Battery on new RHO (No issues just info)

[Jrock]

Been lurking here for forever…

I am not even sure this info is helpful and I am not very knowledgeable about batteries, but based on what I found it may be prudent to trickle charge after taking delivery.

Ordered way back in June from MD and just got the truck yesterday here in Bakersfield, CA.

Truck came with 20 miles on it and I drove an additional 50 miles just before putting the trickle charger on. While driving the voltage was reading anywhere from 12.5 to 14.1 on the gauge display, while mostly hovering right around 13.9.

Decided to put the main battery on a 3 AMP trickle charger after running the truck for an additional 50 miles just in case. I was too lazy to get out the voltmeter. (In hindsight sight I wish I would have) so I am not sure what the reading was outside of what the onboard gauge showed.

Main battery showed charging for at least 3 hours last night as I kept going out and checking it then went to bed after 3 hours. Not sure if this really means anything, but it seems to indicate that the battery needed some juice.

Hooked up the trickle charger on the aux battery this morning and it showed a full charge within about 30 minutes.

 

[RHOfan]

I’ve had similar experiences. I hook mine to the trickle charger whenever it will be sitting more than a day (quite frequent for me as it’s not our daily). Surprised to see the batteries always require a full charge cycle over several hours, even if I’ve driven the truck that day.

I never use auto stop/start. But something drains these batteries. My dealer has advised that bad modules (apparently the truck has something like 70 of them on L1) try to communicate & if they don’t get a response, they continually wake-up all the modules. He said waking 70 modules repeatedly is really hard on batteries. I’m on my 3rd set.

Getting two modules replaced. Hopefully that solves multiple issues.

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

Its not just the electronics, its the bean counters (lets go with the minimum most battery possible) and the quality of the batteries. OEM batteries tend to be a crap shoot, and a lot of other battery brands have followed as well.

One of the best examples is Optima. Used to be among the better kind of batteries to get, but when Clarios moved them to Mexico manufacturing, they also cheapened the things. They are now no more reliable than many store brands.

Many modules, especially if built cheaply, want steady voltage. If the batteries waver slightly, providing 0.1v less than what they expect, they have weird, wonky issues. (I made up the 0.1v tolerance, but you get my point.) If one of those wonky issues happens to be staying awake, and waking up other modules to boot, then bam, you have a dead battery.

 

[Deange2001]

I’ve had similar experiences. I hook mine to the trickle charger whenever it will be sitting more than a day (quite frequent for me as it’s not our daily). Surprised to see the batteries always require a full charge cycle over several hours, even if I’ve driven the truck that day.

I never use auto stop/start. But something drains these batteries. My dealer has advised that bad modules (apparently the truck has something like 70 of them on L1) try to communicate & if they don’t get a response, they continually wake-up all the modules. He said waking 70 modules repeatedly is really hard on batteries. I’m on my 3rd set.

Getting two modules replaced. Hopefully that solves multiple issues.

I need to get my trickle charger hooked up soon. I drive my truck daily but will be going on vacation for a week in a month. Where do you recommend hooking up the negative of the charger? I always used them with batteries outside of the car so you go right to the negative of the battery but pretty sure when installed, you want to connect to the frame. Any spot you recommend that is easy to get to (though I will basically need a step stool to do anything with this truck haha).

 

[RHOfan]

I need to get my trickle charger hooked up soon. I drive my truck daily but will be going on vacation for a week in a month. Where do you recommend hooking up the negative of the charger? I always used them with batteries outside of the car so you go right to the negative of the battery but pretty sure when installed, you want to connect to the frame. Any spot you recommend that is easy to get to (though I will basically need a step stool to do anything with this truck haha).

I don’t have access to my truck right now to take a photo, but I’ve seen dealers use a spot between the positive terminal & grill. They also use the negative terminal on the battery, which is what I do.

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

Question, as my truck will be here soon. Say it gets here and has battery issues, am i better off scheduling with ram service under warranty that will likely just replace the batteries with the same OR spending money out of my pocket on aftermarket batteries/h8 conversion? I have a hard time dumping more money into a brand new 80k+ truck. Especially if they release an update or replace the oem batteries on recall down the road. Also, say i switch to H8 and ditch the aux battery, will ram service then point the blame on any future electrical issues on the "non oem" battery set up? I also think its stupid to have to buy a $130 battery tender for a brand new truck. No excuses RAM.

