Hi all, I bought a Optima Yellow Top battery to use in my '71 that just sits. Figured it's better to use a non corrosion style since repairing the core support. Anyhow, I get up this morning to a note from my kid, says he heard crackling noises from under the hood of the Buick,and saw some smoke... Kid was smart to unplug the trickle charger ...... Scenario: Optima Yellow Top battery, purchased 2ish years ago. Optima trickle charger attached. Took a bit to get the wifey's boxes off the hood today(!), and the battery tested at 13.38 volts... WTF? Car started fine as usual, good to hear some Buick motor! So obviously it was over charged by the trickle charger? I bought the same brand charger thinking I'd avoid strangeness like this?! Any ideas?
Thanks for the reply Korrie! This is the one I am using: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ult-150-40000 Figured it would match the Optima Battery!
I think it would be ok to hook it back up, but I would keep an eye on it just in case. Make sure you have good connections from the charger to the battery. When charging you don't want to see it go over 15 volts. That would be with the charger or the car alternator running.
I never have and never will leave a battery charger on a car when I'm not around. My Grandfather was an electrician and back in the early 80's he told me not to leave appliances or anything else that wasn't being used plugged in to prevent the possibility of starting a fire. This was before we started importing these high quality Chinese products. When I park my cars for a long enough time that the battery may go dead, mostly over winter, I disconnect the battery. During the winter, I will charge them every couple of months for 8-10 hours on a trickle charge while I'm in the garage.
Agreed. To the OP- if you are driving the car so rarely that its a shelf, you would be much safer pulling the battery all together. You greatly decrease the chances of a fire that way. It only takes one mouse to chew the right wire and it's BBQ time.. i always pull a terminal if the car is sitting in the garage. Not like i'm losing the radio presets!
Good advice! I'll pull a cable off and let it be.... And yes it's a shelf! LOL! I'm currently building the wifey a 12 X 20 she shed soley for her storage, She has decorations for every holiday known to mankind and then some...
I remove the battery from my GS in the winter and connect it to a "Battery Tender". My 2015 Colorado only gets driven in the winter about once per month. I keep "Battery Tender" attached to it with the battery in the truck. The computers in the truck do suck the juice in a short time.
I hooked up my Harbor Freight "Smart" charger on an old battery that was getting weak and set it on repair mode. Was going to disconnect it before closing shop but forgot. Next morning open shop and immediately smell acid....battery was completely boiled out onto floor. Could have been worse......
Damn! Lucky for sure! I figured buying the Optima Brand was a better bet than Harbor Freight stuff.... I've left the trickle charger off as suggested and I'll monitor the battery voltage, plug in as needed when I'm around...
Get a Battery Minder, it has a setting specific for AGM style batteries (which is what an optima is). I leave batteries on mine full time. have saved many a battery with it. The battery in my Turbo Trans Am is 14 years old.
I have a wingnut style connector on the positive terminal and I disconnect the positive cable after driving the car. Wingnut goes on the keychain. Jim
No, totally different company. These run rings around a Battery Tender. They send a frequency to the battery that does a much better job of desulfating a battery. I've brought dead batteries that have been sitting on concrete for years back to life.
