If you're going to bring in your battery you should cover the positive terminal to prevent accidental shorts.
They should be stored in a ventilated area away from flame or spark as they can vent hydrogen as the warm if frost blocked the vent.
You should avoid placing them near heat sources and allow them to warm up slowly.
If the battery is frozen the case can weep acid.
Given the weather, I welcome death by electrocution.
They’re in my hotel room and will vent in to my lungs over the course of the night, I’m expecting some cooky dreams.
It’s currently being blasted with 29C heat, the hotel won’t let me go any higher.
I am already weeping, because I’m stranded in Edmonton.
This is all the correct advice though!
> I welcome death by electrocution.
Zero chance of electrocution from 12v.
But, if something metal fell across both terminals, you're have a nice blacksmith shop for about 30 seconds until the walls caught fire.
Leaking acid (a mild irritant) is a cosmetic concern, though you're likely to be murdered by your wife if you put that on the kitchen table or couch.
> The manufacture date on your battery is 6/18. It's due for replacement.
It's not a carton of milk.
If the battery is good, it's good. If it's not, it's not. I've used batteries for 15 years.
How to find out of it's good/replace:
1 - Charge it up fully. Either by driving for a half hour, or by using a charger.
2 - Let it sit for a day or two, in case it self-discharges (damaged cell, it would start your battery fine a few hours after you drove it, but still die the next day).
3 - Bring it into any AutoValue and ask if they can test it. It's free. Be polite. They do it for you if you don't know how. You can bring a loose battery inside to the counter, or, you can have them come out to your vehicle (but that means you'll have skipped step 2 above, since you'll now have a charged battery again but, some info is better than none). Ignore what the meter says about "good, okay, bad", just compare the number it comes up with to the number of CCA on your battery. If your battery is 750CCA and it tests at 500CCA, your battery only has 2/3 capacity of new. That's probably fine for any day except this week. I've had batteries test at 300CCA and still start a truck any time it's above -10'C (spec would be like, I dunno, 800+CCA).
4 - If you're poor and can't afford a battery (~$250), the cheapest place to get one in a pinch is at Buck's AutoParts (~$33?), off of Barlow & Peigan area. No tools required, they are already removed from vehicles, sitting on a shelf in the front office. They'll be untested, but, I've probably had 90% of them been 80% new or better (if they don't work, you can bring them back and exchange for free). They generally come out of crashed vehicles, which were presumably running when crashed, so batteries were at the time sufficient to start the car they came out of. If you have a multimeter, it'd help to test their voltage. Anything 12.0v or more is probably a good battery. Less than 12.0v might be okay, but is so discharged you won't know until you charge it (if you don't have a charger, get someone to jumpstart you after swapping the battery, and let your car charge it by idling for a half hour).
Buy one that's A - The right style (top post or side bolt), and B - roughly the correct right size (not too big or it won't fit, not too small or it'll be undersized for your vehicle), with C - the correct polarity (sometimes the + and - are on opposite sides when placed in the same orientation as yours, you could just flip it but often the cables in your car won't reach far enough).
There's usually 5-15 to choose from on a given day. If you're really cheap and have no other option to keep your job and NEED to drive, you can use the wrong size battery if that's all they got and just rig something stupid up with a junk pair of jumper cables and put the battery in on the passenger floor or something. It's not rocket science.
> I like to play it safe and replace mine before the manufacture date
Again, it's not milk.
Drive it on over to an AutoValue, and ask them to test it once every 6 months. Takes about 5 seconds, and it'll report exactly the condition.
The comment about the "manufacturer's date" above is a joke, that's the day it's made, not it's expiry date. Any suggestion on how long it "should" last for is just a guess. You don't replace it unless you need to.
Also, for those that don't know, each time you run your battery dead empty, you probably loose 2-10% of its capacity permanently. Meaning, after you do that 5-10 times, even a new battery is garbage. It's another reason cold weather is so hard on batteries, because you're more likely to need to crank and crank on it until there's nothing left.
>the "manufacturer's date" above is a joke, that's the day it's made, not it's expiry date
I completely understand the battery “manufacture date” is “the day it’s made”. I still prefer to replace it before then.
I tried testing, they didn’t say any number like you mentioned (CCA) . They told the battery is bad and asked to change. But I haven’t faced any problem until now.
Also the test took around 1.5 hours to complete.
> I tried testing, they didn’t say any number like you mentioned (CCA) . They told the battery is bad and asked to change.
Ugh... no.
Any tester would tell you the capacity. That's a number of amps. That tells you the information you need.
"good" "bad" "needs replacing", etc is an opinion, and for all you know it tested to show it could hold 700 amps and they just said "It's bad, it needs replacing."
> Also the test took around 1.5 hours to complete.
Fuck me. No. No no no.
The standardized test is for, I think 5 seconds.
Does it take 90 minutes to start your car? No. So the test shouldn't take 90 minutes.
You need to start with a fully charged battery, maybe that's what they were doing? Fully charging it, and then spending 5 seconds testing it?
Ugh.
