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Battery time


Don Coatney

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Yesterday I drove my P-15 (12 volt conversion) about 200 miles to a car show in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. Car ran great and started with no problem all day. This morning I drove it about 6 miles and parked it for an hour. After this hour of sitting it barely cranked enough to start but I did make it home. Check voltage with it running and I was showing 14.6 volts so I know my alternator is working well. Shut it off and it was reading 12.4 volts (no load but the Fluke meter) so it was fully charged. Let it set for an hour and there was barely enough juice to spin the engine. Voltage reading now showing 10.2volts. So I was off to buy a replacement. Eighty bucks later and once again all is well. This is the third battery I have put in the car in 9 years so I cant complain.

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I've had a few batteries do that. Out of the blue one cell dies. It'll show a full charge just after shut down, but as soon as it's loaded that one cell goes away. The ones it's happened to for me had lived a long enough service life to where a replacement was probably due anyway.

Glad to hear it wasn't anything serious.

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Lead sluffing off the plates will fall to the bottom of the cell eventually buildig up to come in contact with the plates, basically shorting the cell out. Sometimes just removing the battery and dropping it from an inch or two high onto a flat surface will break the bridge and allow the cell to recover. You might get a week to 6 months out of a battery that has done this, but it usualy enough to get restarted and home.

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Sometimes just removing the battery and dropping it from an inch or two high onto a flat surface will break the bridge and allow the cell to recover usualy enough to get restarted and home.

You are very correct Greg. Actually I thumped the battery a couple of times on top of both posts with a hammer to get it started today to get home. But much like Norms Coupe I dont like to take the extended risk when I know the battery has outlived its healthy life cycle. One thing I noticed yesterday was the amp gauge was slightly above its normal charging rate when the starting recovery cycle was completed. Today after installing the new battery the indicated charging rate has returned to normal.

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Suggestion, we have an Exide and an Interstate battery warehouse in town. They will may times carry factory seconds or blemished batteries. They may be scratch and dent cases, scratches on the posts, or something as simple as the lable/s on crocker or upside down. When I need a new battery, I always ask if they have a suitable second.

Usually these are less than half the price of the #1. I have used them for about 15 years in most of my vehicles icluding lawn tractor $8.00, and motor cycle $12.00, Ihave gotten 3 to 5 years out of all but one, and that one was replaced at no charge 2 months after I bought it. I recently put one in my daughters car after the rebuilt alt crapped out. It was $28.00 bucks for a 700 cca rated battery.

I would recommend checking out your area for similar suppliers.

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