Primary Battery:
Factory 2017 RAM Power Wagon Battery
Secondary Battery:
Bosch 151R340B
CCA: 335A
CA: 400A
Group: 151R
Battery Isolation: National Luna
Wired in Configuration 1:
I read this - lots of interesting issues, but didn’t see one like mine:
www.expeditionportal.com
First failure: I installed the secondary battery, National Luna split charge system (config 1), and some camping lights mounted to the roof rack immediately prior to a trip through Arizona and Utah, which involved a lot of high speeds on washboard roads. I have the battery sitting on one of the divider platforms, and after some of the rougher roads, it dropped down a few inches into the deep section of the RAMBOX. The battery was ruined after the first trip, and I first thought it was from the impact of falling. I brought it to the auto parts store just to confirm; it held 0 charge. I later determined there was a faulty ground for the secondary battery. There was less than 12V from (+) to (-), and there was excessive impedance between ground post and chassis ground point. Found a new ground point and battery was reading 12V. I’m not sure if that was the cause of the original failure or not, but I found it in the course of the installation of the new secondary battery.
Fast forward 5-6 months and I had a second failure: From the install in December, everything (which was just LED rack lights at the time) seemed to run fine. I checked a couple days ago and there was 0 charge (0V) on the battery. During diagnostics, I found there were no indicator lights on smart solenoid, and the remote won't enable manual linking, although it gives the audible report after holding down the winch override for 3 seconds. I reset the solenoid by disconnecting the black wire coming out of it. Still no change.
Trying to determine why it might have failed, I’ve thought of the following:
In both cases the secondary battery was chosen for the dimensions. I’m housing it in the RAMBOX which, other than the failed batteries, has worked great so far. The battery, relays, and switches all mount great in the RAMBOX, especially with the dividers.
Note: pictures are from the first battery install, which was a slightly different group size.
Factory 2017 RAM Power Wagon Battery
Secondary Battery:
Bosch 151R340B
CCA: 335A
CA: 400A
Group: 151R
Battery Isolation: National Luna
Wired in Configuration 1:
I read this - lots of interesting issues, but didn’t see one like mine:
National Luna Split-Charge System Charging Issues?
Hi Harley. If GM has a scenario in place to drop the voltage to 12.5V, then yes it will drop out the contact on the solenoid on the PPP until the charge voltage again goes above 13.1V. The one situation that I can envision you charge being relatively fine is that when the batteries are...
www.expeditionportal.com
First failure: I installed the secondary battery, National Luna split charge system (config 1), and some camping lights mounted to the roof rack immediately prior to a trip through Arizona and Utah, which involved a lot of high speeds on washboard roads. I have the battery sitting on one of the divider platforms, and after some of the rougher roads, it dropped down a few inches into the deep section of the RAMBOX. The battery was ruined after the first trip, and I first thought it was from the impact of falling. I brought it to the auto parts store just to confirm; it held 0 charge. I later determined there was a faulty ground for the secondary battery. There was less than 12V from (+) to (-), and there was excessive impedance between ground post and chassis ground point. Found a new ground point and battery was reading 12V. I’m not sure if that was the cause of the original failure or not, but I found it in the course of the installation of the new secondary battery.
Fast forward 5-6 months and I had a second failure: From the install in December, everything (which was just LED rack lights at the time) seemed to run fine. I checked a couple days ago and there was 0 charge (0V) on the battery. During diagnostics, I found there were no indicator lights on smart solenoid, and the remote won't enable manual linking, although it gives the audible report after holding down the winch override for 3 seconds. I reset the solenoid by disconnecting the black wire coming out of it. Still no change.
Trying to determine why it might have failed, I’ve thought of the following:
- Between DEC and now, I've run winch. Can high current hurt a small battery? 100A fuse between the primary and solenoid seems fine
- The secondary battery is significantly smaller than the factory RAM battery. Could the high charging current from the alternator hurt the secondary?
In both cases the secondary battery was chosen for the dimensions. I’m housing it in the RAMBOX which, other than the failed batteries, has worked great so far. The battery, relays, and switches all mount great in the RAMBOX, especially with the dividers.
Note: pictures are from the first battery install, which was a slightly different group size.
