Battery storage/maintence

[LandyAndy]

Hi Guys
Thanks to our PLUCKWITT LEADING HAND I have a perfectly good CAT(as in Caterpillar) battery,a workmate got the other.The said IDJET left the parkers on overnite in his grader and flattened the batts,I saw him leave them on and challenged the next morning and he refused to jump start it,he got 2 new batts sent out.I checked the 2 PLUCKED BATTS with the load tester at work,one was perfet the other was good but needed charhing.I charged both,left them for 2 weeks and left them,have now tested them and they are good,the boss gave them away.
The CAT battery is an inch longer and taller than the Disco2 battery but fits,its 570cca,and I guess being a CAT Battery,its probably the best you can get in maint free batteries,so Im going to instal it.
I will now have a little problem,I have 2 spare very good AC Delco 550CCA Maint free batts I need to store/maintain.
What can I do to charge/discharge these 2 batts in my shed to keep them good???? The missus's Trytoo already has 2 new identical batts so I need to know a good way of maintaining these or find a new home for them.
Please advise
Andrew

[drivesafe]

Hi Andrew, you could keep them on a trickle charge either using a 240 volt battery charger if you have AC available or you could use two solar battery trickle chargers.

If you have plans to use them some time in the next 12 months than trickle charging in one form or another is the way to go.

Either way, this will keep the batteries in good condition but if you are planning to leave them unused for many, many months with out use, you would probably be better off saving the cost of getting a trickle charger and just selling them now while they are still in good nick.

If you leave batteries for to long, even with a trickle charge, they will eventually die of old age.

Cheers

[p38arover]

I'd probably consider an automatic charger to keep them on float. As a matter of fact, I am currently building the automatic charger kit to add to my Arlec 4A charger. (The design was published in Electronics Australia ans is available as a kit from Jaycar). This was to keep the County batteries charged but I've now sold the County.

However, Drivesafe's right, unless you are going to use them in the near future, you might as well sell them. The maintenance probably isn't worth the hassle. Just put the money aside for the next battery.

Ron

[Noki 3.9]

Hi, I work in the battery industry and we once had a tech come visit from the ACDELCO factory in Detroit and he once told us a story about how to store a battery over long periods of time. Freeze them!! It sounds like b/s but they do it in the factory to prolong the shelf life and he said he did it each year to his boats batteries while they were in the winter period, much to his wifes discusst. The theory is that the colder a battery is the slower it discharges and slows down the affects of sulphation. He also told us that the story of dont put a battery on concrete was not true. The coldness lowers the state of charge so when you install it it seems flat, but once warmed up the state of charge increases. He told us to go sit on some concrete and see how our bum feels after a few hours. In a way it makes sense because batteries do seem to fail during winter, but I dont think my wife will allow me to try out his theory, plus our freezer isnt big enough. Thats my two cents worth of trivial nonsense. I agree with p38, sell them off if your not going to use them.. cya....B

[CraigE]

I have done similar in winter, when the battery seemed flat, poured warm water over the battery and it would fire. Takes a few minutes though. You will also notice that on a freezing morning it may be hard to start, but if the car is left out in the winter sun in the arvo it will turn over no worries.
Same applies to all batteries, quite often I have taken AA batteries out of my camera, given them a bit of a rub to heat up with friction and get another 10-20 pics on the digi camera. Did the same some time back going to Ayers Rock, Father in laws camera battery died, it got put on the dash for about 4 hrs while we were travelling and when put back in had 1/3 charge.
Toyota owners take not, the best way to warm a battery in a toyota is to build a great bonfire under it and the vehicle.
:eek: