How frequent and How long for?

Jay Mallari · Unread post by **Jay Mallari** » August 21st, 2008, 4:34 pm

My mutt has been sitting at my parents garage since resto and it has new 2HN batteries.
How frequent should one regularly start the engine and for how long should it be kept running
so as to keep the batteries charged?

Jay

Jetnoise400 · Unread post by **Jetnoise400** » August 21st, 2008, 4:55 pm

Hi Jay,

Simply idling the engine won't do. You'll need to drive it around a bit so that the alternator can do it's thing. Plus, driving it once a week or so, getting it warmed up to operating temp will also help burn any condensation in your engine, and lubricate your engine, bearings, and seals as well.

Sitting kills MVs.

Hope that helps.

-Sean

halftracknut · Unread post by **halftracknut** » August 21st, 2008, 8:24 pm

Why not put a battery minder on it and they will stay charged??

ltsimp · Unread post by **ltsimp** » August 22nd, 2008, 7:57 am

I agree with the battery tender option.When I put my M151A1 away for any length of time I use an automatic 24 volt tender. Works great and when I need to start it in the winter she starts right up.

Unread post by **rickf** » August 22nd, 2008, 10:21 am

Jay, I would tend to agree with the others on the battery tender for the batteries. Especially if they are the original 2HN's. You do NOT want these to go dead. Once they do they will never really recover fully. As far as the engine goes, I would go to a marine store and buy some fogging oil in a spray can and follow the directions on the can. Just pull the intake hose off and spray it in the carb while idleling, in a salt air environment I would use the whole can, can't hurt! When that is done pull the hex hed plug on the carb bowl and drain the gas out of the carb and put the plug back. Some people say use a stabilizer in the gas but I have been oticing at least here in the states that gas is going bad a lot faster than it used to. Even with stabilizer I am seeing varnish in 6 months! I reccomend draining it out of the tank and coating the tank with tranny fluid if it is going to be sitting for any length of time. I realize this is a lot of work but so is finding a new tank. The alternative is have the tank lined and then all you need to do is to drain it. The last thing I do for storage is to stuff a piece of steel wool in the tail pipe. I can guarantee you that a critter or two or more will love to make a home in whichever cylinder has an open exhaust valve! The nice thing about all of these preparations is this, all you have to do is put gas in it and crank it over and you are good to go! The cylinders are already lubed from the fogging oil, the fuel system is varnish free, the engine will get oil in the time it is cranking the fuel up and the steel wool will blow out. The only thing I would reccomend on startup is to let it run at medium idle and watch the temp guage to make sure the thermostat opens. I have seen a lot of these engine stick the thermostat shut for some reason.
Rick

Jay Mallari · Unread post by **Jay Mallari** » August 22nd, 2008, 6:58 pm

Thanks for all your advice guys.
Forgive my ignorance as I'm not familiar with a battery minder so I googled it.
I presume they work the same as a solargizer?
I have a purchased a solargizer but it won't be installed till I go home again in February.

The mutt is not registered yet so my Dad can't drive it outside. As soon as the paperwork is
done I'll get him to drive it round the neighbourhood at least three times a month. I'll just
have to remind him to dismount the dummy 50 cal

Unread post by **rickf** » August 22nd, 2008, 7:16 pm

That would be plenty for a charge and a good warm up. Do you think the 50 might draw attention?

Rick

sarmadq · Unread post by **sarmadq** » February 28th, 2009, 2:38 am

Hey guys, coming back to an old topic but its pretty related to me too.

I wanted to know how the battery tender works ? My 24 volt is a connection of 2 12 volts, would that mean the tender can be put on anyone & it'll maintain the 2 ? or am I missing out something basic techy here.

raymond · Unread post by **raymond** » February 28th, 2009, 9:19 am

Sam

A battery tender is kind of like a battery charger. However it will only put out 1 amp at best. A good battery tender will monitor the charge condition of your batteries and only provide the amount of charge they need. If they are fully charged it will only supply a sub amp maintenance charge. It will do this automatically. They are available in 24 volt models. A good one to buy is the original "Battery Tender". It is waterproof and is small enough to be mounted in the battery box or tool storage box. Just plug it in when it is parked. If you want a larger one that will also charge dead batteries, you could modify the cables to fit the slave socket.

http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-cha ... -0158.html

Unread post by **rickf** » February 28th, 2009, 9:23 am

Your two batteries are hooked in series so 12 volts times two gives you the 24. You could hook up the tender to one battery or the other by hooking only to the terminals of the one battery you are working on. You can not charge both at once. You could use two tenders, one on each battery. Just make sure you are hooked directly to the terminals and do not use the body as a ground. If you do one of the tenders will get 24 volts and have a lifespan of a couple of milliseconds!

Rick

Unread post by **rickf** » February 28th, 2009, 9:24 am

Raymond beat me to the punch.

raymond · Unread post by **raymond** » February 28th, 2009, 9:27 am

Rick

Battery maintainers are available in about any voltage. See my above post. I think a good 24 volt one is cheaper than 2 12 volt ones. Might be different in Pakistan or the Phillipines though. A 24 volt one may be unavailable.

sarmadq · Unread post by **sarmadq** » February 28th, 2009, 3:00 pm

You are right about that. 24volt is hardly anywhere here. All oldie car buffs get stuff from the US for their classics. Rest have converted to 12volts.
I know I had my 76 Wagoneer converted to it. Cheaper to maintain and hassle free parts available.
My dad has a small charger somewhere, will dig that out to see what actually it it, know for sure that he got it from Canada, while posted there. Might be a tender.

m151dave · Unread post by **m151dave** » February 28th, 2009, 6:50 pm

I use a 24 volt solargizer on my mutt. The kits are readily available on ebay. They come with a rather long cord between the black box and the solar panel. This allows you to run the cord outside, under the garage door and out into the sun light. I glued some magnets to the back of my solar panel and have it attached to the fender on my M416. My first solargizer just had the solar panel laying on the fender and a storm came up (good old Kansas wind) and when I went out in the morning, the wires were torn off right at the panel and could not be soldered back on.

Since solargizers were not in use on mutts, at least not in my day, I did not want this unit to be visible when the vehicle was on display. So I put a polarized plug on the cord between the black box and the solar panel, just out from the box far enough to be just inside the battery cover next to the side panel (that little corner notch on the cover is there). This allows me to keep the batteries in good condition and also remove the solar panel from view when exhibited. I roll up the cord and put it in a fanny pack hanging off the back of the jeep.

Another thing....the solargizer conditions the batteries, helping to reduce the "plaque" on the plates in the battery, not just charge it up. Battery life is greatly extended.

ogada · Unread post by **ogada** » June 6th, 2020, 6:03 am

My mutt has been sitting at my parents garage since resto and it has new 2HN batteries.
How frequent should one regularly start the engine and for how long should it be kept running
so as to keep the batteries charged?

i have also heard about this deep cycle battery which is very helpful for long tour.
i am surely going to purchase it.

Admin edit, I approved your first post after removing the internet link. We do not allow links from first time or newly registered users.

How frequent and How long for?

How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?

Re: How frequent and How long for?