What causes your battery to die?

[jretrodude]

Bought the little plug in battery tender plugged it in yesterday about 3 in the afternoon checked today about the same time still has the solid red charge light on? It must take a few days or my luck the battery is completely shot?

 

[Roc87]

It sometimes takes a while depending on how low the battery was to start with, if the light is still red after 3 days maybe take it to be tested

 

[earlbrown]

Unhook it and after about an hour take a voltage reading on the battery. Hook it back up and then do the same thing a day later.

As long as the voltage is going up the charger is stuffing electrons in there.

 

[getdowngranny]

I have had tenders in the past but a few years ago I bought an Optimate 6 and it has been the best tender/charger/de-sulfator I have ever had. Sometimes when batteries sit too long they build sulfate on the plates and cause the battery to die pre-maturely. With the optimate I have brought back batteries from being dead. You have to make sure you don't have a parasitic drain because a tender will just bandaid the problem. Also you mentioned you have installed an amplifier. Certain amps seem to drain the battery even when turned off. Best way to run an audio system in to put an isolator of some sort between the amp and the battery. There are different types of isolator but I have had better luck with the relay type. Hope this info helps.


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[dvernst]

X2

It's hard to find the problem if you don't do a little testing. Also lose your fan delay relay, you don't need it.

Fan delay relay was the problem on mine.

 

[boostmeup]

Test your starting system for draw using a multimeter. Car batteries have small plates for easier starting in cold weather but if left to Almost go dead and recharged then you should replace with new one. Agm sealed batteries like optimas for instance have thicker plates in them and can be recharged many times over..... so test for draw and if your battery has been recharged from a dead or almost dead state then replace it...

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[boostmeup]

BTW since agm ( deep cycle) batteries have less CCA you can do a search on the internet for whats called the " big three upgrade".... by replacing with thicker 0 gauge wire you will increase power by 20-30 percent and have the best of both worlds in starting And long battery life

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[fast86gn]

No matter what the draw is and of course fix it buy the Deltran model, I have two for the GN and GS. The GN has been in the garage for 8 months and starts right up everytime I want. These battery tenders are a god send!

 

[jretrodude]

Thanks for all the info guys I'm going to check on it again tonight and see what's up with it. Also the charger 2 days ago said 0 for the battery percentage the tender would just blink so I read the instructions and it said to have at least 3% battery so I did that and I will wait to see what happens more than likely will have to replace the battery again but at least now I can just leave my tender hooked up to it and never worry about it again even in the summer time. By the way fast86 I love your thread art very cool!

 

[9SECV6]

A battery tender wont recharge from completely dead once it drops below 10 volts it shuts off. It is designed to maintain a charge hence the name battery maintainer not battery charger. Just my opinion as I have gone through over 100 maintainers and only 4 chargers this year so far I am in the power generation field.

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[1KWIKSIX]

x2 on the Optimate 6

 

[jretrodude]

Update I just pulled the tender off after 2 days and hooked the charger back up and it said it was only at 9% left the charger on for the last hour and it moved all the way up to 65% and hasn't moved I think before I go to bed tonight I will check the percentage again and rehook up the battery tender?

 

[psycho6cyl]

If I were you I would also invest in a booster pack or AAA so when this problem increases while youre out with the car you dont get stuck. I wouldnt be wprrying about tenders etc. Have bat tested and start w amp etc. Thats just me. Nothing more embarrasing than your car not starting at a cruise etc.

 

[standupjskiguy]

I'm frugal, I bought the Harbor freight float charger and I buy used, two year old batteries at Pick and Pull.
I see no reason to spend big bucks on a battery for car I drive only a few miles a year.
I leave the tender on all the time I'm not driving the car and I've had no problems with them.
If a battery goes completely dead but doesn't sit that way for too long, you can recharge it and it will be OK. Maybe it looses some life
but not too significant.
But if it has sat dead for weeks, it sulfates and cannot be brought back.

 

[jlat]

hello; What happened to me was my rear brake light switch wasn't deactivating so the bat. was dead after a few days. Just didn't notice the third brake light on.
IBBY

 

[nickygn23]

Disconnect the battery when your not driving it..... Problem solved

 

[fast86gn]

Disconnect the battery when your not driving it..... Problem solved

The Tender is a far better idea than disconnecting and connecting the battery every time.

 

[jretrodude]

Update! I took the battery out last night and had it tested at advance and it would not charge or hold a charge, I know the guys pretty well up there and they exchanged the battery again. I bought 2 battery posts and left it on a pallet in the garage with tender on it and nice steady green light. I'm going to leave it on for the next 3 or 4 months so when nice warm weather hits I'm ready to rock and roll again. And I agree with standjpguy it has sat for about 2 to 3 months without starting it with the amp hotwire kit and all hooked up to it so it more than likely sulfated to bad it was only 11 months old? Thanks again for all the help guys I have been going through this every year. Thank god for the battery tender!

 

[NY_GN]

I had the same problem for a long time. If you are running a capacitor it's the likley suspect. To rid yourself of all these problems, run a separate battery and an isolator in the trunk. Buy a used battery and a new isolator rated for 500 amps, both will be less than a new battery. You can also set it up to jump your main battery if it goes down to far as well.

I had to leave my car sitting for 12 months at a time and this fix finally solved all my problems.

 

[boostmeup]

I have an amp etc. for a stereo system and if I don't drive my GN or start it up in a few weeks to a few months the battery is always dead? I charge it up for a few hours and always says bad battery? Should I unplug the amp wire that goes to the battery, Fan Relay (the big one) and underhood light? Just frustrating having to change the battery out every winter or late fall?

Don't run a capacitor they will drain your battery every time.. in car audio ( depending on RMS) you need biggest alternator and battery(s) farad capacitors look nice but for every little boost in power they will take away from having to fill back up in power. Even 5 farad capacitors

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