Which battery should I run in my 04 Chevy 2500HD with 3100 watts?

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Bet me a dollar!!

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

I have 2 105 ah dekas that are brand new minus one which has only been used for a couple weeks of you would be interested in those...

 

[SkwurlyFab 10+ year member]

Whats the most improtant factor on these batteries? The cold cranking amps? The amp hours? The max amperage? the max wattage? So hard to decide. I think I just like the graphics and warranty of the XS D3400 haha

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Whats the most improtant factor on these batteries? The cold cranking amps? The amp hours? The max amperage? the max wattage? So hard to decide. I think I just like the graphics and warranty of the XS D3400 haha

That’s always a good deciding factor in audio choices. Gots to have a sxy batt or the install is ruined LOL. JFWY

 

[SkwurlyFab 10+ year member]

Thanks for focusing on the sarcastic joke of my post and leaving out the important questions I asked you nerd..

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Why so mad?? No need to call anyone names!! Someone else can help you.

 

[SkwurlyFab 10+ year member]

My sincerest apologies good sir.

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

Did your truck come with 2 batteries from the factory? Is it a diesel?

If so, the batteries shouldn't be isolated from one another. Whats more likely is that the battery you first had connected to the starter is probably weak and when you put a load on it (starting the truck) it struggled to turn the truck over.

When you swapped batts you put the better batt closer to the starter and thus "solved" the problem. Odds are one of your batteries is probably bad, so if you are replacing one I would make sure you replace the bad one.

If you REALLY want to do the smart thing, I would replace both so they are both new and have similar specifications.

 

[SkwurlyFab 10+ year member]

My truck has the 6.0 gas motor in it and came with 1 battery under the hood stock. I originally replaced the stock battery with a d34 yellowtop and then added another d34 to the empty 2nd location.

I was told that the batteries are setup so they join together when the truck is starting, but once the truck is running they are isolated. This is what my local audio shop that did my install told me. I would have to dig deeper and do some research on the exact model and year of my truck to see how it's truly setup cuz i'm not sure if they are right or not.

I know for a fact that the yellowtop which was in the front corner of the engine bay was very weak and would barely start the truck. so they switched the batteries for me and now it starts fine, but the system lacks power and loudness.

So I am keeping the good yellowtop in the starter bay since it powers the starter and all my standard accessories. I just bought an XS Power D3400 to replace the weak battery in the rear of the bay which is what my system is hooked up to with the 1/0ga wiring.

My alternator is stock at 105 amps right now so that needs to be upgraded asap and i'll throw a dual alt kit on there as soon as I save up a couple hundred more dollars. For now I hope the D34 Yellow top can run the truck and the XS D3400 can run the system without any major problems.

I also need to do the big 3 on my truck still so that's probably really hindering it's performance at this time. **** I have more work to do than I thought and I'm only running 1 sub amp and 2 component amps. It always gets so complicated lol!

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

My sincerest apologies good sir.

All good man nothing but love on this end... Good choice for getting the xs very nice batts..

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

My truck has the 6.0 gas motor in it and came with 1 battery under the hood stock. I originally replaced the stock battery with a d34 yellowtop and then added another d34 to the empty 2nd location.
I was told that the batteries are setup so they join together when the truck is starting, but once the truck is running they are isolated. This is what my local audio shop that did my install told me. I would have to dig deeper and do some research on the exact model and year of my truck to see how it's truly setup cuz i'm not sure if they are right or not.

I know for a fact that the yellowtop which was in the front corner of the engine bay was very weak and would barely start the truck. so they switched the batteries for me and now it starts fine, but the system lacks power and loudness.

So I am keeping the good yellowtop in the starter bay since it powers the starter and all my standard accessories. I just bought an XS Power D3400 to replace the weak battery in the rear of the bay which is what my system is hooked up to with the 1/0ga wiring.

My alternator is stock at 105 amps right now so that needs to be upgraded asap and i'll throw a dual alt kit on there as soon as I save up a couple hundred more dollars. For now I hope the D34 Yellow top can run the truck and the XS D3400 can run the system without any major problems.

I also need to do the big 3 on my truck still so that's probably really hindering it's performance at this time. **** I have more work to do than I thought and I'm only running 1 sub amp and 2 component amps. It always gets so complicated lol!

Well, if the shop hooked up the batteries like they SAY they did, that means they have an isolator separating the batteries when the truck is off. This would allow you to run the stereo without killing the starter battery.

In any event, you swapped batteries and now your audio is suffering instead of the starter. Definitely sounds like that one battery is bad so replacing just that one should make a noticeable difference. I would still highly recommend doing the big 3 as well. It's pretty easy to do on our trucks (I have a 2003 GMC sierra).

With your truck running both of those batts in combination with your alt should be fine for your setup. Though I'd look into getting a higher output alternator in the future.

 

[SkwurlyFab 10+ year member]

They didn't install the isolator, they say that's how the truck came from the factory. I def have to double check this by calling Chevy or looking it up online because i trust them, but they also kind of rush through things so I don't take their word 100%. For now the truck does start fine, remote start works, alarm works, lights are good, dash lights up fine so there doesn't seem to be a drain on the main electrical accessories right now even when the system cuts out and is real low on power.

I've only got 3100 watts total between my 3 amps and XS Power's site says that a D3400 run as a dedicated battery which is not running the trucks normal accessories as well should be good up to 4000 watts. so hopefully this is true and not over-rated at all!

I'll get the big 3 done real soon and then step up the Alt after that. Hopefully once those 2 upgrades are handled the truck will be sittin pretty and not hurting for power.

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

They didn't install the isolator, they say that's how the truck came from the factory. I def have to double check this by calling Chevy or looking it up online because i trust them, but they also kind of rush through things so I don't take their word 100%. For now the truck does start fine, remote start works, alarm works, lights are good, dash lights up fine so there doesn't seem to be a drain on the main electrical accessories right now even when the system cuts out and is real low on power.
I've only got 3100 watts total between my 3 amps and XS Power's site says that a D3400 run as a dedicated battery which is not running the trucks normal accessories as well should be good up to 4000 watts. so hopefully this is true and not over-rated at all!

I'll get the big 3 done real soon and then step up the Alt after that. Hopefully once those 2 upgrades are handled the truck will be sittin pretty and not hurting for power.

If your truck didn't come with two batteries AND they didn't use an isolator, then there's no feasible way they can be separated.

One easy way to test this theory would be to check the voltage of each battery when the truck is off. If they are truly separated when the truck is off then odds are they will be resting at slightly different voltages. If they are exactly the same then I'd wager that they are always connected.

Can you get some pics under the hood?

 

[SkwurlyFab 10+ year member]

yeah as soon as I'm done with work and get back home I can pull out my meter and take a reading on each battery and then snap some pics and post em up so you can see exactly how it's all setup. Figuring out if there's an isolator on the batteries or not is definitely important to me. Just haven't had the time to delve too deep into the situation lately since my company has been slammed ever since this holiday season started. I'll post up later this afternoon or tonight for sure thanks for the help!

 

[SkwurlyFab 10+ year member]

Ok so I took a voltage reading and the front Yellowtop which is currently connected to the ignition system is sitting at 12.62v with the truck off.

The weaker battery towards the rear of the engine bay which is connected to the audio system is sitting at 12.52v so they are reading differently which I'm assuming means there's some sort of isolator in between the 2 batts.

I'll post some pics up in a second i'm loading them up right now.

Oh and when i'm driving the stock voltage meter on my gauge cluster drops to 10v or below but the system still plays haha if i crank it past 25 it will cut out real quick tho so that battery in the rear of the engine bay is definitely shot.