Battery

[BN]

The battery in my 29 Roadster went from working fine yesterday, parked it in the garage last night, and this morning it is totally dead (0 volts). Won't take a charge. Got it from NAPA about 3 years ago. Can anyone recommend a better replacement battery?

[Aretino]

I understand that Optima batteries are good. Im running a Rural King battery now and its 3 years old.

[J Franklin]

Put your charger on it for a couple of days, it might take a charge. You haven't given it much of a chance from this morning.

[leo]

Batteries are a total crap shoot. You can get one Brand A that lasts 3 years like yours and another of the same which goes for 5 years or longer. No rhyme or reason on this topic....

[J Franklin]

Originally Posted by leo

Batteries are a total crap shoot. You can get one Brand A that lasts 3 years like yours and another of the same which goes for 5 years or longer. No rhyme or reason on this topic....

The biggest detriment to battery life is how they are maintained and used. For any specific brand they are built all the same inside from the same parts. I normally get 7-10 years out of the ones I buy.

[BN]

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J Franklin - I've never obtained even 7 years from a battery. Would you be willing to reveal how you maintain them?

[DHZIEMAN]

Originally Posted by BN

The battery in my 29 Roadster went from working fine yesterday, parked it in the garage last night, and this morning it is totally dead (0 volts). Won't take a charge. Got it from NAPA about 3 years ago. Can anyone recommend a better replacement battery?

What is the warranty level of the battery? 2 year, 3 year, Higher?
Is it a battery that has cells that can have distilled water added to maintain liquid level? If so, what is the level of the liquid in the cells? Add water if the cells are the type that allow water add and the water is not above the plates. If not, and the battery is sealed, put it on a slow charge overnight and see if the slow charge takes. For me being in a rural area, I tend on 6 volt batteries,( by the way, I did not ask if you are dealing with 6 or 12 volts), I tend to stick to Tractor Supply for 6 volt. They still stock 6 volt batteries for vintage tractors still being used. I replaced mine when I bought my car in 2016 and it is still going strong.

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by J Franklin

The biggest detriment to battery life is how they are maintained and used. For any specific brand they are built all the same inside from the same parts. I normally get 7-10 years out of the ones I buy.

Quality control is another big factor, I believe. Lack of maintenance usually results in gradual loss of reserve. A 3 year old battery going totally dead overnight points to faulty parts or assembly. Vibration or that last bump on the way home could have shaken something loose and the engine continued to run on the generator.

[mshmodela]

Interstate... Great price and mine can start my Model A 6V DC after a month in the cold without any charger needed

[CarlG]

Batteries Plus is where I get my batteries now, Duracell brand.

Use to be Sears Die Hard, but their quality went down the toilet, and now they have closed all their stores around me, even more so.

[30 Closed Cab PU]

Tractor Supply, Farm and Fleet, Fleet Farm all have Lead/acid 6 v batteries with caps for adding distilled water.


Keeping them maintained is important - keep them filled over the plates with distilled water, keeping them fully charged. Keeps the plates from sulfating.


Some bring them into non-freezing area over the winte. Then charge them 1 per month. I now use a maintainer. The key is not to let them discharge, they have a tendency to freeze if discharged or partially discharged and left out in very cold/freezing weather.


If kept charged the Farm and Fleets have lasted me 3- 7 years, usually 5 years or more. Warranty is 1 year replacement, pro-rated replacement 1-2 years.


Ther are a lot of other er metods. Some use a timer and trickle chargers, some run a tricle cjharger off the garge door opener or garge lights, etc>

[Bill G]

Something odd about being fine one day, then totally zero volts the next. They just don't go to absolute zero. Even if it was totally drained, it should come up to something after a charge. When you charged it, did you remember to put the red charger clip to ground and the black one to the hot? (assuming you have are running stock positive ground)

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Magicbox51

Something odd about being fine one day, then totally zero volts the next. They just don't go to absolute zero. Even if it was totally drained, it should come up to something after a charge. When you charged it, did you remember to put the red charger clip to ground and the black one to the hot? (assuming you have are running stock positive ground)

I have to agree something is not right. Any water in the battery, brake light switch stuck on (more common then you think)?

[J Franklin]

I would guess a drain happened. I maintain my batteries by keeping them charged and use distilled water when adding. We have battery manufacturing plants in Oregon and Entek (battery separator plates) so maybe they are fresher here? My last battery I changed was 7 years old.My modern truck has had a mystery discharge twice, completely dead, but has taken a recharge.

