battery back from the dead...

[riz]

How long can a battery sit in a garage and still be brought back to life on a charger? I've hada fresh battery sitting for a few years and I put it on the charger last night and let it go. I'm goingto check itout today when I get home from work and wondering if I'll see if it took charge or not??

RIZ

 

[diesel4me]

Doubtful you'll have any luck getting it to hold a charge,IF it'll charge up at all--usually once a battery sits dead for more than a few weeks,it sulphates and wont take or hold a charge any more..but a long slow charge at low amps is what will bring one back to life if anything will,a charger with "pulse" features can sometimes revive a dead sulphated battery....usually though,once a battery dies and isn't recharged promptly,it's junk (BTW,junk batteries are worth 9 bucks in my area !)...

I buy used batteries from junkyards cheap,like 15-20 bucks for one nearly new,with an old one in exchange--I look for ones that are in cars that were just hauled in,that have not sat for any length of time,sometimes you will find one that was just installed not long ago ,I've had good luck with them...I bring my load tester when I go to see if they have any dead cells--usually I can hear the cells burp and fizz under a load,which induicates they are bad..often a battery thats junk will make a sulfer kind of stink under a load too,along with the fizzing noises..

I have a hard time keeoing my batteries from dying ,they sit more than the vehicles get used,and I find leaving them on a trickle charger often causes the water to evaporate in the cells,and once you dilute the acid by adding water,the battery is never quite the same again..I've had just as many batteries die while on a "maintainer" as they did just sitting ignored,I guess there is no way to keep them from going south as they age--just like WE do!...

 

[riz]

Yeah, I was thinking it would be worth a try. I was hoping to save around $80-100 on a new one. I have to get a battery so I can get my motor going so I can take it out to my friends house to get the rust worked on and finally get it back on the road!

RIZ

Doubtful you'll have any luck getting it to hold a charge,IF it'll charge up at all--usually once a battery sits dead for more than a few weeks,it sulphates and wont take or hold a charge any more..but a long slow charge at low amps is what will bring one back to life if anything will,a charger with "pulse" features can sometimes revive a dead sulphated battery....usually though,once a battery dies and isn't recharged promptly,it's junk (BTW,junk batteries are worth 9 bucks in my area !)...

I buy used batteries from junkyards cheap,like 15-20 bucks for one nearly new,with an old one in exchange--I look for ones that are in cars that were just hauled in,that have not sat for any length of time,sometimes you will find one that was just installed not long ago ,I've had good luck with them...I bring my load tester when I go to see if they have any dead cells--usually I can hear the cells burp and fizz under a load,which induicates they are bad..often a battery thats junk will make a sulfer kind of stink under a load too,along with the fizzing noises..

I have a hard time keeoing my batteries from dying ,they sit more than the vehicles get used,and I find leaving them on a trickle charger often causes the water to evaporate in the cells,and once you dilute the acid by adding water,the battery is never quite the same again..I've had just as many batteries die while on a "maintainer" as they did just sitting ignored,I guess there is no way to keep them from going south as they age--just like WE do!...

 

[sweetk30]

i got lucky on a dead batt sat in truck all winter cold and frozen.

did 2-3 day long slow 2-3 amp charge on it. 8-9 hr per set then off charge for 6-8 hrs . come back strong and perfectly.

 

[84 k5 blazer]

I have a die hard that sat for a year, charged up and still works good as new.

 

[riz]

So there's hope. I've got it on the charger as we speak. we'll see when I get home if the needle has moved or not.

RIZ

 

[sweetk30]

slow / low amp is the key . and on for a bit then off for a bit .

 

[riz]

Thanks, I'll try that.

RIZ

 

[tRustyK5]

I brought back a Die Hard that had been dead for three years. Let it charge on the trickle charger for about 30 hours or so. Seemed OK, and when we put it back in the car a week later it still had a full charge. Not sure how long it would have kept a charge as we couldn't get the damn thing started and now that batt has sat for another 3 or 4 years. I'm certain it's deader than dogsh1t now...

Rene

 

[76zimmer]

I believe you can get a battery to take a charge by hooking up a resonably charged battery 11.5+ volts in parallel with the dead one, and the charger will think its charging a slightly discharged battery that way. Low and slow is how they like it.

 

[diesel4me]

I've been surprised that the Die-Hard battery in my Ford Contour hasn't died yet--it was old when I got the car in 2005,and I have driven it only 5000 miles since,and it sits all winter (and much of the rest of the year!)--so far I think I only had to jump it once,and once about a year ago I did put the trickle charger on it for a few days...
I was in the car Sunday fooling with the radio,its been changing stations by itself lately,and I wanted to pull it out to check the antenna connection,to my surprise,after not having driven the car since Dec. 10th,its battery was still "up"!..

The 2 batteries in my '82 K2500 are Duralast ones that aren't even the same,one is a "GOLD" battery the other is a plain black cased one--been in it since 2003 and they were well used then!..since then it has sat idle most of the time,yet I rarely have to jump them to get it to start--there is two huge Continental brand batteries in my diesel Burb,that look like group 27's,they look really old,but despite me letting the truck sit for over a year in my yard and only starting it once a month or so,they seem to hold a charge very well....

I've read about people putting asprins or epsom salts in "dead" batteries and supposedly that and a long slow low amp charge will revive a sulphated battery,but I have yet to try it--maybe I will,before I cash in the 2 batteries I have that I was using to jump start things that have now started to fizz and not hold a charge for long,before I scrap them,to see if its bunk or it works!..