Got me a 6v Interstate battery that’s been sitting for a while in the corner of the heated garage. Put the Sears 6A battery charger on it this morning and it’s been sitting at 6A for the last 12 hours. Don’t know what the mystery is about something as simple as a battery but there is this air of mystery about batteries, at least there is with me. So I suppose there is going to be some internal leakage and even with a full charge it should still draw a bit but I’ve never known just how much that is or where that state of equilibrium is. Any knowledge on the subject???
Denny - you need a better charger, one that has a trickle setting and senses and controls the rate of charge to terminate the charge when the battery is up to spec ... take the charger off it, let the battery rest overnight and check it with your voltmeter
The only way to measure percent charge is with hydrometer. Voltage is a rough estimate at best.
What is battery ampere hour rating? If a 100 Ah then all day does not surprise me if really discharged. Sitting in corner of shop for a long time can sulfate em right good especially so if you did not charge before storage. Time to charge can be estimated by Ah X 1.3 divided by charge rate ie 6 amps. 1.3 is from personal observation of charging submarine battery - you end up putting in 1.3 more than you take out. This probably comes from running cell voltage up to 2.51 plus a temp correction to drive off sulfation. Much of the .3 extra goes into heat and generation of hydrogen I think.
Well all she’s gonna take is 2.31v I guess, this battery just taint gonna cut it. I guess it’s headed for the scrap yard next trip. This one was starting my Stovebolt just fine a few years ago and I just decided to put a new one in because of the age of the Interstate battery. I suppose sitting for a few years caused the dreaded sulfate disease to set in, what ever that is. Never did understand chemistry, probably should have taken a year of that instead of all those shop courses in HS. 585 CCA if that means anything Dan. Not sure if I understand your explanation but if your formula is correct then 12.675 hours should have brought it up to the top if it was gonna.
I’ve read articles which said completely draining the battery with a load then slow charging a few times will sometimes bring a battery back up to snuff. However I’ve never been able to talk my self into spending $150-$300 on a fancy commercial grade battery charger. Always seemed cheaper in the long run to just buy a new battery. The $79.95 Harbor Freight junk chargers I refuse to buy. I did get stung by them when bought one of their little over night chargers on sale for twenty five or thirty bucks a couple of years ago. The cover was made from old beer cans and fit so bad it popped off before I even got it out of the box, never could get it wrapped back around the tinny makeshift framework. Even in the high price range the slow (2A) charging rate on the ones I looked at is only for 12v. The 6v ranges start at 20A input.
Looked at FLAPS and they don’t seem to have the old style Hydrometers with the floating bulb. I can remember selling a lot of those bulbs when I was a parts man back in the day. Seems like the guys were always dropping them and breaking the bulbs in them and the antifreeze testers. You suppose with the sealed batteries now days there isn’t any way to use a hydrometer?
I gave up on standard 6v batteries and went to Optima 6v batteries 6 years ago. I have three and I usually leave them in my trucks over the frigid winter. They start right up in the Spring (with no charge). They can be bought for about $145 (includes shipping and no taxes). So far, these batteries have paid for themselves - one is 6 years old and going strong. I never had a "normal" 6v battery last more than three years.
Two things I forgot. 1. NEVER add anything but water to battery. I know I will start a fight here but any battery manufacturer will tell you this in BIG letters. That goes double for EDTA - the only ones benefitting from that are those that sell it. Deionized is best then distilled then clean creek water - Seattle water can be used and is creek water 50 miles away. 2. Add WATER only to cover the cell tops before charge. Unless your dream in life is cleaning batteries (water/baking soda, paint brush then clean water rinse)
[quote=Denny Graham]Well all she’s gonna take is 2.31v I guess, REPLY is that each cell voltage or battery voltage IF battery and after 12 hours charge you are still at 2.3 scrap it.
this battery just taint gonna cut it. I guess it’s headed for the scrap yard next trip. This one was starting my Stovebolt just fine a few years ago and I just decided to put a new one in because of the age of the Interstate battery. I suppose sitting for a few years caused the dreaded sulfate disease to set in, what ever that is. Never did understand chemistry, probably should have taken a year of that instead of all those shop courses in HS. REPLY lead + acid >> lead sulfate + water Pb + H2SO4 >> PbSO4 + H2O SO all discharges result in lead sulfate. Recharge takes almost but NOT all sulfate and puts it back in acid. This is why you need what is called Temperature Volt Gassing voltage = 2.51 volt per cell plus a temperature corretion - if you can hold battery at 80 you dont need to worry about correcting. Quick n dirty in shop if gassing you should be there - just bubbling you dont need a folling boil or roaring tempest. Do NOT overheat battery ie no more than 100 to 105.
585 CCA if that means anything Dan. That is just cranking amps - close to maximum deliverable amps. Look for number such as 100 Ah at 4 hours - common now is 20 hour. Some starting batteries have it and I think ALL deep cycle do.