[30 Closed Cab PU]

I had this happen a couple of times. I had to adjust my brake switch due to worn brake linkage occasionally not letting the brake pedal to fully return. Figured it out by checking the ammeter every time I turned the ignition switch off. Took me a month of monitoring before it happened so I could figure it out and fix it.

[marty in Ohio]

This thread got me to thinking. I've always used plain tap water in my batteries and you all are saying distilled water. Can I dump out the water in mine and put in distilled? Will I gain anything by doing this? BTW, I got eight years out of my last battery. It came from Autozone.
Marty

[wmws]

Originally Posted by marty in Ohio

This thread got me to thinking. I've always used plain tap water in my batteries and you all are saying distilled water. Can I dump out the water in mine and put in distilled? Will I gain anything by doing this? BTW, I got eight years out of my last battery. It came from Autozone.
Marty

Not all tap water is created equal. Some has more minerals in it which is bad for the battery. Years ago I used tap water but now use distilled. It is cheap enough. Do not empty out your battery as you will also be emptying out the acid. I suppose you could empty it all out and refill with the proper acid water mix but that is a dangerous messy operation.

[wmws]

Originally Posted by Magicbox51

When you charged it, did you remember to put the red charger clip to ground and the black one to the hot? (assuming you have are running stock positive ground)

Can I restate this quote just to clarify. When charging you always have the positive lead go to the positive post and the negative to negative. It doesn't matter which post is grounded.

[WHN]

Exide seems to be the leader in 6 volt Model A type batteries.

Our 1929 has had only four batteries in the forty years we have owned it. The forth one put in two years ago.

We use only distilled water. Car is stored every year from November until April with the battery left in the car. Sometimes I will put charger on battery for 10 to 15 minutes during the winter but not offen. I do remove fuse.

My experience has been as they start to get to the end of there life. There cranking power starts to fail. Finally one day they are just dead and will not take a charge.

Tractor Supply or NAPA, they both sell Exide around here. Enjoy.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

There is one thing that has been missing in the advice above, and to me this is the same as changing engine oil. You get longevity out of an engine that has the oil filtered & changed on a routine basis, ...and a battery's longevity can be much the same. Google "Battery Maintainer Desulfator" and read up on this topic. MAFCA's Tech Director Jim Cannon has 6 volt batteries that have/are approaching nearly a decade old. His secret to battery longevity is the desulfation process.

[DHZIEMAN]

Got to thinking, a bit more. A battery that discharges in a 12 hour period has had something either draining the battery or, a combination of a lot of the other stuff listed on the posts. With that said, could it be the gen regulator is stuck or something else discharging the bat? I would also suggest as part of my comment to disconnect the battery ground cable and then do the slow charge and check of liquid levels. And if you can get to the cells, with a hydrometer, check the specific gravity! 1275 + is charged and 1100 is discharged! Also if one cell is down, that is not a good thing. It normally infers something internal, if the bat will not take a charge. Let us know!

[Bill G]

On the topic of tap water... I grew up in a part of the country where our water came directly out of mountain streams and was probably the closest thing to distilled water one could get. My dad always scoffed at the need of distilled water in a battery.... So we never did. Fast forward to now. I live in a more rural setting and I am not even on city water. Mine comes from the ground. There is so much mineral content in that water that it eventually clogs shower heads and we cannot wash the car or windows with tap water. If any sprinkler water gets on our car, we are quickly running out to wipe it off. In fact I have some basement windows that we can hardly see through due to getting the over-spray from years of plant and lawn watering. I can only imagine what that would do to a battery!

These days, distilled water is pretty easy to find.

[wmws]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

There is one thing that has been missing in the advice above, and to me this is the same as changing engine oil. You get longevity out of an engine that has the oil filtered & changed on a routine basis, ...and a battery's longevity can be much the same. Google "Battery Maintainer Desulfator" and read up on this topic. MAFCA's Tech Director Jim Cannon has 6 volt batteries that have/are approaching nearly a decade old. His secret to battery longevity is the desulfation process.

This seems to be a complicated subject. I wonder if Bret or Jim might weigh in and recommend a unit.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by DHZIEMAN

Got to thinking, a bit more. A battery that discharges in a 12 hour period has had something either draining the battery or, a combination of a lot of the other stuff listed on the posts. With that said, could it be the gen regulator is stuck or something else discharging the bat? I would also suggest as part of my comment to disconnect the battery ground cable and then do the slow charge and check of liquid levels. And if you can get to the cells, with a hydrometer, check the specific gravity! 1275 + is charged and 1100 is discharged! Also if one cell is down, that is not a good thing. It normally infers something internal, if the bat will not take a charge. Let us know!

