Batteries in the winter. The charging post.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Batteries in the winter. The charging post.

oshawacliff · Poncho Master!

As a summer job at my local Sunoco I had to experience my boss get a new battery charger and he read the instruction saying it was impossible to hook the battery charger

Incorrectly

After charging he decide to hook it up to the wrong posts the battery top exploded.

I quickly grabbed him and got him to the large sink we had and ran the water over him

He survived

A lesson learned!

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I don't have a picture because they are scattered.

I just leave the batteries in the Trans Am and Strato Chief but unhook them. The cars sit in the back bay which is unheated but attached. The coldest I've seen in there all winter was today, +8, are really good temp for storing batteries from my experience.

The pair of 12 volt garden tractor batteries that power my wife's mobility scooter come out of the scooter and also sit in the 8* back bay. I checked them yesterday, both 12.70 volts but I charged them at 2 amps for about 4-5 hours anyway.

The original battery out of our G8 (2009 so it's 12+ years old now and still works great) runs the cabin water pressure pump in the summer and comes home for the winter, also sitting in the 8* back bay. Checked it the other day, 12.60 so I gave it a few hours at 2 amps also. It had been sitting there untouched since about the end of October.

Our cabin runs off solar (which I unhook for the winter) and 4 golf cart batteries (6 volt). They are wired up as a 12 volt system. In the fall I unhook the power to the cabin, charge them up real good with a 10 amp charger (because it's tough to get a good charging day out of my solar in the fall) and they they sit there under the cabin, out in the cold all winter. They do just fine. I was there about 3 weeks ago, tested them and all 4 tested at about 6.32 - 6.33 volts. I know people that leave their solar hooked up all winter but somehow that seems to work opposite and they end up having battery issues. Often the panels get covered with snow and even though there's supposedly diodes in the system to prevent draw, somehow they draw down if the panels don't stay bare. Thus my thinking that I just leave the batteries as is.

64PARCONUK · Addicted!

I was having my codes read on the XJR daily driver for an air suspension fault light. (It still rides perfectly at 88k miles and never goes below the correct ride height)

The tech guy that had the gear to read them (most code readers won't work with a Jaguar) said a minor code came up for the battery. Having recently checked the voltage was good, both off and when charging, I was prompted to examine it more carefully. Turns out it's the factory battery and nearly 14 years old!

Because of the code I treated her to a new one (the original was a Varta product so that's what I got). Apparently this model of car is very sensitive to having a tip top battery, otherwise you risk all sorts of electrical gremlins.

I have to work out how often I should charge my 14 year old spare.

Unfortunately, I've had to buy a new air compressor just to get rid of the fault light. CAN$855.00 + fitting.

67Poncho · Uber Guru

The province of NL was the first province to hold the GM specific A.utomotive S.ervice E.ducational. P.rogram pertaining to automotive apprenticeship in Canada back in '89-91. When we did our electrical/battery course, in exact words from the GM instructor that day with regards to a fully charged battery was, "throw it in the deepfreezer next to your moose meat". None of my cars, and I have 10+ that I cycle through the summer months besides my daily, never ever, unless I have to move them for some reason, get started throughout the winter or have maintainers of any sort.

BUT, they are charged before hibernation and the negative post is disconnected till I reattach the following spring. If the battery is dead in the spring, it wasn't any good anyways.

I have them in my shop as well. I charge them once and leave them till required. Here's the shocker, they sit on the concrete floor.. NO, concrete floors don't hurt them... that too, is an old wives tale. (I know some of you will think otherwise)

There is always a blanket of snow on them until spring.

My '06 GTO is here in the shop and wasn't started for 3 years till September past, no maintainer, hook up negative post, start and go.

-- Edited by 67Poncho on Sunday 28th of February 2021 01:19:15 PM

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

That old wives tale actually had some basis in fact...when the very first lead acid batteries were built with a tarred wooden box as the shell, it was said they'd absorb moisture from the concrete, leading the the early failure of the case or something like that.

But it's funny how many still follow and swear by it.

67Poncho · Uber Guru

cdnpont wrote:
That old wives tale actually had some basis in fact...when the very first lead acid batteries were built with a tarred wooden box as the shell, it was said they'd absorb moisture from the concrete, leading the the early failure of the case or something like that.
But it's funny how many still follow and swear by it.

My Dad's era for sure... I was told and continue to be told by those of old. Bakelite substance rings a bell. But, I was generally stating about the last 30 years of batteries. Again, just my 2-pennies.

-- Edited by 67Poncho on Sunday 28th of February 2021 02:21:29 PM

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I just remember it because of an argument I had with a friend about it. He insisted it was true and I couldn't tell him otherwise. I told him no way so many times, he googled it just to prove me wrong, and sure enough he found the truth about the tale.

He no longer believes it.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

My late neighbor who was a wholesale battery and electrical guy said to keep batteries in the freezer. I just charge mine after topping with distilled water, the Kirkland one in the 63 I bought in 2002 or 2003. Always disconnected negative post, summer and winter.

Friend with a new Honda just had a 6 month old battery replaced under warranty. New batteries can be a crapshoot.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I've read the heat is the real killer of the lead acid battery.

67Poncho · Uber Guru

20 years at the dealer, showroom cars always had a charger attached. Yes, heat and direct sunlight is worse. (other than having a flat battery in the winter frigid cold)

-- Edited by 67Poncho on Sunday 28th of February 2021 10:42:24 PM

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

cdnpont wrote:
I've read the heat is the real killer of the lead acid battery.

I've heard the same. Someone once said that an Arizona summer is harder on the battery than a Manitoba winter.