[Dcairns560]

A little over two years ago I bought an Optima battery for my 70. The car has been in the "building stage" since then. Today I got my car ready to start for the first time in awhile. I had my charger on the battery for two days cause I figured it would need alittle bit of a charge. Anways, the battery is completely dead. I figure that if there was a charger on it for two days and there is less than one volt (I had it tested), the battery must be history. Anybody know what kind of warranty they have? Also, is it possible to overcharge a battery? A couple monthes ago I left the charger on it for about two weeks! Oops!!

Thanks in advance

[This message has been edited by Dcairns560 (edited 07-15-2000).]

 

[67drake]

Yes,you can over charge a battery,but it depends on how many amps,and the design of the charger.If you had a trickle charger on it for 2 days I don't think this would hurt.The more expensive chargers shut down automaticly as the battery charges.If you had a charger on it in the Jumpstart mode for example,you would have cooked it.
A battery left in a discharged state for a long period of time will be junk.If it was charged up every once in a while,it should last much longer.

 

[Dcairns560]

The charger is a Schumacker brand. The time I think I overcharged it, I had it set at 10 amps for about a week and a half to two weeks.

 

[pmullaly]

I'd say your battery is cold burnt toast

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Philip Mullaly
72 TPI El Camino
"you did torque the caps right?"

 

[SS540]

The local parts house guy that sells Optimas said that if one is fully discharged, the only way to recharge it is by trickle method. Says full charge won't work. You might give it a try. Hope yours isn't ruined.

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It’s a BIGger BLOCK!

 

[working on it]

I checked the Optima website for charging info, and found that the maximum charging time at 10 amps is 8 hours.1 1/2 to 2 weeks at 10 amps certainly fried it.
P.S.>> I am going to run 2 Optima deep-cycles for street-strip use, since my current draw is way too much for my 94 amp alternator to keep up with.Any suggestions on how to wire it( one in the stock tray and one in the trunk)?

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66 malibu,69 c-10,etc.

 

[TurboJet396]

Overcharging a battery is a fast way to kill it, might be what happened. Optimas are supposed to be able to sit for a long time (can't remember how long) without self-discharging. Two years might have been too long, but since you charged it, it probably wasn't that, more likely the overcharge. There are several places that sell small battery "maintainers" for under $50 that automatically shut off when the battery reaches full charge, and turn back on if it self discharges (which regular wet-cell batteries love to do). You might want to check on the warranty, just in case. Just don't tell them you overcharged it. Overcharging and sitting discharged for any length of the are the #1 killers of lead-acid batteries.

 

[Dcairns560]

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess I will just have to hope for the best with the warranty.