AEV Gladiator Rubicon

[Sammconn]

I found one for mamas Equinox. Glad to have that crap gone forever.

CM chief! Lookin good.

[Flyin6]

I found one for mamas Equinox. Glad to have that crap gone forever.

CM chief! Lookin good.

Thank you, sir!

[JR]

Dang, wonder what the dealer would charge for a battery swap. Funny you unplug it when removing the fuse panel, not sure I like that design. I like the plugs to be a stand alone thing.

[Flyin6]

Dang, wonder what the dealer would charge for a battery swap. Funny you unplug it when removing the fuse panel, not sure I like that design. I like the plugs to be a stand alone thing.

I don't think anyone likes the way that fuse panel fits into those 4 big plugs...

[Flyin6]

It seems I may have something going on with Braille Battery. Perhaps a bit preliminary but I may be testing that ultra-cool lithium iron battery they designed specifically for vehicle-mounted applications with big, long power draws like successive winching. Should this pan out, I may also be able to offer a discount for that and other batteries.  I will post a banner here soon if this is all agreed upon. If you click through to purchase from there, you'll get an immediate discount, at least this is what is proposed.

The battery I will likely be testing is their high-end F34 unit weighing in at a paltry 20 lbs. If any of you may be interested, contact me because I will be managing traffic and gauging interest for this upcoming test and possible battery sale.

https://braillebattery.com/products/f34-group-34-lithium-starting-power-supply-battery

[JR]

Im in for that. Want something like that for the burb and put it in the spare tire cutout.

[wilsonphil]

I might be in for 2ea i have to check the group I need

[Flyin6]

That was quick. So, gents give this some time. We have to set all this up in the background first, so stay tuned...

[JR]

Yup, by the way I want a single battery to replace two with great cranking amps.

Depending on size/cost I may go with 2.

[Flyin6]

Yup, by the way I want a single battery to replace two with great cranking amps.

Depending on size/cost I may go with 2.

Did you look at that F34 we are talking about? CCA 1950!!!!!!! One of these batteries is around the same output or slightly more than two AGM units. Two AGM's weigh in around 110 lbs vs 20. Another aspect is that the LiPo4 battery can be discharged down to I think Oliver said 1.2 volts and brought back to a full charge, thousands of times! Try that on a lead acid or AGM battery. You'll get 3-4 cycles like that then it's off to the battery store.
Two of these lithium would simply not be necessary.
Now they also make a line of performance AGM batteries that are top performers and they worked on the weight as well. Their H7 group 48 which I think is the size of the Jeeper bat is a few pounds lighter but boasts a lot more power.

   Performance Specs:
Voltage   

12   Full Voltage Charge    13.8
Cranking Amps (CA)   1950   Amp Hour (AH)    60
Reverse Capacity (RC)   145 min   Life Cycle (50%DOD)    6000+

[JR]

I did look at the site, but didn't recall the #s. Think that is what I looked at, but $1200!! CCAs are great.

[Flyin6]

I did look at the site, but didn't recall the #s. Think that is what I looked at, but $1200!! CCAs are great.

Looks like I am going to be able to help with the pricing.

I now have an agreement with Braille Battery to test and evaluate one of their batteries. As a part of that discussion, I should have a link here where you can place an order and get an immediate discount. I do not know exactly how much that discount will be, and I will post up exact numbers when they come available to me. That is in the works. Click to order and it's sitting in your mailbox in 10 minutes...or something like that! ;-)

[Sammconn]

For all you duramax guys.
I’m a tad embarrassed to say this.
I ran from engine swap to this summer on one battery.
I totally missed the cable loop on the passenger battery.
Discovered that when I changed my batteries as it seemed weak.

Weak at -30…

[Flyin6]

For all you duramax guys.
I’m a tad embarrassed to say this.
I ran from engine swap to this summer on one battery.
I totally missed the cable loop on the passenger battery.
Discovered that when I changed my batteries as it seemed weak.

Weak at -30…

So are you saying you're in on one of these Braille batteries? ;-)

[Sammconn]

Honestly I’m scared of a lot of the new tech in the cold.
I’d need to know more about it.
Short answer if they had some sort of -40 useable power I might be.
It was more for JR wanting to drop a battery.
All things being “right” one good battery will surprise you.

[Flyin6]

Honestly I’m scared of a lot of the new tech in the cold.
I’d need to know more about it.
Short answer if they had some sort of -40 useable power I might be.
It was more for JR wanting to drop a battery.
All things being “right” one good battery will surprise you.

Copy that
Lithium batteries can lose significant power at -10 and below. That's why they use some of their power to warm themselves. A tesla car when navigating to a charging station will actually warm up the battery pack so it can take a faster charge!
But this technology is evolving rapidly. The chemistry now differs greatly from first/second gen Li batteries. Now they no longer explode. Now they last much longer, and deep cycle. That deep cycle thing was unheard of when the first Model S rolled off the production line. These Braille batteries have moved the bar with respect to massive, long deep pulls like as with winching. They gobble it up and spit it out. Why? Design and chemistry.

What is true today about Lithium batteries will be history in six months. Big money is behind this. A Lithium battery-powered electric airplane? Coming... but not yet. We need lighter batteries that make a lot more power and have deep-deep cycle capability.

