Best way to preserve battery in a stored car?

[cangreylegend]

Well actually, Ive heard of the best way which is to use one of those advanced chargers. However, barring this what is next best?

My wife keeps a car stored at her parents' place so when she visits she has a car to use. The car is stored ina tropical country. Unfortunately, the car is stored for approximately nine months. It has a radio with a clock and an alarm system so it draws down the battery over a period of time. So after replacing two batteries we decided to remove the battery this time.

Is there a better way? Her father has a battery charger.

 

[TC]

Info here...

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq13.htm
http://www.inct.net/~autotips/battstor.htm

 

[cryptokid]

if her father has a charger just tell him to charge it once a month or so.

 

[seotaji]

don't leave the battery on the ground, put something under it like a 2x4.

and trickle charge it.

 

[brianl703]

Wal-Mart sells a 1.5 amp "battery charger/maintainer" for $25. It won't overcharge the battery (unlike some trickle-chargers) and it can be installed permanently under the hood if you so desire.

 

[cangreylegend]

thanks for info

 

[theguru]

I have two cars I sit for some time (months) and I use a relatively cheap auto charger which is only rated at about 2 amps, but being auto it charges as soon as the voltage drops below a set minumum and then cuts out once at full charge.

I have other more powerful charges, but these are unnecessary a once the battery is charges it doesn't take much to keep it there.

I am a bit wary of leaving anything that is not auto, as overcharging will kill the battery as well. I find I tend to forget to either charge the batteries regularly if I have to do it manually or forget to disconnect.

The unit is a "Protecta" brand is is sold here for $50-60 dollars. The unit is sold as a boat charger as it is sealed and designed for the main unit to be bolted in and the charging lead can be disconnected.

 

[ZR2RANDO]

You can buy a disconnect switch battery terminal if you want to leave the battery under the hood. Just have to open the hood and reconnect when you want to drive. It's a good anti-theft device as well (but not as good as removing the battery though

). Probably still have to charge periodically. They have a blade type and a threaded connector as well.

 

[slalom44]

You might be interested in picking up a batter desulfator. There are various versions out on the market. Many are coupled with a trickle charger that not only keeps your battery fully charged, but it breaks up the lead sulfate chrystals that have already formed. These things literally prevent a battery from ever going bad, and you can often get a "bad" battery to work again. I've done this several times.

I have a Battery MINDer that I picked up from batterymart.com. There's a less expensive version called "Battery Defender Pro" that sells for $32.95.

About 6 years ago I had a Power Pulse made by PulseTech. This worked well, but it doesn't charge the battery so it's not that great for storing batteries. But PulseTech also sells a plug-in version, as well as some that are powered by solar cells so you can keep your battery in peak condition without relying on an outlet. My PowerPulse worked fine until my kid borrowed it. I'm not sure why it fried, but I suspect that he hooked it up backwards and fried it.

There's even a website showing you how you can build your own desulfator. If you do a search, you'll find out a lot about this technology.

 

[theguru]

Only thing is by removing the car battery or disconnecting it the alarm system is inoperative. Also, many alarms have a backup battery, this is likely to suffer the same fate as the car battery if it left disconnected.

And it is a pain reprogramming the radio etc. Make sure you have the codes handy.

 

[luvs2drive]

For a little more money you can get solar panel trickle chargers that you connect right to the battery. No electricity needed. Of course you'd have to put the panel in a window where it gets light if the vehicle is in a garage. Not sure on you're location.

I use one in the winter to help keep the battery fresh in the cold.

Other than that, use a battery charger and charge the battery once a month or so.

 

[cryptokid]

oh that is so true i forgot about solar.

harborfreight.com sells a solar battery maintainer for 9.99!

it uses cigarette lighter but you can cut the positive and negative and crimp on some alligator clips if you want to direct connect the battery.

my step father uses this solar battery maintainer on his sailboat because it has no gas engine or charging system.

 

[RavenTai]

quote:

---

Originally posted by seotaji:
don't leave the battery on the ground, put something under it like a 2x4.

and trickle charge it.

---

I stored my batteries on wood for years as the meachanic I learned from did the same, this old wives tale applies to batterties from the turn of the century not for modern batteries

quote:

---

10. WHAT ARE THE COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BATTERIES?
10.1. Storing a battery on a concrete floor will discharge them.

A hundred years ago when battery cases were made of porous materials such as tar-lined wood boxes, so storing batteries on concrete floor would accelerate their discharge. Modern battery cases are made of polypropylene or hard rubber. These cases seal better, so external leakage-causing discharge is no longer a problem, provided the top of the battery is clean. Temperature stratification within very large batteries could accelerate their internal "leakage" or self-discharge if the battery is sitting on an extremely cold floor in a warm room or is installed in a submarine.

---

http://www.optimabattery.freeserve.co.uk/batteryFAQ/dcfaq10.htm


More info than you ever wanted to know about batteries:


http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/index.htm

 

[seotaji]

old wives tales ahoy

 

[ZR2RANDO]

Yeah, the old wives would spill the battery acid on the concrete floor and it would leave a little depression in the previously flat concrete floor....hubby would come home and yell at wifey and BOOM....now it's a wives's tale

 

[Ugly3]

You can get what is called a "float charger" for maybe $15. Connect it to the batter and plug it in. Battery will stay charged as long as the charger is connected. I use them for my boat batteries all the time and never ahve a problem.