Topping up the batteries is not something I have to think about in my current job, but I do obviously park up around trucks idling to charge their batteries.
In my old Merc, there was a battery readout on the dash so that would have been easy enough to keep track of but the DAF doesn’t have one. I have a vague idea that starting the engine “costs” about 20mins of running time to recharge it but I don’t even know whether that’s accurate or not.
Does anyone know how long it takes, or is there a way to tell? Or a top tip like run the engine for an hour for every 12hrs you’re parked up?
It varies a lot, all about the amps I think, display may show 24+ volts (29 in my case when running). Cold amps for a morning start are essential.
Others may know more but for me when im parked up if I’m using a power hungry device like the microwave I’ll run the engine for 5minutes.
Thats normally it till morning then I’ll run it for another 5 minutes between kettle boils.
The next time I start the engine will be to drive off.
Controversially I won’t run the engine when boiling a kettle as it burns the ciggy socket out, need to swap one of mine for a Hella socket soon.
Everyone has their own system as they get familiar with their truck, only once woke up to a weak battery that wouldn’t start the truck, fitter came out and diagnosed one of the batteries had died, display was still showing 23v.
So it’s the amps that get you going, look after them amps. Or is it watts, never was any good at this stuff.
A mathematical soulution ie; volts x watts x hours of engine running x number of engine revs. But, I don’t know what it is.
What I can tell you are from my own experiences of being parked up for days on end.
A flat battery is a total PITA but, you can jump motors from the ABS lead. So if all appears lost eventually you’ll find some nice driver who’ll give you a jump start. Winding electric windows up really ■■■■■ the life out of the batteries. If you’re parked up for long periods, open the door to flick yer ■■■ ash out, tip water/tea/coffee away or you just want some fresh air. Switch off the phone and the interior lights during the day. The more you switch off the greater your chances of having good batteries. I got stuck for 5 days in Italy once in a Volvo FH, despite me running the engine for four hours a day, I still had a flat battery by day four.
I got stuck in snow south of Madrid for two days, I just ran the engine for the whole time but my brakes had frozen on by then (sometimes you just can’t win).
As I understand it Alternators are less reliant on revs than old school dynamos, so I think tickover will give similar charge to running speed / high revs.
njl:
As I understand it Alternators are less reliant on revs than old school dynamos, so I think tickover will give similar charge to running speed / high revs.
When was the last time you were in a truck with a dynamo? About 25 years ago I was on a night shift job where we’d be parked up for an hour or two waiting to load so naturally in winter we’d leave them ticking over with the heater on, no night heaters, but when called to load we’d switch off, no choice there. They quite often wouldn’t start up again as the batteries were flattened because the alternator didn’t provide enough charge at tickover, according to the fitter.
njl:
As I understand it Alternators are less reliant on revs than old school dynamos, so I think tickover will give similar charge to running speed / high revs.
When was the last time you were in a truck with a dynamo? About 25 years ago I was on a night shift job where we’d be parked up for an hour or two waiting to load so naturally in winter we’d leave them ticking over with the heater on, no night heaters, but when called to load we’d switch off, no choice there. They quite often wouldn’t start up again as the batteries were flattened because the alternator didn’t provide enough charge at tickover, according to the fitter.
25 years ago it be more likely that the alternator needed ‘exciting’ to start charging, by briefly reving the engine on start up. If the alternator didn’t excite on start up, you could idle for days without charging the battery.
Batteries are like a lot if things these days, they seem to be made of cheese. They don’t seem to last half as long as they used to. Obviously there’s a lot more draw on them with all the electronic gubbins on today’s lorries, but even so, they don’t make em like they used to.
I went in yesterday to put all my stuff back in after hols and pick my trailer up etc. (first day back tomoro )
It struggled a bit to start, it had stood 2 wks apart from getting my inverter fitted across the road, (and that will not have helped either) so I left it running for an hour …while I re.strapped my load PROPERLY !
The eco thing kicked in, and it kept switching it’s self off.
Now maybe everybody else already know this, but I didn’t …if you leave handbrake off (and for hard of thinking,…also chock wheels ) it keeps ticking over. Handy to know.
Renault T cab drivers can bypass the eco stop by taking the handbrake off and putting it back on so I’ve heard.
Also can bypass the speed limiter by doing exactly 50mph on cruise for 3 minutes, then press up on the speed increase button for 30 seconds. Then (and this is important) press off on the cruise button whilst pressing the horn at the same time for 3 seconds.
Its the one thing i dont understand why would you be worried about your truck starting or your load spread 2 days before you go back to work and on top of that go in 2 days before to check its ok on your own time.
nightline:
Its the one thing i dont understand why would you be worried about your truck starting or your load spread 2 days before you go back to work and on top of that go in 2 days before to check its ok on your own time.
I don’t understand that either mate tbh .
Anyway, you brought it up so you tell me,… Because in my case I will get paid for it on my next time sheet, AND at Saturday rate.
Also I wasn’t ‘‘worried’’ about it starting, I just discovered there and then that it may be a potential problem, so I therefore eradicated it. (hopefully)
Then I also discovered that some ■■■■ whit had put me at risk of an insecure load situation.
As for going in at all, I would much rather go in on an afternoon and get my cab (aka my home for the week) ready, than ■■■■ about at 5am Mon in the cold and frost, …which I have now found out would be in excess of 3 hours.
That and the fact that I had other things to do in the area, it was no hardship tbh.
