battery advice for a sprinter
- Thread starter dean07
- Start date
so it would be overkill to spend that much when it is not really needed?....
The price I heard quoted was about $500 bucks...
Buying more amp hour capacity than is needed is overkill. It's a delicate balance. It would be great to have a gazillion amp hours in a house bank, but along with it comes the weight of the lead and capacity you'll never use. It would be great to use AWG #4/0 or even thicker battery cable for a house bank in a van, but it's an added expense from which you'll never see any benefit. High end AGM batteries are great, if they are used for what they are designed for, like high amp draws of floor scrubbers and for alternative energy (sun and wind) storage, but they are overkill for a house bank. They can, however, better withstand ignorance and abuse, so for that they do make a good choice for some drivers, assuming they have the proper system in place for properly charging them. So yeah, it would be overkill to spend that much when it's really not needed. Some people, and their applications, require just a simple Walmart marine battery, others would be better off with pairs of 6-volt golf cart batteries, others still better off with aerial lift of floor scrubber batteries (like me). It just depends on their amp hour requirements and how they are used.
If it's solely to run an Espar heater, then a marine battery is plenty. For more 12-volt or inverter loads, two batteries may be required. If that's not enough then 6-volt batteries in pairs for more amp hour capacity is the way to go.
That's about right, and it's a little lower than those Discover Energy AGM batteries can be found at most places.
guido4475
Not a Member
I paid 350 for my oddysey from ray 2 years ago. He was the cheapest at that time on them. But I have also had drivers tell me an espar d4 was 3300 installed with a battery. It seems kinda high when cerni international in Youngstown sells d2's for 900 bucks cash and carry.
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You're comparing a D4 with a battery installed complete with, a D2 cash & carry no battery, no cables, no lugs, no fuses, no isolator and no labor. I guess when you compare it that way, yeah, it is high.
guido4475
Not a Member
So you mean to tell me all that you listed that the d2 at 900 bucks does not come with is going to cost $2,400??.. even the price difference between a d2 and d4 is close to $150.00... It isn't that difficult to install an espar. Me and a freind did mine in my driveway in 6 hours..in 7 degree temps 2 years ago..no problems thus far. This was the 6th install of an espar my friend has done as he has a fleet of vans all equipped with espars.
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I don't even know what that sentence means. I do know that if you buy a pair of $500 batteries, that it's going to add $1000 to the price.
So, 12 hours labor to install an Espar.
Themal king complete install was about 3-4 hrs including the guys coffee break in the morning...was out before lunch....1 man install....the time consuming part is the electrical....luckily a sprinters main fuse box is right under the drivers seat real close to aux battery...
No matter.....Rays install price has increased greatly in the last couple years...from the low 2.000's to the low 3,000's.....and the service IF you can get in, is slow at best....he carries low inventory on popular parts and there is up to a weeks wait time...
No matter.....Rays install price has increased greatly in the last couple years...from the low 2.000's to the low 3,000's.....and the service IF you can get in, is slow at best....he carries low inventory on popular parts and there is up to a weeks wait time...
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I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but everything you've just stated in the quoted text is incorrect. The difference between the $2000s and $3000s (for a D4) is the price of two $500 batteries. His apples-to-apples pricing hasn't changed hardly at all over the years. Supply your own battery and it's the lower price. The labor rate is $89.
Brian, who does Ray's installs, is not surprisingly busier in the fall and winter than at other times of the year, but it's not any more difficult getting in for an appointment there than it is at any car dealer or the guy down in Toledo. On Thursday Sept 26th at 1630 I called Ray to get mine worked on, and I was in there getting it worked on at 0900 the next morning. That's quicker than I expected. I had the burner, blower motor and blower motor gasket replaced, which involves completely removing the unit, tearing it down and cleaning it, replacing the parts and then putting it all back together. I also had the tail pipe and integrated fuel line filter replaced. They had all the parts in stock. I left the repair facility 2.5 hours later at 1130.
If you pay the facility a visit and take a quick glance at the inventory on the shelves, you'll see within 15 seconds that having to wait a week for any part, would be a rather rare occurrence.
guido4475
Not a Member
A pair? All that is needed is one extra battery. Mine's been working flawlessly for 2 years this way..
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guido4475
Not a Member
One of our drivers had to wait a week when his less than a year old unit quit working. On a separate incident with a different friend, he had to wait until they could order a blower motor for his. A simple wearable part in tge wintertime and they had to order it. One would think they would have extras on hand . Especially catering to an industry where we just don't have the time to keep coming back to get it done. Something as simple as a simple tune up should bw a matter of giving them a heads up and being able to stop in and get it done.without a several day wait.
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I think I've said at least twice in this thread that a pair of $500 batteries for an Espar heater is overkill, and that all that is needed is one cheap marine battery. But yes, if you buy a pair of $500 batteries, then doing so will add $1000 to the price. It's simple math, really.
So one of our drivers had to wait a week to get in, and that somehow translates to Ray's "service IF you can get in, is slow at best.."? I once pulled into a Ford dealer on a Monday and was told they couldn't get me in until Thursday of the following week. That's 10 days. What does that mean?
Yeah, one would think. And they normally do. Have you ever been there and seen all of the parts that are on the shelves? Every part in the catalog is right there in stock. Like I said, it would be a rare occurrence when they are out of a particular part.
For one, a blower motor isn't a simple tune up, it's a major repair that takes 1-2 hours to complete. Two, when they are fully booked a day or three in advance they nor anyone else ha 1-2 hours to put everything already booked on hold for people who give little or no notice. That's why they make appointments, same as every other place that installs Espar heaters.
You and OVM talk about rare oddities at Espar of Michigan like they are everyday normal occurrences, like you know what you are talking about, yet have either one of you ever been there for any reason?
Bosch - MY 2002-2006
Bosch/Valeo - MY 2007-2013
So, any Sprinter with a Bosch or a Valeo alternator.
Any alternator with internal voltage sensing or single wire self-exciting alternators won't work with an isolator and require a separator/combiner instead.
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