The Badger Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Well, got a Red top optima, it's not holding it's charge anymore, so does thins mean it's dead? ReCon charging it now to see what happens, but it's been like it a little while now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eds Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Batteries are fragile things If you do not maintain them they will go down hill Once down hill they rarely ever go back up hill! Anything over 3 years and you are doing well. Five years and that is the life expectancy of a battery. I'd say it is broken. If it is new it will be under warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badger Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 yep, it's over 3 years old now and it's had a pretty heavy bit of usage over it's time. I think it's time for a new one. Thanks for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Barrett Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Try this trick I used successfully with my Odyssey metal jacketed battery. Find yourself a thick piece of wood approx the same width as the bottom of the battery. with said piece of wood give the base of the battery a half a dozen good hard slaps. Make sure they are slaps rather than a corner digging in to avoid the risk of damaging the case of the battery. Charge the battery and see what happens. One odd thing I've also read, and have to admit to not understanding but it does seem to apply is not to charge a battery on a concrete floor. So when you're finished slapping the backside out of the battery sit it on the piece of wood you just used when you charge it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke keeper of badger Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 i saw this the other day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobson Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I got one of those posh smart chargers, it's a 16amp Ring one, it puts in just the right amount of charge the battery needs and can charge over a longer period, it also has a 'recondition' setting for when they get really low. I've had pretty good results with it, thought the batteries which have gone really low tend to drain faster, but I use about four different batteries (for chicken fencing, Defender, van and one spare to swap about) so it was well worth the 50 quid i think it cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorrick Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 All batteries leak voltage through the case to a more or lesser degree in Milli Volts, if you put your volt meter between the neg terminal and touch it on the case anywhere it will give you a small reading. If you charge a battery on a concrete floor if the case has condensation or the floor is damp you will be charging the floor, it is just a wast of electricity, and also storing batteries is best off the floor as they will dissipate through the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I thought Optimas needed a special type of charger for recovering from total discharge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSD Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 All batteries leak voltage through the case to a more or lesser degree in Milli Volts, if you put your volt meter between the neg terminal and touch it on the case anywhere it will give you a small reading. If you charge a battery on a concrete floor if the case has condensation or the floor is damp you will be charging the floor, it is just a wast of electricity, and also storing batteries is best off the floor as they will dissipate through the ground. Amazing it doesn't go flat sat in a metal battery box then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badger Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 I have one of those chargers that is in the video, it says that it's now ok, but we will see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 There's no reason that i can think of (thermal or electrical) where what is under a battery would make any difference. Unless the ground is VERY cold or very warm. The CTK chargers are very good btw, i have 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 All batteries leak voltage through the case to a more or lesser degree in Milli Volts, if you put your volt meter between the neg terminal and touch it on the case anywhere it will give you a small reading. If you charge a battery on a concrete floor if the case has condensation or the floor is damp you will be charging the floor, it is just a wast of electricity, and also storing batteries is best off the floor as they will dissipate through the ground. I'm sorry Lorrick but thats just plain wrong. The case of a battery will be polycarbonate or silimar, that has resistance well up in the 100's of Megaohms, currents will be in the order 10's of nanoamps in the worst case. nothing that you will measure on your meter, and nothing that will make any difference to a battery. Its own internal resistance and leakages will be 1000's of times higher. Yes, IF there is severe contamination on the outside of the case, water, salts etc some current may flow. But just keep it clean and dry. also storing batteries is best off the floor as they will dissipate through the ground. Dissipate what? Power? Thats also plain incorrect for the same reason as above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Agree with HoSS, any clean battery should not be delivering any measurable current, and just because the concrete is 'earth' doesn't mean it is the battery earth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badger Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Had to pop to a garage to get them to pull off the factory fitted drop on a new power steering box I have, got em to check both batteries, turns out that the yellow top was the one not charged, or not holding it's charge. I have a little CTK battery monitor / charging point connected to the first battery (red top), this was always reading red, hence me thinking it was the first battery, but actually the second battery (yellow top) was draining the power out of it (they are connected in parallel). So now I am re-conning the yellow top, and really should remember more to connect the two batteries together, as I have a solonoid to do this, but to connect them it's on a switch, can't afford one of those fancy voltage sensitive relays. Or maybe I need to up the wire from the back of the alternator, or up the alternator, or up all of it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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