> > I looked at the negative ground to the engine and it doesn't look
> > corroded. I have heard that casuing problems. Maybe I will get in
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> a clean bill of health
> to a crappy battery.
The battery is less than a year old. The place I bought it tested it
and said it was good. I am wondering if it could test good, but not
hold the charge over a period of time (obviously, they are just testing
it for 15 minutes).
I am wondering if this is my scenario:
Battery drain is draining the battery. I frequently take very short
trips (3-5 miles). When I don't use the car for several days, battery
drains=dead battery and causes car not to start. I jump, run 15
minutes and take my short trip. Since battery doesn't fully charge on
these short trips, 2 days later battery drain zaps what little charge
is in battery. Since the problem seems intermittant, I think it could
be directly related to how long I am running the car. On short trips,
the battery isn't fully charging.
Bill Darden - 13 Nov 2006 17:21 GMT
>> > I looked at the negative ground to the engine and it doesn't look
>> > corroded. I have heard that casuing problems. Maybe I will get in
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
>be directly related to how long I am running the car. On short trips,
>the battery isn't fully charging.
Bingo, you have found the problem. The undercharging of your battery
from the short trips and inactivity causes a slow buildup of lead
sulfate which is robbing your battery of capacity that will not
necessarily show up on a conductive battery tester. Please see
Section 16 in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org
on how to identify sulfation problems and how to cure some of them.
The best way to prevent sulfation is to keep the battery fully
charged. If this is not practical, then periodically recharge your
battery with an external battery charger matched to your battery type.
Section 9 has information of charging and chargers and Section 7.1 has
information of battery types.
Kindest regards,
BiLL.....