Stupid Question re Battery Charger

[paul67]

My car sat for six months last winter. It was driven several hours about three weeks ago. That's it since last October. Since then the rain has been terrible and I have played in the garage with with polish and shine while listening to the IPod and stereo for two weeks. Yesterday, with a warm and sunny Sunday in view I turned the key to get the juices flowing in anticipation. Nothing, dead. Too much stereo I guess. So I put the battery charger on for a couple of hours and it fired. It ran well for two hours today but I am concerned about the state of charge of the battery. And I certainly do not wish to rely on the alternator to get a full charge.

The charger is on now (pic) and for the life of me I forget how to read that ammeter. I should know this but....senior moment. Heck, that charger is as old as my car. Does the ammeter reading decrease with charging? When is a full charge?

 

[brumbach]

Yes, decreases as battery charges.

My car sat for six months last winter. It was driven several hours about three weeks ago. That's it since last October. Since then the rain has been terrible and I have played in the garage with with polish and shine while listening to the IPod and stereo for two weeks. Yesterday, with a warm and sunny Sunday in view I turned the key to get the juices flowing in anticipation. Nothing, dead. Too much stereo I guess. So I put the battery charger on for a couple of hours and it fired. It ran well for two hours today but I am concerned about the state of charge of the battery. And I certainly do not wish to rely on the alternator to get a full charge.

The charger is on now (pic) and for the life of me I forget how to read that ammeter. I should know this but....senior moment. Heck, that charger is as old as my car. Does the ammeter reading decrease with charging? When is a full charge?

 

[6speeder]

.....
Does the ammeter reading decrease with charging? ... Yes, if the batt is accepting a charge.

When is a full charge? ... Theoretically, a fully charged 12v batt will have a reading of 13.2v (2.2v per cell (X6)). Assuming a 'no-draw' condition, a reading of 12.2v+ would be acceptable after charging.

Your pic shows you are using a 10amp manual charger. At 10amps, it could take 48 hours to recharge a 'no-start' batt. It is recommended that you measure the voltage after 24 hours, to prevent an over charge.

You might want to upgrade your equipment to a DieHard 2-10-50amp automatic charger, or a Schumacher (same ratings). They are usually on-sale for under $50. The key word is 'automatic'.

 

[paul67]

6Speeder,
The car fired up this morning and ran very well. On driving, the ammeter on the console showed a positive setting and that is not normal for this car. I see no need to get a new charger as 10amp automatic shut-down seems fine. I left the charger on for three hours today and the car starts fine. But the ammeter on the charger still reads five amps. And the fluid in the cells did not bubble. Perhaps time for a new battery.

I posted over at NCRS as to group size. On the positive size, I have a new overflow tank and all connectors. Nice opportunity to do two jobs.

 

[paul67]

The NCRS folks say Group 24. I do not know the age of the battery in my car. I have only owned it three years. And who knows how old that battery is. Perhaps it's time to go to a GM dealer.

 

[6speeder]

Your concern about the age of your batt is valid. If the ammeter is showing a charge, when it normally does not, it could be a sign that it is time for a new batt, especially since you do not know the age of the batt. No need to visit a GM dealer for a new batt. I have had very reliable service from DieHard. The Gold series is recommended (about $80), Three years unconditional warranty, and about 8+ years of a pro-rated warranty. Most of my DieHards have lasted 10+ years (I own six vehicles).

Note: what is the red light at the upper right corner of the charger? Is it a polarity test? If so, why is it red? One would surmise that a correct polarity test would show green.

 

[paul67]

That light is a polarity test. And yes it is red when polarity is correct. A bit counter-intuitive but...that's the way it works.

I certainly don't wish to be in a no-start condition so I will go shopping this week.

 

[Tom Bryant]

I've had good luck with Die Hard in daily drivers too. I used to buy the lower priced 3 year battery and always got more than 6 years out of them. The Delco replacement is also a good choice but you can usually buy them cheaper from the aftermarket than a GM dealer. For some reason Delco price to the GM dealer is about the same as customer price at the discount auto parts store. I have been thinking of trying an Optima in my truck and if I like it put one in the '59 too. The dry cell aspect sounds good when you have to tip a battery on end to get it down in the fender behind the wheel.

 

[firstgear]

you should get yourself a Battery Tender, I have them on all the Corvettes, makes it real nice to go out and hit the key, they never fail. You could run your stereo all the time........

 

[Tom Bryant]

you should get yourself a Battery Tender, I have them on all the Corvettes, makes it real nice to go out and hit the key, they never fail. You could run your stereo all the time........

Yep. It's a lifesaver on the lawn tractor too. She fired right up first try this spring.

 

[paul67]

I will probably go Delco as I am a former GM employee and get a discounted rate.

What is interesting in the NCRS thread is the possibility that Delco has moved away from sealed batteries and gone back to the removable caps: two sections of three. I don't know what is behind that.

 

[Bopewells]

Interesting thing happened this past week: have a little Mercedes SL I have had a Diehard in for years ( due to the vertical size limitations) and had to replace it last week. None of the Sears stores had it in stock, so I said "heck with it" and took the battery out and carried it with me to the local Auto Zone store. Guess what: The one I found there was the EXACT same battery (trust me). Exact same housing; casting marks; reinforcement ribs; etc. Only difference was the plastic "Diehard" plastic top cover versus the "Duralast" cover (or whatever). $30.00 LESS than what I paid for the Diehard several years ago. Bert.

 

[6speeder]

.."I will probably go Delco as I am a former GM employee and get a discounted rate."

Paul, AC Delco may be a great choice based on the following link. The free replacement period has been extended to 50 months on the 7 yr batt:

http://www.acdelco.com/html/bn_battery_warranty.htm

 

[Grizzly]

you should get yourself a Battery Tender, I have them on all the Corvettes, makes it real nice to go out and hit the key, they never fail. You could run your stereo all the time........

I take a little different view of that. I never use a battery tender. All my seasonal equipment have a disconects on them. If I can't start it in the spring after being fully charged in the fall, then it's replaced. For some reason new batteries don't seem to give you much warning before they go bad. It's cheap insurance for me. I have five cars in the garage and four electric start machines in the garden shed, and I can't remember when I had a battery failure on the road or in the middle of the job.

I hate to think about working on my babies out on the road....Griz