How do you store your car, when not driving. Do you unhook the battery. I have gone through battery,s because of leaving them unhooked or hooked up. I take the POS. cable off.But I leave the NEG hooked up. Whats the answer in storing.
Thanks __________________________

Remove the battery from the car entirely and store it in a cool dry place. Set it on a couple of 2X4's. Do NOT set the battery directly on a concrete garage floor. Finally go to your local auto store and get some of that battery goop that you put on your side post battery cables that prevent that acid crud from forming . If you have a top post battery then get the red/green felt pads and just set them on the posts. In either case the normal buildup of that acidic crud will be prevented.

Also,very important to charge the battery at least 1x monthly when not in use or for that matter as a general rule to avoid sulfation of the plates from non activity/charging for extended periods of time. Sulfation is the #1 killer of classic car batteries due to lack of use/charging over expended periods of time.

Best case would be to buy an inexspensive $30-$40 battery charger/maintainer (at least 2 amps for car battery) that will fully charge the battery and then switches over to a lower float miliamp charge rate after the battery is fully charged.

But the charger will switch back to the std full charge 2amp rate anytime the battery voltage drops to a certain point and then goes back to lower float charge rate after its fully charged again.

The battery charger mfg's claim these new float chargers wont boil out the electrolite over time but it can from what i have experienced . So with that said check your acid levels 1x monthly and if it drops below the plates in the add enough DISTILLED WATER/NOT TAP WATER WITH MINERALS OR ACID to the cell/s untill the acid level is approx 1/4 inch above plates. If you go the float charger route make sure to fully charge with a std higher amp 10-12amp battery charger before putting the float charger on it.

I did this with my Chevelle and my 1st die hard lasted 12 yrs,and the 2nd one lasted 13yrs so i know my method works for getting the most out of car batteries. I have a 10:1 comp BBC and both batteries still started the motor ok hot when i replaced the 1st one 12 yrs ago & then the 2nd one 13 yrs ago. But the motor did not spin over as fast as it used when hot and i did not trust them any more and did not want to get stuck at some cruise somewhere which i why i replaced them even though they still worked.

I have owned the same 69 chevelle for over 28yrs now and bought a Delco repro battery this 3rd time arround and hope it lasts as long as those die hards did but i wont bet on it because it cost 2x what the die hards did and you know how that goes.

Scott

Scott

Scott, Great valuable info. Been doing cars for 20yrs. Taking the battery out was often and putting it in my basement on wood. Then after 15yrs ,I could afford to put heat in my garage. But never disconnected the neg. cable. Or charge the battery every month.

I will print your info and post it on the wall in my shop. Thank you
Errol

Errol,i never disconnected my battery terminal in the 28+yrs i owned the car and any of the 3 batteries i have had in the car durring all that time never went dead either but i did charge them occassionally when not in use which is very important.

But i guess it's not a bad idea to disconnect a battery cable when the car is not in use esp for winter storrage.

Another thing is dont buy a cheap or middle of the road quality/level battery, get a high qulity top of the line battery like an Interstate Megatron etc with high CCA like 800 or above for any mild to fairly hot SBC or BBC. and also make sure you get a battery that you can remove the vent tops from so you can monitor the electrolite level and add distilled water as required.

The newer higher tech tech batteries of today require less addition of water but the Repro delco i bought in 2002 goes through some water every summer just like the older original batteries used too so i have to keep an eye on that for sure.

Scott