Car Battery problems

[psycho_maniac]

I have this battery sitting around the house for 2 years. (I bought it bran new and ran it in my dodge ram truck) I saved the battery and now a friend wants to borrow the battery and possibly buy it. I hooked it up to the charger and it was charging nice and fine. I didn't want to leave it charge all night so I unplugged the charger and went to bed. Today I was going to continue to charge it but theres a problem. I hook it up to the charger (I didn't change ANYTHING) and the amp meter on the charger is going to 15amps++++++. It goes straight to 15amps and the battery is at 5 volts (or was) I hook it up to the charger and it jumps to 8 volts and climbs. Then I decided to leave it for awhile and watched it. It got up to about 9.75 watts maybe and then it started to go decrease until 6 volts when the charger made a click noise and the amp gauge went to 0. I guess it has a protector in it because I unhooked the battery, the charger clicked, hooked it back up to the battery and it started going overboard with the amp gauge. Is the battery crap? Is the charger crap? I think i had this problem before. Before I went to bed it was at 10amps and then I went to bed with it unplugged. Whats wrong with my battery ???

[pedro quiroga]

take it to a parts store that tests batteries.then you'll know for sure

[The Viking]

You didnt hook the leads up backwards, did you?


Otherwise the battery is shot in the arse

[cccullen]

I hope when you stored the battery and charged it you didn't leave on a cement floor. That can screw up a battery..

[The Viking]

Originally Posted by cccullen

I hope when you stored the battery and charged it you didn't leave on a cement floor. That can screw up a battery..

This is true, but not for present day batteries. This was back in the days when batteries were made of things other than modern plastics and such. The winter time was the worst time to do this. The cold of the floor was very detrimental to the batteries of yesteryear. Today, this really doesnt mean a whole lot. I have had several batteries sitting on the conctete slab of my shop for extended periods of time with no ill effects to them. Granted, in the winter time, ANY battery sitting in a less than good condition will tend to self discharge more so than in an ideal condition. But i will sometimes still put a peice of wood under them like all the ol timers say to do, but thats if it has any acid or corrosion on it (dont want it to eat the concrete floor up)

[cccullen]

your right Viking, i looked it up. My mistake.

MYTH: Storing batteries on a concrete floor will discharge them.

False! All lead-acid batteries will naturally self-discharge which can result in loss of capacity from sulfation. The rate of self-discharge is most influenced by the temperature of the battery's electrolyte and the chemistry of the plates. This self-discharge is often mistaken for concrete floor causing the battery to drain. Some experts believe that storing car or deep cycle batteries on a colder concrete floor might actually slow down the self-discharge (leakage) rate because the floor acts as a heat sink and cools the battery.

[psycho_maniac]

NO I heard what happens to them when there on concrete (they can explode) Ive always put them up on boards. It sat for about 2 years and NO I didn't hook up the terminals backwards. I made quit sure to do that part correctly.