Drained the battery by mistake- cold weather

[HK_Ace]

Well, good thing I did not pick up a charger yet. If there are any recommendations, I am all ears. I will start carrying the jumper cables and charger when we go skiing or on trips.

 

[HK_Ace]

Oh, the Schumacher Speedcharge is the only one I am aware of, besides the smaller auto store ones.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
A 2 amp charger is better than nothing if you also know how to read an Ammeter but I'm happy to have my 15 amp pro Logix charger if I ever need to actually charge a dead battery in a reasonable amount of time.

Also I'm not a big fan of 2 amp charging very low batteries, since lead acid can accept quite a lot of amps early on. 2 amps is good for 80%+ charging to full


I'm not sure what you mean by that. A 2 amp charger will charge up a battery up to full charge just as well as a 15 amp charger. Actually a 2 amp charger might be better than the 15 as they don't normally recommend charging a battery at more than 10 amps, the higher current can cause it to heat up which is why you normally want a smart charger. You can get a cheap 2 amp smart charger for around $20-$25, less if on sale. Usually 10+ amp is way more.

I think most batteries in that size is about 50-60 amp hours so a 2 amp charger could take 25-30 hours to charge up if it were completely dead which it probably wasn't, but probably still 10+ hours to charge. A 10 amp charger would just take 3-6 hours. The other possibility would be to take the battery to an auto parts store and just have them put it on their charger. They usually have a rapid one and it takes them a couple hours to charge up. They usually don't charge to charge up a battery.

 

[Oro_O]

Glad you are sorted. If you got an Interstate Battery, you are good for a while.

Interstate batteries are made by Johnson Controls and are among their best product. I have used them since 1998 and not got less than 10 years out of one yet, including hard use in northern Vermont during part of that time.

Some tricks to get that life out of them are to clean the tops often and check the tie-down strap for oxidation. It may sound crazy, but when you clean the car, wipe off the battery and even spray it with furniture wax and wipe off. This will kill electrolytic trails to ground that can short the battery.

If you leave it sitting more than a week or two, put a trickle on it or pull a lead. constant drain from systems (parasitic) will kill an infrequently used battery, too.

Hit the slopes. I got a new pair of Lange's last month to get myself skiing more this coming season and let my horse rest some this winter. I have not been to Breckenridge since the early/mid 90s but have some good memories. Enjoy!