Perfect advice. I will only add that you should feel the battery once in a while as it's being slow charged for several hours. If it's getting too warm, then stop charging and turn it in for a core. It has a shorted cell most likely, and could explode. It has happened to me. Also never connect or disconnect the charger cables to the battery posts, unless the power is off, so you don't get a spark.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Mitch on another Ford forum talked about 'de-sulfacating' batteries. It made perfect sense. I bought a 12V-- .75 amp--slow charge battery tender he recommended and I use it on the 12V cars that don't get much use and it works. Works good.

They didn't have a 6V at the time I bought it, otherwise I'd get a couple of them too. The first phase of the charging cycle is to de-sulphate the battery and then it starts replenishing the charge after that.

It's out in the far garage now, don't recall the name of the unit, I bought it on Amazon and wasn't really all that expensive.

Always use distilled water nothing else in a battery and your radiator.

30 CCPU... I also get my 6V batteries from Farm King and Farm and Fleet and they last me a LONG time with battery maintainers. You can get them on sale for 39 bucks they run sales on them twice a year. Good batteries.

[30 Closed Cab PU]

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Originally Posted by Jeff/Illinois

Mitch on another Ford forum talked about 'de-sulfacating' batteries. It made perfect sense. I bought a 12V-- .75 amp--slow charge battery tender he recommended and I use it on the 12V cars that don't get much use and it works. Works good.

They didn't have a 6V at the time I bought it, otherwise I'd get a couple of them too. The first phase of the charging cycle is to de-sulphate the battery and then it starts replenishing the charge after that.

It's out in the far garage now, don't recall the name of the unit, I bought it on Amazon and wasn't really all that expensive.

Always use distilled water nothing else in a battery and your radiator.

30 CCPU... I also get my 6V batteries from Farm King and Farm and Fleet and they last me a LONG time with battery maintainers. You can get them on sale for 39 bucks they run sales on them twice a year. Good batteries.

Another thing I've done is adjusted my generator to 2 amps output. I never drive at night, the truck always starts on 1st rev,and very few short hops of 5-10 minutes. Helps keeping the battery levels up. Not as much overcharging on my typical 15 minute or longer drives.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by 30 Closed Cab PU

Another thing I've done is adjusted my generator to 2 amps output. I never drive at night, the truck always starts on 1st rev,and very few short hops of 5-10 minutes. Helps keeping the battery levels up. Not as much overcharging on my typical 15 minute or longer drives.

Pretty much the same here via the wonders of Tom Wesenberg's EVR!! Running a stock long Autolite generator, and a Doc Kalinka original ammeter, she charges at about 2 amps, even when running with the headlites on. Tom's EVR is a battery's best friend!

[Lona]

Same thing happened to me just this week. Parked my roadster in the garage, flipped the ground disconnect switch off and next morning car wouldn't crank or take a charge. Put charger on it a few days later and it took the charge showing 85% and 6 volts. Hit the starter and just got a click out of it. At that point I tested the voltage and it only showed 0.2 volts and would not take a charge. Felt it had a shorted out cell so I removed it from the car and was surprised the casing was quite hot and the top of the battery had a big bulge near one of the terminals so I got a new battery. The old one was 8 yrs old. After reading about exploding batteries recently on the Forum, I now wear a full face shield when working on batteries.........seems like they can be a lot more dangerous than I ever thought.

BTW, I had my 2004 Yukon in the shop for some work last year.....not there for a battery problem. The dealer said the battery was original and 13 yrs old. I told them to replace it even though it had no symptoms of any problem but winter was coming and I didn't want to chance it. The Yukon is parked outside year round even in the 5 to 10 degree F cold we have seen in the past few winters. Nothing ever done to maintain the battery all those years. Just goes to show battery life seems to be a crap shoot. The 6V battery in my '31 Chrysler lasted only three years.

Glen

[Ted Duke]

Batteries CAN BE DANGEROUS. Many years ago I came down an exit ramp from an Interstate just as a man shorted the battery on his car. It exploded in his face. I stopped, he was screaming, the lady with him was screaming. I grabbed his arm, pulled him over to a puddle of water and started splashing his face. He took over as someone stopped and went to call an ambulance. (Before cell phones)


He evidently was able to get most of it off as he showed no signs of burns when he took his shirt off. He could see well, but there was evidence of some damage to his nose and eyelids.


Never fool with batteries unless you have water nearby. Wash for ten minutes according to WEDMD.

