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  #1  
Old 01-30-2009, 09:55 AM
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Battery/storage question

Hi all,

Back in December the night before our first big snowstorm, I put my 300D away in the unheated barn that I rent for winter storage to keep the car out of the salt. I had every intention of returning within a few days to remove the battery, but here it is almost February and I haven’t been back. Shame on me, I know, but considering the battery is probably completely dead by now, is there any point in pulling it out? Should I just leave it and try to recharge it in the spring when it’s time to bring the car home? I don't own a trickle charger so the alternative would be storing the battery in my (also unheated) garage. I just don't want to risk any damage to the car.

Thanks,

Charlie

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  #2  
Old 01-30-2009, 10:15 AM
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You'd be better off to put a trickle auto charger or "battery tender" as one company calls it sooner instead of later.

If it gets really dead and really cold - it could freeze and crack the case.

It's worth it to go get it put it in your basement on a trickle charge to be safe. Batteries aren't cheap anymore - run of the mill batteries are $80 now - I'm sure the size these diesels take is more like twice that.
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  #3  
Old 01-30-2009, 12:26 PM
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why would the battery "be completely dead by now".

Cold weather does not drain batteries. It only reduces their available current due to slower chemical reactions.

Batteries don't freeze either, unless their chemistry is off balance... this you can test for.

If you're not using the car.. don't sweat it unless you have reason to believe the battery is in bad shape.
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Old 01-30-2009, 12:32 PM
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Batteries can loose up to 1% of their charge a day while sitting. After a month the capacity could possibly be down 30%. Once it gets low enough from sitting, it can freeze. Just my .02 cents!
Batteries certainly aren't cheap anymore, thats for sure!
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  #5  
Old 01-30-2009, 01:09 PM
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Batteries do freeze. As the battery discharges, it loses the sulfer from the sulfuric-acid to the lead (which becomes lead-slufate), and the acid becomes water. A dead battery freezes only a little below freezing.

Usually a car in a building will not get to the lows at night, the thermal mass of the vehicle and the ground beneath it change temperature more slowly (provided that the building is fairly tight).

If the battery is dead, and you can check fairly easily if you're near the car, pull the battery if there is a threat of freezing. Charging in place is always a good idea if you can even jump it from another car for a while (not optimum but better than nothing) or a jumper pack, then disconnect the battery to keep radio etc. from drawing the battery down while parked.

Usually batteries discharge much more slowly in the cold, I have batteries left in vehicles in the cold for 6months around here that start fine when re-connected in the spring. We do the same thing at the marina, leave the batteries disconnected in the boats 'till spring, the cold weather (even in "heated" storage it is only kept about 40F) helps to preserve good batteries.
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Old 01-30-2009, 01:31 PM
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there is some charge loss, due to things that dont turn off, particularly the clock in the dash or radio memory. If you remove the neg cable it will stop this. I would put it in a basement with a trickle charger, but if it is discharged too low it wont recover. Also, if you put it in the basement, put a peice of wood under it, cement seems to suck the life out of a battery faster than anything I know
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  #7  
Old 01-30-2009, 01:53 PM
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Yes, I would definitely pull the battery!

Be extra careful to not hit any of the plastics under the bonnet (especially the heater valve on the firewall) because those parts will shatter eaasily now that they are so cold...not a good experience.

It is a good time to inspect the battery tray and firewall for rust so you can plan for a repair if needed. (Take some digital photos for later reference, in the warm.)

Place the battery inside on blocks of wood. (Not directly contacting concrete). Unheated garage is okay if the battery isn't frozen...I'd let it thaw inside a heated area, temporarily in a rubbermaid storage box, etc.

Clean & protect the posts.

Once it is warmed to room temp add electrolyte or distilled water if needed, do not overfill.

Charge it slowly...a ATV trickle charger can be had for +/- 20 bucks...many times you can borrow one from someone.

Still, I'd do it just to make sure I can really spin the starter when it is time to bring the car back into use.

Motor on!
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Last edited by Bama1; 01-30-2009 at 02:08 PM.
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  #8  
Old 01-31-2009, 03:20 PM
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Thanks!

