Killed another battery

[Hoover.]

Am I just buying duff batteries or is there something more sinister lurking ?????

I ran the old battery for about 2 years and then it started loosing its charge quickly, so I got a replacement one about 3 months ago.

It spent 9 weeks in a garage getting gear box changed, and they had to charge it up so I could collect car. 2 weeks on and the battery as dead as a dodo. Its been on charge for 20 hrs and no move on the amp meter so officially DEAD.

I'm off to buy a new battery from another source rather then get a replacement one again.

any ideas welcome though.

[griffdude]

In my experience, that length of inactivity has killed mine too.
However, bought an 'intelligent' trickle charger & problem went away.
HTH

[Zumbruk]

Hoover. said:

Am I just buying duff batteries or is there something more sinister lurking ?????

I ran the old battery for about 2 years and then it started loosing its charge quickly, so I got a replacement one about 3 months ago.

It spent 9 weeks in a garage getting gear box changed, and they had to charge it up so I could collect car. 2 weeks on and the battery as dead as a dodo. Its been on charge for 20 hrs and no move on the amp meter so officially DEAD.

I'm off to buy a new battery from another source rather then get a replacement one again.

any ideas welcome though.

IME, allowing car batteries to go completely flat kills them stone dead. The only solution is not to allow them to go flat. If the car is not used for long periods, the battery must be disconnected or kept charged with a conditioner (not a dumb charger - that will kill the battery through overcharging.)

[griffdude]

Zumbruk said:

If the car is not used for long periods, the battery must be disconnected

I found doing this caused problems with the alarm standby battery & killed that too!

[GreenV8S]

Letting the battery run right down will reduce its capacity and may kill it. You'll sometimes find that one or more cells drop out completely, you can tell this has happened because the voltage drops by 2V (or a multiple of 2V). This happens because the plates deposit unevenly and can grow fingers between the +ve and -ve plates. If you bang enough current through it you can often burn these fingers away and get the cell working again. To do this I use heavy dury jump leads to connect the battery to a running car. If it's going to work it'll work instantly and you will see the voltage come up; the battery will never regain full capacity, but it may well hold enough charge to be useful in an emergency.

When you mention 0 Amps showing on the charger this means it isn't charging. Maybe you've tripped some over-current protection on the charger?

[Guillotine]

steve,

get an accumate for £50 and you'll never have a problem again.

andy
www.tvrmonster.com

(yes, we do accumates!)

[Hoover.]

Guillotine said:

steve,

get an accumate for £50 and you'll never have a problem again.

andy
www.tvrmonster.com

(yes, we do accumates!)

Alas garage en-bloc with no power....... solar power is the only answer.

[Guillotine]

northern tools do a solar charger thats pretty good for about £26.

ciggy adapter etc, just put it on your roof and run the wire through.

not "inteligent" as it were, but a low trickle charger that should keep a good battery sorted.

cheers
andy

[Hoover.]

Cheers Andy

got one from Maplins......just need to rig it up.

Hoover