P500 P520 battery replacement/upgrade?

[John Mc]

I recently bought a used 2022 P520. I ran it normally a couple of times/week for a few weeks. I've never used the winch, and only turned on the headlights and aux lights added by the previous owner to test them once. Then it sat for a couple of weeks. When I tried to start it, the battery was dead. No accessories were left on. It will start if I put it in the charger for a bit, and I left it connected to a smart charger for a couple of days. That charger indicates the battery is weak. I'm going to be chasing down the wiring looking for shorts and phantom loads.

I need to replace the battery, but can't find anywhere in the manual what size I should use. (Like an idiot, I did not record the size that is in there now when I was at the machine.) If a larger one will fit, I'd consider it. I'd like to find the largest capacity that will fit the stock location.

I'm also interested in recommendation on brand and type. I am NOT a fan of Gel batteries. I've had good luck with AGM batteries in tractors, ATVs and motorcycles. I know nothing about the Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries (LiFePO4). I'm a bit concerned about trying them, since they need a specific charger profile, but I suppose I can probably avoid problems with someone plugging in the wrong thing if I mount an onboard charger. I do use this through the Vermont winters - I've heard cold temperatures can be an issue with LiFePO4 batteries.

I appreciate any recommendations anyone has on battery size/type/brand.

It's currently a single battery set-up. I won't be using the winch much (unless I add a snowplow), but I'm starting to browse threads on dual battery set ups with an isolator. I may end up going that way. If anyone has recommendations on good threads to review on that subject - and especially where to put things in a 2022

 

[Admin]

 

[trigger]

Yuasa 16ah

 

[The Green Goat]

Your winch have a shutoff switch? Rumor has it that some of them have a parasitic draw coming from them.

 

[DRZRon1]

we need pics of machine, we like pics, !!!!!

wireless winches will have a draw if not on switched power

did a gps tracker get installed

lets root cause problem solve

 

[John Mc]

we need pics of machine, we like pics, !!!!!

wireless winches will have a draw if not on switched power

did a gps tracker get installed

Yes, it's got a wireless winch. I'll check for a shutoff and install one if it's not already there. Hopefully, I can find the wireless receiver and switch just that, since that would be a low-amperage switch.

No idea if there is a GPS tracker. Previous owner did not mention it, and I did not think to ask. Where would I look for this?

The only pics I have were posted in my New P520 owner thread in the Intro & Welcome forum about 6 weeks ago. I've got nothing of the battery compartment (if I did, I'd know what battery was in there). In fact, getting in to the battery compartment has been an issue. The nut plate the upper bolt screws in to is frozen on to the bolt. It just spins when I try to loosen the bolt. I had to bend the cover up just to let me get the charger clips connected. I did try trimming a bit of plastic to let me reach the nut plate, but I could not get enough grip to hold it. Not sure what I'm going to do here. I may have to try to grind the bolt head off and go from there.
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@trigger and @The Green Goat thanks for the info and pictures. It gave me enough to start searching for what I want.

The Yuasa YTX14-BS is a conventional flooded lead acid battery (sealed). It appears that the Yuasa GYZ16H is an AGM battery with the same dimensions and a bit more capacity. I'm probably going to go that way.

From Green Goat's picture, it almost looks as though I could fit the larger GYZ20H battery in there, if I trimmed out that little plastic box to the left of the battery. It's 7/8" wider and 3/8" taller (same depth front-to-back). I'll measure when I get back in to the battery compartment to see. Not sure if removing that little box gives enough width. It looks as though the extra height might be a problem. Things are pretty snug in there.

 

[John Mc]

A related question: I want to hardwire a plug to the battery to make connecting a charger easier. I have two options: an inline 2-pin plug common to battery chargers or a bulkhead fitting plug that I can mount on a body panel somewhere. Looks like this one:

What have others gone with for this?

 

[DRZRon1]

talon, but just connected battery tender cable right to battery and let dangle.......

 

[trigger]

Here's the one I use.

https://www.amazon.com/OptiMATE-Cable-Weatherproof-socket-panel/dp/B01N57XLNS/?tag=sxsweb24-20

 

[John Mc]

Thanks for that link, Trigger. I may look for a similar panel mount SAE socket with a 20 Amp rating. This would also let me plug in the Viair 88P-SXS portable compressor I'm thinking of getting. (I have the non-SXS version in my truck and have been very happy with it.)

For now, I just installed an inline SAE cord I had lying around (like what @DRZRon1 used). I connected it into the wire nuts under the hood used on the winch wiring.

 

[HiFive]

This is how I connect my Honda trickle charger. The charger included three types of hookups for battery charging. Highly recommend.

 

[John Mc]

Just thought I'd update this thread. It does appear that the wireless receiver on the winch was draining the battery over longer periods of sitting idle. I have not yet installed a disconnect on that.

I went with a Yuasa GYZ16H battery. It's an AGM battery rated at 16 AH and 240 CCA. It's been in my P520 for about 16 months now and has been working fine. The Yuasa web site indicates it will fit a P500/520, P700, and P1000.

I mounted a BatteryMINDer EZC-01 flush-mount connector on the dashboard (pictured in comment #6 of this thread). It accepts the standard SAE 2-pin connector commonly used on battery charger/maintainers. It is connected to the winch wiring under the hood. Since the winch is connected directly to the battery and therefore always on, the connection is live for battery charging even when the ignition switch is off. I would have liked to find a heavy-duty connector which would also work as a power source for a portable air compressor, but I had this connector lying around anyway, so installed it. (One of these days, I'll research whether it is enough to run my compressor.)

I connect an AGM-specific smart battery charger/maintainer when the UTV is not in use, using the connector on the dash. An upside of the dash-mounted connector is that I'm less likely to drive away with the charger still plugged in (not that I would EVER do something like that... And no, I have no idea how my old inline connector pigtail ever got so mangled...)