CTEK/ battery life?

[RSstuff]

I recently bought a 1991 car that's been in dry storage for around 10 years. The seller gave me a CTEK 3600 and said the Bosch battery has been connected to it pretty much continuously and has never been discharged. So when I put the car on the road is it likely I'll need to replace the battery?

[ssray]

No way of knowing, battery's tend to fail at extremes of temperature, cold usually.
Only one way to find out....

[Sporky]

The CTEKs do condition the battery, it's not just a constant feed.

So it might be fine.

[RSstuff]

Never used a Ctek before, it seemed to cycle between the red and green light every few hours. Before staying green.

[Panamax]

Just because a c-tek can keep a battery limping along doesn't mean the battery is good. I'd want a high current drop test at a battery specialist and be ready to buy a new one.

[Haltamer]

It’s still a 10 year old battery...

As mentioned, a quick voltage drop test / test with a proper battery tester would be worthwhile, as well as just getting the ‘general vibe’ when cranking (Light flickers, crank duration etc)

If it’s for regular use, I’d be inclined to just get it a new battery and keep that one as a backup / ‘Utility’ battery (Crocodile clips connected to a fused 12v Socket can be had on Amazon, and is very useful for running tyre pumps etc. without having to stress the starter battery / start the engine / run around the car plugging into different sockets to get enough cable reach)

[RSstuff]

It's going to be a fair weather car, doing around 3k miles a year. I had a similar car with the same battery that was still going strong at 10 years old. But that battery hadn't lived on a Ctek for 10 years.

[RSstuff]

I had the ignition and lights on for 2 or 3 minutes without the engine running, and the CTEK lights changed from green to red. Not sure if that suggests the battery doesn't have much in reserve, or it's normal? after half an hour or so, the green light was back on though.

[Panamax]

Just get a new battery.

[RSstuff]

Panamax said:

Just get a new battery.

£60 down the drain, if the battery I have is serviceable.

[E-bmw]

RSstuff said:

Panamax said:

Just get a new battery.

£60 down the drain, if the battery I have is serviceable.

After 10 years + it will be some portion of fooked.

[RSstuff]

E-bmw said:

After 10 years + it will be some portion of fooked.

Why?

[Panamax]

RSstuff said:

Why?

Lead/acid batteries deteriorate over time. Otherwise you'd see battery manufacturers promoting 8 year warranty or whatever.

Typical lead/acid battery life is up to about 5 years although some will last longer. They like to be kept fully charged either by regular use of the car or on a C-tek. They tend to suffer sulphation of the lead plates and this is worse when the battery isn't fully charged. They absolutely don't like being treated like a phone battery - flattened and charged, flattened and charged etc. The only purpose of a lead/acid battery is to deliver a few seconds of high current for the starter motor while maintaining enough voltage to run the electronics. After that, you're driving on the alternator and the battery like to sit there fully charged.

[RSstuff]

Panamax said:

RSstuff said:

Why?

Lead/acid batteries deteriorate over time. Otherwise you'd see battery manufacturers promoting 8 year warranty or whatever.

Typical lead/acid battery life is up to about 5 years although some will last longer. They like to be kept fully charged either by regular use of the car or on a C-tek. They tend to suffer sulphation of the lead plates and this is worse when the battery isn't fully charged. They absolutely don't like being treated like a phone battery - flattened and charged, flattened and charged etc. The only purpose of a lead/acid battery is to deliver a few seconds of high current for the starter motor while maintaining enough voltage to run the electronics. After that, you're driving on the alternator and the battery like to sit there fully charged.

As I said, this battery has been on a CTEK for years.

Edited by RSstuff on Tuesday 5th May 21:06