I'm tickled to give this Braille F34 a test to see if it does indeed measure up. Clear the hype with a winch up a mountainside somewhere. If it can do that and still power stuff, it will have my vote.

[Flyin6]

Mileage report: 15.5 for this (Half) tank

Note: I top up when I start to get below 1/2 tank.

Old Armee tactical considerations are hard to shake...

[cj7ox]

My big reason for not going lithium, is I don't want to put money in China's pockets. LOL

[Flyin6]

My big reason for not going lithium, is I don't want to put money in China's pockets. LOL

Yea, me either
However, how does one work around the choice of so many companies to manufacture in the China?

[cj7ox]

Yea, me either
However, how does one work around the choice of so many companies to manufacture in the China?

I research, and if I can find something suitable made in the USA, I go that route. Of course, I've never been that concerned about weight of a battery. LOL!

[Flyin6]

Today let's install the Engine start/stop (ESS) module

I followed up with Tex's recommendation and ordered the auto stop/start eliminator. It showed up within a week.

[Flyin6]

To get the install instructions you simply go to their website and watch the applicable video.

[Flyin6]

The unit is located behind this central trim panel and is pretty easy to get to:

[Flyin6]

Basically, all you do is to unplug the cable and plug the module into the two ends you now have, zip-tie the thing and you're off to the races.

[Flyin6]

Just look at how different everything looks now!

Keep looking...

[Flyin6]

Once I started it up and drove it, the ESS system no longer works, and I had no additional dash lights. The ESS defeat button shows the amber, selected, mode.

It worked as advertised.

[TexasRedNeck]

Good deal!  You can still activate it with the dash button if you like and it remembers the last selected position.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Flyin6]

Good deal!  You can still activate it with the dash button if you like and it remembers the last selected position.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It is good right where it is.

So, today, we went on a 200+ mile trip, 100 up then back to a cool park where we did some hiking. The Jeep scored an impressive (for it) 18.8 MPG. I set the cruise at 65 mph and drove the country roads 45-55. I'm happy with that and no funny business from the installation of the auto stop eliminator.

[Dustoff35]

What cruise speed and engine rpm seems to deliver the best fuel economy?

[Flyin6]

What cruise speed and engine rpm seems to deliver the best fuel economy?

It l does not like to lug around. But push it just a little too hard and it wants to drop down a gear then fuel mileage drops drastically. Really, about 64 mph seems to work for most conditions. If I pushed it to 70 or beyond, I'm guessing it would struggle to get 15 mpg.

[Flyin6]

OK, time to start messing with Lithium batteries...a bunch of em' all packaged together in a plastic case that looks like, well, a battery!

[Flyin6]

To say it comes well packaged is an understatement. It had bubble wrap for days. By the time I unwrapped the thing, I had a good case of Vertigo.

[Flyin6]

Finally, I ended up with this:

[Flyin6]

It has brass terminals to act like battery posts, but beneath those are some studs if you prefer that method of making the connection. Braille supplies the hardware for a stud mount selection.

[Flyin6]

You also get a couple of warning labels, a couple of decals, and a warranty card...At least I think it is a warranty/registration card

[Flyin6]

They say it is light, well, I'm not Clark Kent (Superman) and that wasn't all that heavy!

[Flyin6]

Weighing it, the scale shows 19 lb, 14 oz, so just slightly under 20 pounds.

[Flyin6]

But wait, there's more...

Braille did it right! They also sent me one of their 6 amp quick chargers.

Let's unbox that:

[Flyin6]

It comes with a handy operating manual, which I read through quickly, then decided to top up the battery before installation.

When you plug it into the wall, you get a red and a green light

[Flyin6]

Then when you attach it to the battery, the green lamp turns red, indicating an imminent explosion! Well, not exactly, the red lamp simply means the device is charging the battery. ;-)

[Flyin6]

How fast does it charge you ask? Well, I have no clue, but I did time it on my battery...

[JR]

So does that need to be wired into the jeeps system?

[Flyin6]

So does that need to be wired into the jeeps system?

No

The Jeep charges the battery for now on

But if I were to leave the thing parked for a week with something left on and the battery discharged, this is a special charger made to bring back a completely dead battery.

[Flyin6]

OK, now onto the actual install

Not as straight forward as I thought, but very pleased with the result

Starting point:

[Flyin6]

And just look at the weight difference/savings:

[Flyin6]

That's a solid 32 pounds less weight to push around every single time I accelerate.

The F34 Braille Battery has the terminals on the opposite side of the battery from where the H7 Jeep battery places them

But just for grins I slid it down in the proper alignment position and discovered our stock terminals would not fit the physical space.

It doesn't matter, but I was thinking that if they had a battery with the posts on the opposite side, would it just drop in?

The answer seems to be no.

[Flyin6]

I came up with "Plan B."

Since the posts just screw off. I did just that

Then I removed the factory battery post clamps parts from the cable loom

[Flyin6]

...And the rest of it:

[Flyin6]

I weighed this stuff to see how much more weight I had removed.

[Flyin6]

I had to add two 12" battery cables to connect the studs to the existing wire looms, which just about offset the weight savings of tossing all that stuff.

So, using the studs, I simply ran a short terminal-ended cable from the stud (battery) to the loom and attached it to an existing stud.

And, just like that, I was done!