new battery from store is somewhat discharged?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
29,553
Location
Near the beach in Delaware
I picked up a group 27 MAXX from Walmart last night and thought I would top it off before installing today. The Schumacher charger said it was at 68% as it was charging. The date sticker was 11/13. (JCI by the way).

I know batteries self discharge, but its not even a month old sitting in the store.
 
The new battery I purchased at AA for my Toyota came the same way...it took a couple of hours for the trickle charger to turn green...
 
I thought WM had a procedure in place to top them off and keep them rotated properly.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I thought WM had a procedure in place to top them off and keep them rotated properly.


Mine had a red insulator on the + post that I had to pull a tab to remove it. So I do not see how they could have charged it.

Typically because of the weight and acid, batteries are handled by a special truck that just does batteries. Supplies new ones and removed expired ones to be re-purposed.
 
I've never put my Shumacher mainter/charge on a battery and have it be already 100% charged by their standards. It always does its "thing" for awhile before it decides its 100% good to go. So, that doesn't surprise me. I highly doubt there is a problem with your battery.
 
Well the Schumacher charger saying its 100% is not the same as it having the 810 CCAs the label says it should have.

The battery is only going to age with time, so if it starts with 764??

Yes, I know its not a Midtronics tester.
 
I had a Schumacher charger I purchased from Sams Club. It was always inaccurate and died after a year. Bought a Sears Diehard charger, which has performed great. I would not rely on the Schumacher. But, that is just an opinion. Perhaps mine was defective.

Good luck Sir

Pajero
 
Personally I'd baby the brand new batter prior to putting it in the car.

I'd trickle charge it low and slow in a warm area to bring it up to 100%.

If you doubt your charger, you should set it to 2 amps (safest rate) and verify it with a Multimeter.

There are a lot of cheap chargers out there, best to verify yours.

There is no point in beating up a new battery on it's first crank when the battery is almost flat.

Every 0.1 Volt below 12.6 Volts represents a loss of 25% of the batteries charge.

So, if you have a battery that is brand new and below 12 Volts, charge it up over night.
 
The Midtronics tester will show significantly more than rated CCA on a new battery. This was a great parlor trick when I used to install them at a tire shop... "OMG you got a ringer!!!"

I'd go somewhere that does free testing and have them midtronics it while you still have 30 days to return it. I'd get another from another store.
 
is that because the battery was warmer than 32F so it would be between the CA/CCA Ratings?
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
is that because the battery was warmer than 32F so it would be between the CA/CCA Ratings?


So what about temp compensation when the battery is cold? It was in garage last night, but it got cold out (into the teens), so garage might have been 30-40.
 
The midtronics tester has an infared heat gizmo that is supposed to point at the battery.

I assume there's something in the chemistry and plate decay (or lack thereof) that fools the midtronics into rating a brand new battery higher. Read a warning about it somewhere, can't find it now...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top