or conductance tester.
• It is recommended to test individual batteries.
• Be sure to check what loads are being used and how much power is being taken by the additional use of air conditioning during summer months.
• There may be loads that can be turned off to maximize the power in the pack for overnight use.

NOTE: Batteries are consumable items and have a limited lifespan. If the battery pack is two to three years old, the user may want to consider replacing the batteries to reduce the risk of a no-start situation or emergency repairs.

• State-of-charge is estimated from the Open Circuit Voltage (OCV). Battery design varies. Typical values are shown on the charging time tables.
• State-of-charge value is used to determine if the battery is in a testable state or to estimate how long charging will take.
• A true 75 percent or better charge state is needed for most testing (12.4 volts for a flooded battery and 12.6 volts for an AGM battery).
• Any recent charging activity will cause the OCV to be elevated from the true (equilibrium) value.