The NorthStar AGM Battery + Voltage Booster Upgrade

It looks like the price you are quoting is for a Group 35 battery, the comparable Full Throttle 27F from Rock Auto is listed at $323, which is a bit better than the prices I found searching for a few minutes and does make them slightly cheaper than Northstar but the savings is pretty minor. I agree that the quality of things manufactured in China has been improving, hence my earlier comment that there is nothing inherently wrong with that from a manufacturing standpoint, but it is a much larger unknown. Their technical documentation is fantastic, but given their relatively low performance in RC I just don't see much of a draw for these AGMs. Obviously there are many different AGM batteries and manufactures to chose from fitting differing price points and performance levels, not everyone is willing to pay top dollar for the best and there is nothing wrong with that. Realistically it is overkill and most people don't need it. However the Full Throttle batteries are coming in at a high enough price point that they are competing against NorthStar without offering anything that is significantly better. If they were nearly $100 cheaper as you quoted above, I think the draw would be there for some. But at the current price point I don't expect the Full Throttle batteries to be very popular.

 

You are totally correct, I was looking at the 35, not the 27. My bad.

I wound up just shelling out the $120 for a new flooded battery for my beater car. I don't think that car has 3+ years left anyway... so sadly I won't be providing any feedback on the Full Throttle or any other brand of AGM for that car. Cheers!

 

haha Ive had the same exact thoughts before.

Also, not to get off topic here, but country of origin really has nothing to do with it. It all comes down to the company (or parent company), their internal QAQC & design practices, and where they place their values (quality vs profit).

 

To complement. Long term profits, or short term, coupled with heavy warranty replacement.

 

This thread is very useful like all of @crashnburn80 's threads, so thanks boss- please don't ever leave us even if you have a sick gladiator now haha.

I know these aren't AGM but these new Battle Born internally heated batteries are interesting to me in a cold place like CO for a second battery for aux power, though I know it's not recommended to combine AGM and Li batteries with a dual setup. Extremely spendy but they have a 10 yr warranty:
https://battlebornbatteries.com/product/heated-100ah-12v-battery/

 

If you run a DC-DC charger like CTEK or Redarc then having different battery types isn't an issue.

 

Ahh thanks, I have a redarc ready to go and haven't wired it up yet but I had seen conflicting discussions on that. Now that I dig deeper looks as though you are correct. Makes this battle born even more appealing.

 

The redarc manual should cover how to hook up the trigger wire to obtain the different charging voltages dependent on the chemistry of aux battery

 

Has anyone used this voltage booster?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Low-Profil...ter-Toyota-Tacoma-4Runner-Tundra/164473578711

It's made by a FJ cruiser member I think.

 

someone has posted pics of how they made their own in this thread...

 

Just remember, now matter how vigilant we may be, we won't need deep cycle batteries in the future. About 10 years from now unless you hoard an old car, the government will start your vehicle (fire up the old electric heating blanket) when it thinks you want to go somewhere or you owe taxes. With that said, I'm keeping as many old regular starting gasoline/diesel manual vehicles as I can until they pry them from my cold dead hands

 

So Jeep owners will finally get around some for a change then.

 

Going to give this a try

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/littelfuse-inc/02400113P/2519818

1.0A 400V mini fuse diode

manufacture part number: 02400113P

It comes up when I search for the Ford part

damn, back ordered

nope.. wait.. Mouser has it... $15 for two shipped via FedEx

I'm apparently not the first to try this digikey part

 

Also interested if this is a viable option.
Thanks @crashnburn80

 

Seems like a viable solution, but the range for the boost is concerning. 0.5v is good, 0.7v is too high. They list it as 0.5v-0.7v. Seems like they should know the specs on what they are selling.

 

It shows 14.341 volts. Others have posted feedback about it. I mailed him about an exact figure

 

Alternator voltage output varies quite a bit depending on the charge cycle, so 14.3v doesn't tell enough. You really want it to be within 14.4-14.8 at peak charge. That should look like +0.5v over stock. The maker should be able to tell you exactly what the voltage delta is caused by the diode.

 

Well, I bought this product. Waiting on battery, it's on backorder until the 21st apparently at batteries and bulbs.

I have a multimeter and a bunch of accessories so I'll try a before and after under load.

 

Do you know that this mod will not work for the 3rd gen.
wish it did but, it is now controlled by the ECU

 

I hope to God you (OP) know what you're talking about because I'm putting all my faith in you! Thank you for a great post.