But hey…Thanks for your concern.anyway !
nightline:
Its the one thing i dont understand why would you be worried about your truck starting or your load spread 2 days before you go back to work and on top of that go in 2 days before to check its ok on your own time.
It’s part of sleeping in a tin box and ■■■■■■■■ in a carrier bag…
nightline:
Its the one thing i dont understand why would you be worried about your truck starting or your load spread 2 days before you go back to work and on top of that go in 2 days before to check its ok on your own time.
It’s part of sleeping in a tin box and ■■■■■■■■ in a carrier bag…
Couldn’t have put it better myself, and furthermore I purposely left my wash kit at home, just so I can start smelling like a non-dayman again, and get used to washing with wet wipes, while I’m on unpaid night security vigil, and after I’ve had my Ginster’s pie, bag of crisps, and Mars bar for supper.
nightline:
Its the one thing i dont understand why would you be worried about your truck starting or your load spread 2 days before you go back to work and on top of that go in 2 days before to check its ok on your own time.
I don’t understand that either mate tbh .
Anyway, you brought it up so you tell me,… Because in my case I will get paid for it on my next time sheet, AND at Saturday rate.
Also I wasn’t ‘‘worried’’ about it starting, I just discovered there and then that it may be a potential problem, so I therefore eradicated it. (hopefully)
Then I also discovered that some ■■■■ whit had put me at risk of an insecure load situation.
As for going in at all, I would much rather go in on an afternoon and get my cab (aka my home for the week) ready, than [zb] about at 5am Mon in the cold and frost, …which I have now found out would be in excess of 3 hours.
That and the fact that I had other things to do in the area, it was no hardship tbh.
But hey…Thanks for your concern.anyway !
So when you book two weeks holidays with the job do you only book ten days away so you can be back and go in two days before you go back to work to check everything.
I don’t for a second believe you get paid for it, you should not be even on the property why because you are on holidays
nightline:
Its the one thing i dont understand why would you be worried about your truck starting or your load spread 2 days before you go back to work and on top of that go in 2 days before to check its ok on your own time.
It’s part of sleeping in a tin box and ■■■■■■■■ in a carrier bag…
Couldn’t have put it better myself, and furthermore I purposely left my wash kit at home, just so I can start smelling like a non-dayman again, and get used to washing with wet wipes, while I’m on unpaid night security vigil, and after I’ve had my Ginster’s pie, bag of crisps, and Mars bar for supper.
robroy:
I went in yesterday to put all my stuff back in after hols and pick my trailer up etc. (first day back tomoro )
It struggled a bit to start, it had stood 2 wks apart from getting my inverter fitted across the road, (and that will not have helped either) so I left it running for an hour …while I re.strapped my load PROPERLY !
The eco thing kicked in, and it kept switching it’s self off.
Now maybe everybody else already know this, but I didn’t …if you leave handbrake off (and for hard of thinking,…also chock wheels ) it keeps ticking over. Handy to know.
Mine does this if I press on the footbrake briefly when I get the warning on the screen it will carry on ticking over.
A voltmeter should give good indication to state of charge of a battery. Not many (none?) are fitted nowadays although they were a common fitment. Note that manufacturer fitted fridges etc often cut out when the voltage drops below a certain value. So find out that number and if your reading drops to near that level, its time to flash up the motor. It should be possible to take a reading from the cig lighter socket, and Ill have a small bet that eBay will have summat on offer? Any device should have negligible drain and could be a good indicator.
As said already alternators will give a good charge almost from a standstill: dieselusa.com/productinfo/Bo … 20200a.pdf
Note the output graphs, the output is near max from about 4000rpm. Thats alternator rpm not engine rpm, so just about tickover and youre charging the batteries.
Re eco cut out: on my DAF pushing the cruise + button (neutral, handbrake on) will knock the revs up and prevent auto cutoff. I`m passing no comment on running engines warm/cold/wear/piston slap/fuel etc etc etc.
nightline:
Its the one thing i dont understand why would you be worried about your truck starting or your load spread 2 days before you go back to work and on top of that go in 2 days before to check its ok on your own time.
I don’t understand that either mate tbh .
Anyway, you brought it up so you tell me,… Because in my case I will get paid for it on my next time sheet, AND at Saturday rate.
Also I wasn’t ‘‘worried’’ about it starting, I just discovered there and then that it may be a potential problem, so I therefore eradicated it. (hopefully)
Then I also discovered that some ■■■■ whit had put me at risk of an insecure load situation.
As for going in at all, I would much rather go in on an afternoon and get my cab (aka my home for the week) ready, than [zb] about at 5am Mon in the cold and frost, …which I have now found out would be in excess of 3 hours.
That and the fact that I had other things to do in the area, it was no hardship tbh.
But hey…Thanks for your concern.anyway !
So when you book two weeks holidays with the job do you only book ten days away so you can be back and go in two days before you go back to work to check everything.
I don’t for a second believe you get paid for it, you should not be even on the property why because you are on holidays
Why should you not be on works property? At my place employed drivers can do what they like, whether its checking load security on a pre loaded trailer to washing/cleaning their truck. What possible objection could an employer have if a driver has the savvy to come in to do these sort of things in their own time??
About 25 years ago I was on a night shift job where we’d be parked up for an hour or two waiting to load so naturally in winter we’d leave them ticking over with the heater on, no night heaters, but when called to load we’d switch off, no choice there. They quite often wouldn’t start up again as the batteries were flattened because the alternator didn’t provide enough charge at tickover, according to the fitter.
)
…if you leave handbrake off (and for hard of thinking,…also chock wheels 
.