Thanks for all the recommendations. I removed the battery this morning and will hook it up to my new trickle charger as soon as it arrives.

By the way--is it necessary to remove the air cleaner to get the battery out, or do I just not have enough finesse?

Charlie
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  #9  
Old 01-31-2009, 03:28 PM
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Not enough finesse. You can get the battery out without removing the air cleaner, but you have to turn/move it in some odd ways.
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  #10  
Old 01-31-2009, 03:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skippy View Post
Not enough finesse. You can get the battery out without removing the air cleaner, but you have to turn/move it in some odd ways.
On the W126 the battery compartment is like a small airplane hanger, you can actually climb in, remove the battery, and hand it to an assistant!
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Old 01-31-2009, 03:59 PM
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My dad has let cars sit for months in the cold with the battery still in the car, and they fired up fine when asked.

The battery he has in his car sat on a shelf in the garage for about 8 months before he put it in the car, and it was only down to about 12.1 Volts....trickle charged it for a few hours and it was back up to 12.6....and has been fine since.
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  #12  
Old 01-31-2009, 04:46 PM
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A complete discharge is hard on a battery, but not necessarily a death sentance.

Charge it slowly with a good clean micro-controlled charger. I pulse them with high-voltage and back to regular charging voltage to help them recover, then when no longer drawing significant current at 13.4v I charge at 14.3, and pulse at 15.1. You want to charge slowly as long as possible to avoid losing plate material, then when it doesn't seem to be drawing any more, you want to boil the remaining lead-sulfate from the plate surfaces.
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  #13  
Old 01-31-2009, 07:02 PM
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This was a very helpful thread to read. I just replaced my battery because the cells were giving different readings with the specific gravity tester of more than 50 points. It is also of unknown age (the PO installed it). It would not turn over my engine one day when the temperature sank into the single digits.

1) After taking it out, I can see that I made that mistake of putting it on my cement garage floor instead of some wood. I would love to know the reason for the cement being hard on the battery if anyone can explain it.

2) I put the battery on my charger which has an output of 1.5 amps. I left it on for a few days, but one morning I discovered that it had boiled over, as there was battery acid on the floor around the battery. It may be that I had added too much distilled water. I just took a reading and it did charge some. But one cell reads in the low discharge range with a reading of about 1135 and most of the other cells are closer to the neutral range with a reading of around 1200. I hooked up the charger again and will take a look in a few hours. This time I left the caps off and some rags underneath. And I put it up on some 2x4s.

This experience would make me very leary of charging a battery while it is in the car. I am sure battery acid boiling over while the battery is in the car would be devastating to the battery tray and any metal below.

I found that I had to take off the air cleaner to get the battery out. I do not know if it was designed to come out with the air cleaner in, but I was concerned that I would have to tip the battery too much and did not want to spill any acid.

The other interesting thing I found was that after I threw a few red shop rags on the battery acid to soak it up, they turned royal blue. I don't know the chemisty of this but I guess it works like litmus paper.

Thanks for all of this helpful info. If I can get this battery charged up into the charged zone, I may keep it around.
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  #14  
Old 01-31-2009, 08:10 PM
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The problem with most chargers is that the voltage is not controlled for proper charging.

Once the charging current decreases, the voltage increases and creates localized boiling on the plates. A high-current charge of the correct voltage will prevent this, a (good) alternator can be a decent source of this.

With what you have, try putting the charger on a timer and have it charge a couple of hours/day. It might eventually recover without boiling. Having the caps off is helpful.

I suspect that the cement-floor problem with batteries is the temperature difference between the bottom of the battery and the rest of the battery, never really looked into it.
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  #15  
Old 02-02-2009, 11:10 AM
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battery charger

I ordered a microprocessor-controled Battery Tender from Deltran with the idea of leaving the battery hooked up in the basement until springtime. (Hope this will avoid the problems babymog describes.)

I'm looking forward to someone posting a how-to video on removing the battery without taking the air cleaner off!

Charlie

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