2017 Truck Battery & Jump (booster) leads.

[Freddy]

Stupidly I left my dash cam plugged in after last use and this morning battery was flat as a pancake. I needed to get to Korat for a hospital appointment so was bloody inconvenient. Surprisingly, it was difficult to locate any jump leads in or around the village (loads of light duty chargers but no jump leads). Finally tracked some down and made it to the hospital 40 minutes late.
After a 200km seems to be OK now but nearly 3 yrs old so may die soon.

2 Questions:-

Following the 2013 thread. Have things moved on. Are heavy duty sealed unit battery's available in Buriram? Where's the best place to buy?

Has anyone seen decent heavy duty jump leads anywhere. I want to get a decent set with 5-6m cable. Lorry cables I guess. Worth having when needed and will also make available to the locals so worth investing in a heavy duty set that will last forever.

[Somnat]

A part answer for you Freddy ....

yes heavy duty no maintenance (sealed) batteries are available here.

I replaced my 5 year old battery 2 weeks ago. I tried to get the same one (GS) but ended up with a FB.

I paid 3600 Baht and got 500 Baht back when I returned my old one. Looked around after the fact and found other shops selling the same model for 2700 Baht but no mention about cash back.

I wont recommend the place I used due to the price, but there are quite a few FB shops around town. I am sure someone will know.

[Freddy]

Thanks Somnat. What warranty did they give you?

[smoooth2]

Freddy .... About 4 months ago I purchased a set of jumper leads from a store in M.Buriam.

They were very heavy duty. Certainly bigger than the normal car jumper leads. I'm not sure what diameter cable they are, as I've thrown the plastic wrapper away, but these leads would probably be ok for a 24v diesel big truck or certainly any 12v car/pickup/3-4 ton light truck.

My leads are only 3m, as that is enough for my needs, but I think they had longer available ?
3m set was 330 baht.

I've attached a map to this post. I've circled a Gas Station. The auto store is right next door. Basically the first shop around the corner from the traffic lights. They also had a big selection of batteries for sale, but don't know what size/brand etc, as I wasn't looking for a battery.

Anyway .... the store is only 5mins drive from Siri Electronics where you want to buy a remote control, so kill 2 birds with one shopping trip.

Cheers

[Freddy]

Thank you Somnat and Smooth for the info.
I'll check out the cables tomorrow.

[urleft]

Nice colorful orange building, it's where I got my last truck battery from the earlier thread. 

While you are there it is a good place to get new wipers as they install for you. 

[Somnat]

Thanks Somnat. What warranty did they give you?

Just checked my receipt and I cant see any mention of warranty. I vaguely remember the sales girl saying something like 2 years warranty ? !!!

Like you, I had to be somewhere with the car and was just happy to get a compatible battery at short notice.

The maintenance free batteries are ready to go, fully charged and just a quick swap over.   

[Freddy]

Thanks Somnat. 2 or sometimes 3 yrs warranty would be standard for a heavy duty sealed battery.

Thanks Keith. Hopefully get over there tomorrow.

[Freddy]

Smooth 2. Visited auto shop today. Got the jump leads. 3m max length but will be ok and seem to be robust. Currently reduced from 330 to 300 baht.

Somnat. Checked out the FB Gold battery prices. Quoted me 4,000. Maybe on the high side however I've got a 3.2 D so maybe a larger battery than you purchased. I'll shop around on that one. No mention of any exchange discount but I forgot to ask.

[Somnat]

Freddy, I got the FB GOLD80D26L-SMF which is the listed suitable replacement for my original GS battery.

Vehicle is a Nissan Navara Calibre 2.5L so (possibly) explains the price difference.

[Freddy]

Yes, it may well do. I would guess (although don't know for sure) that my truck may require a slightly larger battery.
I'm going to get a price from Ford and use this as a high end benchmark to work against.

[Freddy]

Well I got another 4 months out of the battery but now has given up the ghost. Battery shopping in the morning. Glad I bought those jump leads.

[smoooth2]

Well I got another 4 months out of the battery but now has given up the ghost. Battery shopping in the morning. Glad I bought those jump leads.

hi Freddy ... so you got 3 years and 4 mths out of this battery ? Well done.

From what I've read, that seems to be pretty good going for a battery in Thailand.

I've no idea what kills batteries so quick over here, but I'd be pretty cranky if I didn't get 3-4 years out of a normal car battery back in Oz.

[Starman]

Heat is the killer of batteries.

As an example, a battery should last 10 years if subjected to temperatures 27c or less. That drops to 30 months if temperatures are around 41c.

Our Mazda BT50 is 30 months old and the battery is still going strong.

[davureborn]

My Nissan has an 'Idling stop' feature, meaning that if I stop the car for more than a few seconds, the motor stops. Not at all useful in heavy traffic when your car takes two seconds longer to react than you expected, but also not good for the battery and starter motor. I occasionally forget to turn it off and do not expect the supposed fuel economy to compensate for the price of a  new battery / starter motor.