I have a restoration battery in the car that I purchased and installed in 2001. I have subsequently charged the battery approximately once a month or every other month during the winter months when the car is in storage and it had performed ok. Yesterday I went out to the garage to charge it. It had been a couple months this time since the last charge. I checked the fluid and it seemed ok maybe a little low. I hooked up my 10 amp charger and started charging. I came back an hour later and the fluid had percolated away to the top of the plates. I disconnected the charger and added distilled water until it covered the plates about 1/4 inch. I reconnected the charger. The fluid started percolating again so I remained in the garage for about another hour and watched it carefully. I also opened all the windows in the garage. The percolation seemed to diminish somewhat as time went on. I disconnected the charger and planned to check the batter in the morning. I know there is some level of percolation when a bettery charges. I personally have not had one percolate the fluid away to the top of the plates. My real concern is the battery percolating when the car is running. Also, I am now concerned with a battery explosion. What do you folks think -- time to change out the battery ???? The car has already been judged -- maybe it is time for a high performance type battery. Maybe I am being paranoid ??? Seemed like it percolated away the fluid awful fast.
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Re: C2 Battery acting peculiar ????
My experience is that batteries that sit without use after they have been used go dead much faster than if you drive them every few days. You have 3 years on it and you are probably about the end of life normally. With the extended sitting, especially two months in winter between charging, you should expect even less life than normal.
Hard charging them to bring them back usually only heightens the effect. A long slow low-amp charge will do much less damage. High current heats the plates, which cause them to warp, and tears off much more material that settles to the bottom or reaches out to short the plates. Your percolating of the water indicates they are being overheated.
If you want to keep one going, you have to buy the battery minder type ones that trickle a very small charge and will drop off completely when charged. Most "normal" chargers won't, even the "trickle chargers".
A friend used one of the solar panel battery chargers from J. C. Whitney on his '73 and his battery lasted for years. The charge was so slight that nothing heated and material was not torn away from the plates.
Battery manufacturers have become so skilled at building them that they can calculate when it will die very accurately. If you have a 36 month battery, you will get about 37 months under normal use. My JC Penny's batteries in the original "lifetime warranty" lasted quite long, 5 to 7 years. But after Firestone took over the warranties, they were lucky to make 4 years. -
Re: C2 Battery acting peculiar ????
Conventional batteries of yore, of which the Restoration Battery is an example loose about 3 percent charge per day at room temperature - less at lower temperatures, more at higher temperatures. A modern maintenance free battery only loses about one percent per day at room temperature.
After 60 days the battery is essentially flat with only 15 percent full change. A few of these cycles, and the battery will become unreliable and may not be able to take a full charge. Also, in a severely discharged state, the electrolyte is subject to freezing if the surrounding temperature drops into the twenties.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that the restoration type batteries have lower lifethan modern batteries under the best conditions, and I would opine that a Battery Tender or equivalent is mandatory if you want to obtain maximum life out of one of these batteries.
DukeComment
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Re: C2 Battery acting peculiar ????
John, just a suggestion, If you do not disconnnect the battery when the car is in storage or even when it is not going to to be driven immediately, you will have battery discharge problems. I have a '67 327/300 car with a Delco Energizer Maintenance-Free battery. It has lasted about 4 years and still going. The secret is a battery cutoff switch (I have a "Save-ty Switch", better than those green knob ones). You should use the switch to disconnect the battery immediately after you pull into the garage. I live in Fla. and drive my car year round where the underhood temps are blazing hot in the summer. This kind of heat will eventually kill the battery, but,I believe that disconnecting it is the best way to get maximum life out of it. My battery has never even lost the "green eye" between outings.Also, if you have a quartz clock conversion, it will pull down the battery real quick as it's running constantly. Finally, disconnecting every time virtually eliminates the ever present fire hazard of 37 year old wiring.Hope this helps.Comment
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Re: C2 Battery acting peculiar ????
Thanks all for the repsonses.Comment
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