Best type of battery for diesel and glow plug use?

[SRG]

My B8200 had a car battery in it when i bought it. It was old and never lit up the glow plug indicator, which lead me to believe the glow plug indicator never worked and that she was just a hard starting machine due to old age and what not.
Well, today i used my booster to give her a little help on the cold morning start and while it was hooked up, i primed the glow plugs and the coil lit up super bright (the site glass is gone from my machine, so literally the coil is exposed through the hole). I'd never seen it light up before so it dawned on me that my battery is just super weak. I took the battery to the local Farm and Fleet and exchanged it (they tested it and it didn't even register, it was toast). Exchanged it on a Farm & Fleet brand model: Duration red top AGM group 34R battery, rated at 775CCA @ 0*, 55ah, 120RC and 955CA @ 32*. Brought it home, threw it on the charger on slow charge for 2hrs and then put it in the machine. I primed the glow plugs and noticed the coil lite up (altho not as bright as when it was on boost charge lol) for about 30 seconds. Cranked it and it spun over so fast, it was impressive how quickly it turned. She fired right up with a light cough or 2 until it stabilized (it's 10* in the barn).

Long story short. What is the best type of battery for a diesel and priming glow plugs a for 30 seconds or so? What feature sets that type of battery apart?

 

[85Hokie]

Some would say brand name is better than non brand name.......

but the bottom line is size and CCA......if it fits (get the posts right) get the largest CCA you can afford, and keep a battery tender on it and it will last many a year.

 

[100 td]

I'm with 85Hokie for larger CCA, especially if you live in cold climates. Brand verses no brand etc., you can get a good run out of a cheap battery and a bad run out of an expensive one, and vice versa so it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. You guys tend to have better battery warranties than us in OZ, if you can get something reasonably priced with a 5 year replacement or prorata, that would do me. If it makes it past the 5, as soon as it starts to degrade, replace, or if you rely on it, replace at 5. YMMV

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

(the site glass is gone from my machine, so literally the coil is exposed through the hole).

That's normal, they never has a "site glass", they are always open element.

 

[coachgeo]

if your element does not glow red after holding key to glow... after you have gone abut changing battery or had it load tested good; then this element may need to be changed.

Mine is an older tractor.... I've got to hold it a good 60 counts before it glows.
Replaced element about year ago.. it never glowed.

 

[Dave_eng]

My B8200 had a car battery in it when i bought it. It was old and never lit up the glow plug indicator, which lead me to believe the glow plug indicator never worked and that she was just a hard starting machine due to old age and what not.
Well, today i used my booster to give her a little help on the cold morning start and while it was hooked up, i primed the glow plugs and the coil lit up super bright (the site glass is gone from my machine, so literally the coil is exposed through the hole). I'd never seen it light up before so it dawned on me that my battery is just super weak. I took the battery to the local Farm and Fleet and exchanged it (they tested it and it didn't even register, it was toast). Exchanged it on a Farm & Fleet brand model: Duration red top AGM group 34R battery, rated at 775CCA @ 0*, 55ah, 120RC and 955CA @ 32*. Brought it home, threw it on the charger on slow charge for 2hrs and then put it in the machine. I primed the glow plugs and noticed the coil lite up (altho not as bright as when it was on boost charge lol) for about 30 seconds. Cranked it and it spun over so fast, it was impressive how quickly it turned. She fired right up with a light cough or 2 until it stabilized (it's 10* in the barn).

Long story short. What is the best type of battery for a diesel and priming glow plugs a for 30 seconds or so? What feature sets that type of battery apart?

I suggest you need to check each glow plug with a multimeter. Remove the wiring to each and measure ohms to ground. They ball should be the same and around 0.9 ohms. If a glow plug is burned out the glow indicator will take longer to get red as less current will be flowing through it.

Other have provided you with good battery advice.

Dave

 

[Bulldog]

I've had about every battery from one time or the other and only 2 stand out over the others.

One was a 1000cca Torque Start we put in a old 484 IH tractor. It would fire up no matter how cold and spun faster in the winter than it did before in the summer. Only problem if it got weak it was junk. Tried 2 of them and neither held up over 2 years.

The second is the blue top Optima I have in my M9000. Engine spins over faster than ever and has never seemed weak no matter how cold. I've had it several years and it still seems as good as it was when I put it in. Main reason I went with a marine battery was for the acc. post. made it so much easier to hook up bale monitors and such.

I'm very happy with the Optima except for the $250 price. If it doesn't last for at least 10 years I don't see paying for another one.

 

[100 td]

Just for info for others, there are 2 types of "Blue" optimas, one is a starting battery(exactly the same as a red top with extra terminals) and one is a combination deep cycle/starting battery(exactly the same as a yellow top with extra terminals).
So Optima only make Red or Yellow batteries realistically, Reds have a dark grey case, yellows have a light grey case. Blue batteries are the same, they are either dark gray (same as red top battery) or light grey (same as yellow top). If the blue top has a "D" in the model number, it's a yellow top (D for deep cycle) and has a light grey case.

 

[Mark15]

Lots of good battery info already.

Just wanted to add the reason the glow indicator lit up brighter / faster with the booster is because they operate at a higher voltage in order to charge the battery. That raises the voltage higher than any 12v battery would normally be at with the engine off, even when fully charged.

 

[Bulldog]

Good info 100 td, I have the D31M.

Only reason I went with it was for the extra post. Just makes things so much cleaner and don't have to keep messing with the main post when I need to hook up a wire.

I see they've gone up about $80 since I bought mine.

 

[Stmar]

As one of the other posters said put a tender on it, this will keep it in good condition no matter what battery you have. I try to keep tenders on all of my batteries, some solar some plug in, well worth the investment.

 

[bucktail]

I've had bad luck with O'Reilley's batteries. I'll probably stick to Interstate or Napa Gold, but there are other good ones out there.

 

[SRG]

Thanks for all the info.
The glow plug indicator lights up as bright as it gets, after about 8-10 seconds. Does that seem to be about a normal amount of time?

I ordered a battery tender with ring terminals, new marine battery terminals, a new ground strap and some 2 gauge positive battery cable and lugs. Going to protect the battery investment as best as i can.


I have a question about the charging system on my B8200. After starting the tractor and leaving the key in the "run" position, the "charge" light stays lit up on the dash. Is this an indicator that the system is charging battery, or that the charging system is faulty? I can turn the key back to the "off" position, with the tractor still running and the "charge" light will shut off.

 

[100 td]

If the light is on, it's not charging

 

[Russell King]

When you turn the key to off you remove all electrical power to the dash so the light is basically turned off


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[SRG]

Yes, i feel dumb for even bring that up. haha
A new voltage regulator is going to be installed.

 

[In Utopia]

If the light is on, it's not charging

Wait a minute, are you saying if the light is on when my L175 is running the alternator is not charging...........mine stays orange anytime the engine is running.
I've never seen my glow plug indicator glow, but it does work.

 

[Russell King]

There is a charging light that should come on when the key is turned on. The light should go out when the engine starts and the alternator and regulator and battery are all working properly.


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[In Utopia]

The light stays on all the time when running.
Never had any battery problems, but I guess I should check the alternator out put.

Just checked the alternator out put.
12.6v at idle, 11.1v at 1500 RPM.
Does this mean that the light is somehow wired into the switch and is just reading constant voltage when the switch is on/?

 

[nickelplated5s]

Output is supposed to go up as RPM's increase.