Not sure if I understand your explanation but if your formula is correct then 12.675 hours should have brought it up to the top if it was gonna. REPLY IF a 96 Ah battery and charge rate is 6 then about 16 hours. IF the battery is NOT heating up then put it back on charger. I dont hold much hope for it.
I’ve read articles which said completely draining the battery with a load then slow charging a few times will sometimes bring a battery back up to snuff. REPLY Yeah I have heard the same thing from the EV community (mostly hobbyists) and from ONE manufacturer when battery is new. Sorta makes sense on new on - gotta get the electrolyte stirred up after sitting on shelf and get all them metal ions exited or something.
However I’ve never been able to talk my self into spending $150-$300 on a fancy commercial grade battery charger. REPLY ANY source of fairly clean DC is good. The best in my mind is a DC generator, followed by 3 phase alternator (car type is fine) followed by single phase transformer rectifier with a good set of ripple capacitors. A good transformer rectifier unit will do just fine. The money in my mind should be spent on good volt and ammeters and a good hydrometer in range of 1200 to 1300. Yup the glass sure does break when you drop em. there are the "solid state" ones based on index of refraction - well known and long established technology - I am tempted to buy one but cannot recommend because do not have one and not enough experience using it - stuck on old technology I guess.
Always seemed cheaper in the long run to just buy a new battery. The $79.95 Harbor Freight junk chargers I refuse to buy. I did get stung by them when bought one of their little over night chargers on sale for twenty five or thirty bucks a couple of years ago. The cover was made from old beer cans and fit so bad it popped off before I even got it out of the box, never could get it wrapped back around the tinny makeshift framework. Even in the high price range the slow (2A) charging rate on the ones I looked at is only for 12v. The 6v ranges start at 20A input.
Looked at FLAPS and they don’t seem to have the old style Hydrometers with the floating bulb. I can remember selling a lot of those bulbs when I was a parts man back in the day. Seems like the guys were always dropping them and breaking the bulbs in them and the antifreeze testers. REPLY I think I got mine from NAPA ??
You suppose with the sealed batteries now days there isn’t any way to use a hydrometer? REPLY Yes just drill a hole in top. I dont know how you are going to deal with the gel in a hydrometer but,,, - OK so much for being smart [censored] and cute. You cannot use a hydrometer on these - one reason I do not like em.
Nope, don’t send me the ETDA Tim got enough goin on. Most I’m gonna try with this battery is what Jerry suggested, drain it all the way down and slow charge it a few times. If it don’t come back I’ll just pitch it. I just planned on using this one at the radio bench to power up 6v radios anyway.
Don’t doubt the Optima is a good battery, just don’t like the looks of them or the color. Picked up a Hydrometer at Farm & Fleet store this morning, looks like the one you linked to at TSC but it has a thermometer in the glass.
Enough time spent on an old hunk of lead, moving on to the next project. DG
I did put it over a OPTIMA and it really looks like it belongs.If you can get your self to buy the OPTIMA it will last a very long time. Just my thoughts good luck. Tory
Last edited by webstershotrods; 12/29/20107:42 AM.
Looked at the link in the other thread you posted but didn't see anything for the 6v batteries, do they even make a 6v Optima???? Besides, I don't see any problem with the $75 Farm & Fleet batteries that I've been using. Even if I have to replace it every three years, $25 a year that taint all that much to add to the annual mantainance. DG
I have two Schauer battery chargers, a 2/6 amp 6/12v and a 10 amp 6/12v. Both drop the charging rate as the battery charges. I've had both for years. I see they are selling for over $100 bucks now so they aren't cheap but my experience with them is that they are a quality charger.
Save a life, adopt a senior shelter pet. The three main causes of blindness: Cataracts, Politics, Religion. Name your dog Naked so you can walk Naked in the park.
If you don't have a battery hydrometer, you need one. Preferably one that has a temperature adjustment scale, but those can be hard to find. Otherwise, use a thermometer to check the electrolyte temperature when you use the hydrometer; add four gravity points (.004) to the hydrometer reading for every 10° F above 80. Subtract in the same manner for temperatures below 80°.
It could be that you need to leave the charger connected longer, as has been suggested.
If the charge rate is not changing, there might be a shorted cell, which you can find with the hydrometer- the shorted cell will have lower specific gravity than the others.
The process of cycling the battery - repeatedly discharging and recharging- works on some batteries, and you have to leave the battery completly discharged for 12 hours or more before recharging. That cycle can take a long time. My experience with that practice has been mixed- it seems to do better on batteries that are only a couple of years old and which have no other issues than being sulfated from lack of charging. If the battery has dried out or the plates have shed, you won't gain anything by cycling. Unfortunately, you can't tell if the plates have shed unless you can charge the battery at a high enough rate to get the electrolyte bubbling like a pot of water on the stove- 50-60 amps for about 5 minutes will usually do it.
My first two OPTIMA's I bought were for my 65 nova that was in 1993 they are both still in the car 0 problems .That's the reason I started to use them in everything I own .Yes they cost more but they are a great investment with no maintenance.I have plenty to do and less work is very welcome to me .Here 's the link to the 6 volt OPTIMA
