Battery -- new testing at 12.41 v
- Thread starter mjk1967
- Start date
JHZR2
Staff member
Lead acid batteries degrade as soon as they’re off 100% start of charge. The longer they stay at low levels, the more they sulfate. Sulfation limits accessible surface area which affects energy and power capability.
The battery was never charged and is at a middling state of charge. It’s expected/normal, but not good.
I’d not run it. I go to the store with a multimeter to verify. But at the end of the day, if you kept it you may never notice the difference in the time you run it until the bitter end….. but you’ll know the capacity and power is reduced.
Prudent is to use a plug in charger to top it off before you put it into service. It will charge up fully my regardless in time, but an alternator is NOT a device designed to truly top up a battery. Since you know the history, better to get it to full before using it if you’re going to keep it and not exchange it.
The battery was never charged and is at a middling state of charge. It’s expected/normal, but not good.
I’d not run it. I go to the store with a multimeter to verify. But at the end of the day, if you kept it you may never notice the difference in the time you run it until the bitter end….. but you’ll know the capacity and power is reduced.
Prudent is to use a plug in charger to top it off before you put it into service. It will charge up fully my regardless in time, but an alternator is NOT a device designed to truly top up a battery. Since you know the history, better to get it to full before using it if you’re going to keep it and not exchange it.
I always bench top charge a new battery to 100% before use. Sometimes it takes a full 10 hours.
^^^ what they said.
the battery probably isn’t that old. A flooded cell can lose up to 3% of its charge per day sitting there. It’s lost in very rough terms 1/3 of its charge. Not “ideal,” but if you do the math, it’s hard to get something much fresher. I would do what they said, take it home, install it, place it on a charger as long as you can - whether it’s just the afternoon or all night, and then drive it. In all likelihood, it will be fine.
the battery probably isn’t that old. A flooded cell can lose up to 3% of its charge per day sitting there. It’s lost in very rough terms 1/3 of its charge. Not “ideal,” but if you do the math, it’s hard to get something much fresher. I would do what they said, take it home, install it, place it on a charger as long as you can - whether it’s just the afternoon or all night, and then drive it. In all likelihood, it will be fine.
Back in the stone age at the Esso station we had dry Atlas batteries. You put the acid in and then charged it for at least a 1/2 hr. or more before installing it in a customer's car. Uncharged they would crank over OK but to reduce recalls we did it by the ''destructions''.
All my new batteries get a BatteryMinder top off before installation today.
All my new batteries get a BatteryMinder top off before installation today.
My batteries typically show .1 to .2 volts less than they "should" per all the stuff you find online. They do about as well as average.
Is this voltage just sitting there or sitting there in the car with the terminals on? Cars drain batteries more than you think.
Is this voltage just sitting there or sitting there in the car with the terminals on? Cars drain batteries more than you think.
I went through the same thing. Battery barely made it out of warranty then failed. There was no value in that deal.
From what I've been told, the little sticker on top of the battery isn't the month of manufacture, it's when it was last charged which could have been any time during the distribution path. There's no guarantee that it was fully charged even then.
I'd charge it a bit before install.
Isn't the value series a battery with a one-year warranty therefore a one-year Plus a little bit more life expectancy? So if that is the true life expectancy of the battery and it's already 6 months old there's no way in the world that I would buy one of those. Go to a different Walmart or as another person said come back at a different time. Or you could step it up a notch and buy something higher up on the wrong of life expectancy Walmart batteries such as the MAXX series.
A fully charged battery should be 12.6.
Put it in, and go somewhere, maybe a funky restaurant in a town an hour away.
That would give it a good charge, and get you out doing something fun.
That would give it a good charge, and get you out doing something fun.
ive been known to carry a voltmeter in when buying a battery and metering them before I pick one out… haven’t done this in a while.
AGMs store on the shelf with much less self discharge than flooded. I bought an agm once that was 12.1 on the shelf, the only one in that size in town. I knew it was bad. I think it had been there 9 months. It failed 3 months before the 3 year warranty and they gave me the full replacement (autozone) no questions.
AGMs store on the shelf with much less self discharge than flooded. I bought an agm once that was 12.1 on the shelf, the only one in that size in town. I knew it was bad. I think it had been there 9 months. It failed 3 months before the 3 year warranty and they gave me the full replacement (autozone) no questions.
Fair enough.... that battery is "undercharged" a whopping 1%
Fair enough.... that battery is "undercharged" a whopping 1%
Actually that is not how it works.
Basically 1 volt below full, is dead.
COSTCO batteries are like this nowadays. I had one Interstate from them in March, the sticker was March 2023. I always put them on a charger before installing. It would go down to 12.58V next morning. I went back and replaced it with another one. The same effect. OK, may be a fluke, a funny batch. I put back a 7 year old battery that still holds above 12.65 for 5 days. I wait for a couple of months, I go back to COSTCO in July 2023. Get another new battery, stcker is July 2023. It gives me 12.60V in situ. So, I got a Duralast Gold from the Zone. I do not know who is the mfg, it is a flat top, regular flooded, Made in Korea. So far it acts like a new battery.
There is always a reason why something is dramatically cheaper. And it is not always a good reason.
There is always a reason why something is dramatically cheaper. And it is not always a good reason.