Resting Voltage??????

[akheathen Premium Member]

Put the battery on a 2A trickle charge for 24 hours or more. It won't damage the battery and will "gently" bring it back to life. If you cram 20A or more (by using a speed charger or your alternator (~80A++) it can heat up the battery and cause more issues. Its better to gently trickle charge a battery that is drained.
Deep cycle does not mean you can let the battery sit at 11.5V all the time. It means the battery can be drained nearly flat and reacharged with little effort. Standard batteries do not perform well when drained, and some won't even come back to life when charged. The plates and design of a standard battery are a lot smaller than a deep cycle.

A typical resting voltage of a "good" battery is 12.2 - 13V on a FULLY charged battery. Anything outside of those specs is suspect, and must be tested after a full charge. Load testers are cheap and a good tool to have. Most auto parts stores will load test a battery for free, just make sure its fully charged first! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

actually, if the case had been that he had the type of automatic normal battery charger i was thinking of, it would have came off the charger, and put on the alternator at a high enough charge that it would not pull that much current at all, unless there was a real bad problem, like a shorted plate, which would have already shown by then with heavy gassing and heat. and, that also brings up that the same hazard persists with a 2a rate. however, it turns out the charger he has can take care of this battery, so it doesn't really matter, and the problem will show, if there is one, by excessive heat/gassing, or a significant resting drop.

 

[madcad95 10+ year member]

Lol hence the 10 times not 100 lol either way good luck

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

actually, if the case had been that he had the type of automatic normal battery charger i was thinking of, it would have came off the charger, and put on the alternator at a high enough charge that it would not pull that much current at all, unless there was a real bad problem, like a shorted plate, which would have already shown by then with heavy gassing and heat. and, that also brings up that the same hazard persists with a 2a rate. however, it turns out the charger he has can take care of this battery, so it doesn't really matter, and the problem will show, if there is one, by excessive heat/gassing, or a significant resting drop.

Shorted cell? A sulfated battery will gernerate heat because an alternator or not very good regulated charger will just continue to put out power that the battery does not accept. If your charger/alternator puts out 20 amps and the battery is only accepting 3 amps that leaves the rest of the power to be let off as heat which will make the alternator or charger and battery very hot in the same process.

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

A battery with a shorted or sulfated cell will show almost exactly 2V low with no other signs of failure/heat/smell. On the older batteries with 6 holes in the top, you could measure a 2V charge on every cell.....1 dead cell = 2V drop.

On average, you should be able to get at least 5-7 years out of a standard battery if you keep it charged. Its when people let them get below 12V for months is when I have a hard time bringing them back to life. Also check the interwebs for "desulfate battery" to learn about bringing batteries back from the dead.

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

well, what the car and other battery is using out of the equation, if the battery is only accepting 3a, then the alternator is only putting out 3a....that's just how it is. there is no magic disappearing current that is allowed to pass elsewhere. the heat comes from whether it is chemically converting that 3a to storage, or how much is being passed. only way to pass more current is to exceed voltage, and follow ohms law, which the alternator will not, unless the alt field regulator is shorted.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

well, what the car and other battery is using out of the equation, if the battery is only accepting 3a, then the alternator is only putting out 3a....that's just how it is. there is no magic disappearing current that is allowed to pass elsewhere. the heat comes from whether it is chemically converting that 3a to storage, or how much is being passed. only way to pass more current is to exceed voltage, and follow ohms law, which the alternator will not, unless the alt field regulator is shorted.

A sulfated crystalized battery will not charge and in a low state will create a load for the alternator. The altenator puts out power to the load it has placed on it. There is nothing in the cars electrical system to tell the alternator anything but put power to the load presented as its reaction with a properly working battery it would tail off as the battery takes a charge and continues to charge. The battery when sulfated is basically working more as a resitor not doing much in this state. Too much power going to the battery in this state produces heat for a few reasons, alternator gets hot because the battery WONT charge and thus continues to work hard. This heat causes the sulfation to get worse causing the crystals to grow. If the crystals are formed deep in the pores of the lead the crystal growing will damage the plate. This can also cause the plates to shead.

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

but, you are missing the point, an alternator is a constant voltage source, which is what this battery calls for, and using the alternator, was only an option for what a conventional cheap charger could not do, and only once the battery has reached a high voltage. however, the charger is capable of doing what it needs. what you are describing of the alternator, is actually what a conventional charger will do, until it is stressed far enough for a voltage drop. if this battery could not handle it, then it will never handle a normal charging system. the difference with many chargers, is that many can actually run 18+v if not watched. if this battery was sulfated, it would have shown long before 13v

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

500 Amp Carbon Pile Load Tester : Battery Testers | SparePartsnMore.ComLoad tester If you do not have one there is bound to be a garage or auto electrical around you that does.

I have one of these. Works great to do a simple load test and make sure the cells aren't crap.

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

Here's the deal. We were sold some batts and were told they rested at 12.7v or higher. We get the batts and they're sitting around 11.6 - 11.8v. Now I had to go and buy a battery charger. But now from what I'm Hearing from you guys that wont suffice when testing to make sure it's a good batt.

I'm not buying anymore equipment, so what should be my next step? Because I'm thinking somethings wrong here

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

I have pics but I can't upload them on my iPad and my laptops at home.

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

I hear u man he is going to have to come to me and exchange batts and bring s second good one and I will buy it so its a win win. On charger for over 12hous still under 11v

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

You know how to upload pics here? The sites not letting me do it from my iPad.

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

email them to me

disturbed471985@hotmail.com

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

Ok pm me your email plz

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

u got