Id like to just leave it oem but if ram cant get their shit together i need a reliable truck.

 

[Steadi]

I’d say go OEM under warranty. It seems like most people who had battery issues stopped having them after a dealer replacement.

I would highly reccomend getting it on a battery tender immediately. That was the first thing I did when I got mine home. Only put it on the tender the first like 2 or 3 days. Stopped doing it after that, haven’t had any battery issues yet.

Also turn off all that proximity wake up shit and welcome approach lighting.

 

[Deange2001]

I don’t have access to my truck right now to take a photo, but I’ve seen dealers use a spot between the positive terminal & grill. They also use the negative terminal on the battery, which is what I do.

Oh ok you just go straight to the battery. How long will you leave it like that? Any issues at all? I always thought that is what you should do but then actually read the manual for once and it said to go to engine frame.

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

I’d say go OEM under warranty. It seems like most people who had battery issues stopped having them after a dealer replacement.

I would highly reccomend getting it on a battery tender immediately. That was the first thing I did when I got mine home. Only put it on the tender the first like 2 or 3 days. Stopped doing it after that, haven’t had any battery issues yet.

Also turn off all that proximity wake up shit and welcome approach lighting.

Ive got quite a few tenders at home so i will do this, thanks!

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

i know this has been covered somewhere but any reason you cant just put a single tender on the main battery or do you need a tender on either? OR do you need the $130 noco dual bank? I have a bunch of the noco single bank.

 

[Deange2001]

i know this has been covered somewhere but any reason you cant just put a single tender on the main battery or do you need a tender on either? OR do you need the $130 noco dual bank? I have a bunch of the noco single bank.

Single tender on the main battery is fine - the main and aux are connected in parallel so it will charge both.

 

[RHOfan]

Oh ok you just go straight to the battery. How long will you leave it like that? Any issues at all? I always thought that is what you should do but then actually read the manual for once and it said to go to engine frame.

Ok…do you know why the manual says to use an engine/frame/chassis ground away from the battery & fuel system?

It’s to avoid a spark that could ignite battery fumes or fuel.

Have you ever jump started a car & noticed sparks when connecting the final negative? I have.

When connecting a battery tender, I install the alligator clips on the battery 1st. Then plug the alligator clips into the charger. No spark…ever.

 

[RHOfan]

Question, as my truck will be here soon. Say it gets here and has battery issues, am i better off scheduling with ram service under warranty that will likely just replace the batteries with the same OR spending money out of my pocket on aftermarket batteries/h8 conversion? I have a hard time dumping more money into a brand new 80k+ truck. Especially if they release an update or replace the oem batteries on recall down the road. Also, say i switch to H8 and ditch the aux battery, will ram service then point the blame on any future electrical issues on the "non oem" battery set up? I also think its stupid to have to buy a $130 battery tender for a brand new truck. No excuses RAM.

Id like to just leave it oem but if ram cant get their shit together i need a reliable truck.

I would NOT do an H8 conversion while under warranty, for obvious reasons. Once you modify the electrical system, you might void the warranty on certain parts/systems. With the number of electrical gremlins reported on these trucks…yikes!

At this point, you are trying to solve for a problem that doesn’t exist…yet. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst (have a backup ride plan, just in case).

I’m on my 3rd set of batteries & there is nothing supporting those OEM batteries were bad. It’s been blamed on bad modules. But, who knows…

Time will tell. Take one day at a time. Make the best decisions you can each day.

 

[Deange2001]

Ok…do you know why the manual says to use an engine/frame/chassis ground away from the battery & fuel system?

It’s to avoid a spark that could ignite battery fumes or fuel.

Have you ever jump started a car & noticed sparks when connecting the final negative? I have.

When connecting a battery tender, I install the alligator clips on the battery 1st. Then plug the alligator clips into the charger. No spark…ever.

That all makes sense - and this saves me a bit of a headache of trying to find a good spot on the engine chassis/frame to ground the tender. Will go right to the battery. Thanks for the input.

You know, for as much as it sucks for us to all have to worry about our new trucks having issues, it has been nice interacting with helpful people in similar situations.