[BN]

Here's an update to my original post #1. Thank you for all the excellent replies and advice! I neglected to state the type of electrical system on my car. It is 6 volt, positive ground, original generator, original cut out with the diode upgrade. I have the generator set at 2 amps at cruising speed. I checked the water in the battery and it was ok.


I had stated that the battery was completely dead at 0 volts. The only charger I have at this time is a Schumacher SC - 1200 A – CA and when I hooked it up to the battery it would not charge. It turns out that this is a safety feature for the charger. After logging on to Amazon (where I bought it) and looking through some of the reviews I discovered some interesting details on this charger. This is an inverter based microprocessor controlled charger.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ustomerReviews


First, the safety feature can be overridden by pressing the two buttons before plugging it in, but don't let it charge for over 5 minutes. Also, the charger has an automatic desufating mode during charging. Please read the reviews if you have this charger or thinking about getting one. Some of them are very informative.


Anyway, the battery is now fully charged. And – I discovered what caused it to go dead. The ignition switch was left on. The car has the original pop-out ignition switch, and I would have had to push it in to kill the engine when we got home. Maybe it popped back out on its own. I was afraid this may have burned the points (haven't looked at them yet), but the engine starts right up and runs fine.

[canadian]

My advice is don't buy nothing until you have a thorough check of your charging/electrical system , a battery that dies in hours has a drain of some sorts, corroded connections or a charging problem . buying a new battery may not solve your problem....check it out

[30 Closed Cab PU]

Originally Posted by BN

Here's an update to my original post #1. Thank you for all the excellent replies and advice! I neglected to state the type of electrical system on my car. It is 6 volt, positive ground, original generator, original cut out with the diode upgrade. I have the generator set at 2 amps at cruising speed. I checked the water in the battery and it was ok.


I had stated that the battery was completely dead at 0 volts. The only charger I have at this time is a Schumacher SC - 1200 A – CA and when I hooked it up to the battery it would not charge. It turns out that this is a safety feature for the charger. After logging on to Amazon (where I bought it) and looking through some of the reviews I discovered some interesting details on this charger. This is an inverter based microprocessor controlled charger.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ustomerReviews


First, the safety feature can be overridden by pressing the two buttons before plugging it in, but don't let it charge for over 5 minutes. Also, the charger has an automatic desufating mode during charging. Please read the reviews if you have this charger or thinking about getting one. Some of them are very informative.


Anyway, the battery is now fully charged. And – I discovered what caused it to go dead. The ignition switch was left on. The car has the original pop-out ignition switch, and I would have had to push it in to kill the engine when we got home. Maybe it popped back out on its own. I was afraid this may have burned the points (haven't looked at them yet), but the engine starts right up and runs fine.

Thanks for letting us know. Explains things if the points were closed. If points were open you still have a drain somewhere other than the key on with the points closed/coil . If points closed then your coil may have gotten stressed/heated. Hopefully all is OK but may want to carry spare coil and points, and keep an eye on the ammeter when key is tuned off.


Does your Schumacher charger also have the repair/desulfating feature when on 6v?


I ask because I was considering buying a NoCo 6/12 v 3.5 amp charger, but discovered by reading the manuals/specs the feature is not included for 6v.

[Tom Wesenberg]

You got lucky. I saw a coil cooked dead in 30 minutes when a key was left on.

[BN]

"Does your Schumacher charger also have the repair/desulfating feature when on 6v?"

I think it does, but not sure. While I was charging my battery I noticed that the battery voltage was up to 6.3 V (with charger leads disconnected), but the charger said it was only 60% done. It took another 10 hours for it to show 100% (pulsating green light). So it must have been desulfating during this time.



Also, read Stephen Throop's review on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ustomerReviews


He has done some testing of this charging using oscilloscopes, etc.

[Corley]

The best batteries out there today are AGM batteries. They are expensive, but have the best life expectancy, and the best design characteristics. However, good luck finding a 6volt one.

If I had the symptoms originally described, I would want to meter the batteries terminals themselves, and not the cables or beyond. I've experienced several times when the cables, while tight and would not move, had corrosion and no electrical connection to the battery.

Lastly, I hate these newer chargers that won't charge a totally dead battery without the override trick. They just piss me off. That is why I tend to pick up nice looking older chargers at garage sales when I see them. The newer chargers are fine for topping off, but fool you if the battery is too far down on charge.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I also don't like the newer chargers with the circuit that won't let it charge a dead battery. I buy the old good style at swap meets for cheap.