Bad battery or charging issue?

[Hollow]

Electronics are not my thing. And by not my thing, I mean they tend to hate me and/or make people go, "That isn't/shouldn't actually be possible!

Anyhoo, onto the point. About 2 years ago I got rid of my worn out DieHard Gold battery (made by Johnson Controls?) and replaced it with an EverStart Maxx from WalMart (made by Johnson Controls). Now, I try and avoid WalMart as much as I can, but it was the best price for a battery when I was hard up for cash. After about 18 months, I noticed I was having a lot of corrosion on the battery tie down and around the vent caps of the battery. Water level appeared fine, I cleaned everything off and off I went. A month or two later, it was corroded badly again. Disgruntled, I took it to WalMart and they gave me a new battery.

Fast forward 6-8 months, I have a different job and no longer commute to work via the Subaru. It sits in the parking garage for 2-3 weeks at a time and gets used for brief interstate trips (10-30 miles) primarily. I last filled up the first week of January and still have almost half a tank of fuel. But the gorram battery is doing it again! I need to take my tie down off and sand/repaint it as it is now rusting from the corrosion eating off the paint, and the battery is a mess on the top. Posts themselves aren't horrible, as they have dielectric grease on them and the felt washers.

Ideas? I've been told it sounds like a charging issue, but I'm not sure how to troubleshoot that. I have a Scangauge II and it reads the battery at about 12.8 volts after sitting a few weeks and between 13.0 and 14.0 while driving.

 

[david_ES2]

Usually see that exact problem when a battery terminal posts are over tightened. Rarely is it a manufacturing defect.

 

[datech]

12.6 is good. 13.8 and up is normal while driving/charging.

You are thinking maybe the battery is getting overcharged? It's not the worst problem to have, unless it's severe enough to destroy the battery or electronics.

Spray some Windex (ammonia_) on the corrosion, it will neutralize the acid. Just don't get any down the holes into the battery itself.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: david_ES2
Usually see that exact problem when a battery terminal posts are over tightened. Rarely is it a manufacturing defect.


What do you feel happens? If the terminal is lead it will just mush a little itself. If its a steel terminal do you think it squeezes the round post enough to make it a little oval and break the seal.

 

[Donald]

Bring it to a place with a Midtronics tester and it will test out the charging system, by measuring the voltage while applying a load.

If you charged up the battery via plug in charger, then started the vehicle, what would be the voltage after 15 minutes of driving.

You want to know the voltage the alternator is putting out after the battery has been charged up from sitting and starting.

 

[Chris142]

Sitting 2-3 weeks then only drives a short distance wont recharge it. It really needs to be on a maintainer.im guessing that it gets low when parked then the alt tries to bring it up quickly which results in a lot of gassing.

 

[spackard]

Maybe you've lost the paint on the battery tie-downs and need to prime and paint them. Or, if you're cheap, clean them thoroughly, dry, and smear some wheel bearing grease on the exposed metal parts.

 

[bigt61]

On cars I don't drive much I either leave the battery disconnected or I have a cutoff switch installed.

 

[Gabe]

Originally Posted By: Hollow
It sits in the parking garage for 2-3 weeks at a time and gets used for brief interstate trips (10-30 miles) primarily.


You battery will not last long if you let it sit on a partial charge; a 10 minute drive isn't enough to recharge it from 3 weeks of sitting.

Have you looked at AGM batteries?? I hear they are able to stand up much better to deep discharges, and they are able to take a charge much quicker.

 

[Donald]

I agree with a battery maintainer, however I do not think the corrosion he is seeing comes from the way he treats the battery. It may shorten the life of the battery.

 

[Hollow]

A battery maintainer isn't very realistic, as the car sits in a parking garage. Also not thrilled at the thought of having to disconnect/reconnect the battery after every use. Loosing all the presets, resetting the ECU, etc.

I agree these not ideal conditions(but such is life right now), but I have never had a battery, no matter the use, corrode as badly as these 2 EverStarts have. And the previous one was doing the same thing when the car was being driven 70 miles round trip a day.

I just don't want to chuck a less than year old battery and find out the issue is with the car, not the component.

 

[JHZR2]

I hear ya. Tough thing. Unfortunately short of swapping the alt, or doing some really rigorous alternator testing, the best experiment may well be to just swap the battery. Probably the lower cost approach.

I've not been happy with the two maxx batteries I've put into my truck. I bought an aap battery but haven't installed it yet. Mine isn't a corrosion issue but a longevity one.

I'd bite the bullet, go to Costco or aap with a coupon and buy a battery, cover the terminals with dielectric grease, strap it down proper, including any blankets or other casing designed by the manufacturer, and see how it goes. If also add an inova digital volt meter for the cigarette lighter plug, and use it to monitor operating and cranking voltage.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Sitting 2-3 weeks then only drives a short distance wont recharge it. It really needs to be on a maintainer.im guessing that it gets low when parked then the alt tries to bring it up quickly which results in a lot of gassing.


+1 if the battery impedance is low, conditions are right, and alternator output vs car load is good,,it can slam a lot of current in. Small batteries especially can't take that too well.

 

[datech]

The vent caps on a lead acid battery are to vent hydrogen gas generated when the battery is charged. A little bit of acid fumes sputter out as well, causing corrosion.

Venting is somewhat normal operation and occasionally water has to be added to replenish what is lost.I have always tried to get maintainance free batteries to avoid this.

A sealed battery keeps the acid fumes internal and recycles them so they usually never run low on fluid.

Your voltage regulator on the alternator should keep the voltage to a reasonable charging voltage, usually between 13.8 and 14.xx volts. I don't know exactly what voltage is considered overvoltage but I think below 15 v usually doesn't cause big problems.

Your alternator voltage sensing might be a little off, but probably not really defective. This might cause it to charge a little more than normal, but it might also be a design consideration so the vehicle has plenty of juice to power lights and accessories.

I don't know about the particular design of your vehicle but you might investigate the wiring around the alternator to make sure there are good connections there. I don't think modern cars have adjustable alternator regulators, but a poor connection might cause inaccurate regulation.

 

[Rand]

I've had that problem with every exide battery EVER.

my tractor has it going on now too.

you can clean it up and use the felt washers/red spray

helps for awhile.

your car use is really not very optimal though.

You might just have to live with it somewhat, or pony up for a better battery such as a diehard platinum (AGM)

 

[datech]

I agree. The one Walmart battery I had died a day after the 2 year warranty was up. I was driving it 90 miles a day to work and back and I had to get a jump in the parking lot at work.

I've had 5 year sealed batteries last 7 years.

As long as your battery keeps starting your car I'd forget about it.

The strong alkali in Windex will neutralize acid and stop the corrosion until you get a new battery.