The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay A battery question

Under normal circumstances, what is the usual life expectancy of a six volt battery. Mine is 7 years old. Thanks, Steve

Batteries fail for two basic reasons- - - -vibration, and lack of exercise. If one is kept secure with a good hold-down device and charge/discharge cycled frequently, it will last a lot longer than one that's allowed to bounce around and/or sit idle for weeks or months at a time. A battery cell is composed of a stack of lead grids similar to a very coarse window screen with either spongy lead or lead dioxide pressed into the grid. Vibration shakes the material out of the grid and allows it to fall to the bottom of the cell, where it cannot enter into the chemical reaction with the acid that produces electric current. When the debris piles up far enough to contact the bottom of the cell plates, the cell shorts out- - - -R.I.P. battery!

The other main cause of failure is sulfation- - - -the formation of hard crystals of lead sulfate on the plates that are almost impossible to dissolve, resulting in weak battery acid and loss of the plate area coated by the crystals. Lead sulfate is a normal byproduct of battery discharge, but initially it's soft and spongy and readily re-dissolves into the acid when the battery is recharged. If the battery is allowed to sit in a discharged ort partially-charged condition for a period of weeks or months, the sulfate forms crystals. Now it's almost impossible to reclaim the battery's current-producing capacity by recharging because the crystals don't redissolve.

A battery that's kept clean on top, properly filled with water (never add acid), and on a battery maintainer that keeps it fully charged but not overcharged will last for many years. Neglect one, and it will fail in a matter of months.
Jerry

Heat is also an enemy to a battery. They last longer if located away from engine heat. Overcharging from a voltage regulator set to high also creates heat.

Jerry thanks for that information. You hit the nail on the head! Lack of exercise is the culprit in my case. During restoration, there has been a lot of down time in the last few years. I will take your advice and get a battery retainer. Should I keep the battery cables attached when the retainer is hooked up to it or just set the battery on the bench and hook it up that way? I don't plan to drive it until spring really gets here in the NW. Your answer/s are always appreciated. Steve

Either way works. The "float" charger or "battery maintainer" monitors the terminal voltage, and either turns itself off or reduces the voltage as it senses the battery is getting to full charge. Some trickle chargers just keep on upping the voltage, and they can boil a battery dry over time.

If a battery isn't going to be involved in normal starting and running chores regularly, I like to connect a sealed beam headlight bulb or something similar for a couple of hours occasionally and discharge it a little, then reconnect the maintainer to give the battery a little charge/discharge cycling. There are even solar-powered battery maintainers, if your storage area has access to a window, or is in a carport, etc.
Jerry

Jerry, what is the difference between "float" charger, battery maintainer, and some trickle chargers? I certainly would not want to have the last one you describe. Steve

It's mostly electronics. The more sophisticated ones have voltage monitoring circuits that adjust the charge rate according to the terminal voltage of the battery. A trickle charger simply supplies a constant low current and doesn't monitor terminal voltage. The terms "float charger" and "battery maintainer" are usually used interchangeably to describe an adjustable-rate charger that keeps a battery topped off without overcharging it.
Jerry

Jerry I went on line and found one called batterMINDER made by VDC Electronics. The description seems to match yours. There are several cheaper ones for sale but Batteryweb.com who sells them has a lot more information and a 5 year warrenty. Are you familiar with them and would you have any other suggestions? Steve

Anyone else want to join in this discussion?

I have a 10+ year old 6v Optima (Sealed Absorbed Glass Mat, AGM, battery) battery in my 1954 Suburban.

I do not trickle-charge/maintain it over the winter - it starts up te Suburban every Spring (up north, that is - I drive the Suburban over the winter in NC).

I have a 6v battery minder/tender, but I have never used it.

I use one from Harbor-Freight for less then $10. It works good.

6v?

What is the part number?

Thanks.

I'm not familiar with that one, but I'll check it out. Black & Decker makes a pretty good 6V/12V unit that looks like it's worth the cost. Some of the el cheapo stuff looks a little cheesy. I use a Schumaker tender on my Honda Gold Wing, and it keeps the battery hot and ready. Before I was going through about one battery a year from lack of use and sulfation.

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-X...2&keywords=schumacher+battery+tender

Jerry

Thanks Jerry and all that replied. Think I'll go for the SchumakerXM1-5 Steve

Thanks, Jerry

I went with a mid range NOCO genius. I love the features and it works great.

https://no.co/brands/noco-genius

Here is a 12v/6v unit. It works with/on 6v/12v lead-acid and AGM batteries.

Extreme Max 1229.4000 Battery Buddy Intelligent 6V / 12V Battery Charger / Maintainer

https://www.extrememax.com/product-p/1229.4000.htm