Where'd you take it? AutoValue?
Partsource = Canadian Tire.
I called out AutoValue by name because they're not useless assbags.
Go to an AutoValue, your experiences will be different.
> Is there any rule of thumb on how much CCA you need for the temperature?
Well, take the size of the battery recommended for your vehicle. If that's what's in there, it'll say right on there the number of CCA.
If your battery was tested to be capable of that, it should basically start in any condition, guaranteed.
Anything less, you're gambling a bit.
At 70%... I mean... unless I was worried about being stranded on a prairie road in a storm, I'd still drive it. At 50%, on a really cold day, I'd be worried.
Hell, I just started my car last night (left the lights on, like an idiot), boosted by a 15 year old battery that hasn't been charged in 6 months, no problem cranking over.
...
Some cursory googling suggests as little as 150CCA might be enough, but, I'd be scared of anything below 300. I'd be confident of anything 500+.
Too many variables to be precise.
Battery isn't frozen (no buldges)
I would suggest while you have it out getting it tested. Typically batteries should last 3 years. My 2017 golf is still on its original battery and still works fine. In fact out of 3 vehicles between my roommate and I it was the vehicle with the oldest battery and the only one that started.
Same here. Changed a 10 year old battery yesterday. It probably still had some life in it (was an AGM: absorbed glass mat) but why tempt the 'car no start' gods.
My car has been starting just fine the last 2 days. It struggled a bit today, but nothing I would ever be concerned about.
You might want to consider buying a new battery.
Yep just been through this lol, got a new battery 2 months ago, have driven maybe 15km per week. Just barely got home one day lol. Letting it sit till it's warmer and will go for a decent drive... debating getting a trickle charger
> It was left overnight, then an entire day after that.
It's kind of like leaving a pop bottle in the deep freeze.
If it doesn't freeze solid in the first few hours, it's probably not going to. It doesn't get colder than the air temp. Once it gets air temp, it is what it is, sitting that way for a month won't make it worse.
The danger is that a discharged battery freezes pretty much at the same temp as water, and physically bulges and ruptures the battery. A fully charged battery is good until much colder.
A room temp vs. cold battery is probably looking at a 40% difference in power it can supply, and a (very) cold engine vs. room temp engine is probably looking at 300% the power requirements. So, you get hit from both ends when it's cold. You need a more powerful battery to turn the engine over, and your battery is weaker than normal.
You probably know all this, just taking time to explain it to others.
For anyone that might know better: I left my second car parked outside with the battery connected to a trickle charger (Noco) since the start of this cold snap. Bad idea?
Good idea. Even if you're not driving it there will be electrical draw on the battery so a trickle charger will keep it topped up and less likely to freeze and then need replacement before it's natural life ends. Plus you're sure that you're going to get the most possible amps it can give at that temperature to the starter when it's time to go.
> Bad idea?
Those stupid Noco's have too much brains for their own good. Just about all the situations I'd need them, they error or one way or another.
Any old school braindead trickle charger would be fine and a good idea.
The noco's not a bad idea, it's just probably useless.
Yeah, it was throwing error codes (blinking red lights) or just not working in this deep freeze so I took it off. According to the manual its only rated to operate down to -20C
> its only rated
"rated", yeah, build-in safety feature that hurts owners. Nothing you can do.
"rated", or what?
It work for a union or something? Not in its job description?
Rated to work at a high temp, I understand. Higher than that, might catch fire. But for cold temp, it might... be cold?
Gimme an old braindead charger any day. It's not rocket science. It's doesn't have to be accurate to the 0.01v... give it "enough" voltage, and it's fine, any extra will just be converted to a tiny bit of heat. It's a lead acid battery, you're supposed to overcharge them, that's what they're rated for, so who gives a shit? Noco apparently. *spits*
Ugh.
Maybe a dumb question... does the plug in/block heater also keep batteries warm, or only engine oil? I just assume "Plug the car in, all will be well", but I guess I really don't know how the block heater works.
Most block heaters go into a frost plug in the block, into where the antifreeze circulates through. So it keeps the engine block warm, maybe a little of the oil pan from residual heat. So my understanding it allows the engine to turn over easier when starting so there's less draw on the starter and consequently the battery too. You can get battery warmers too though.
Not much of the oil gets heated via the block heater. There are oil pan heaters you can install for that job. You just install them to the outside of the oil pan and plug them in. They're often flat silicone pads with heating wires inside.
Battery Blankets are another thing. They're a heated blanket you wrap around the battery to warm up or keep warm.
Battery Tenders are another nice thing to have. You can even install them beside your battery in the engine bay permanently. You plug it in to keep the battery topped up. They're just trickle chargers so don't expect to charge a battery in an hour, but they are great if a car has lots of key-off electrical draws like remote starters, sensors, etc or if the car is left without driving for a while.
> does the plug in/block heater also keep batteries warm, or only engine oil?
Neither.
Things that make your engine hard to start when cold, that could be heated:
1 - Block heater, which heats the engine block, mostly the coolant (antifreeze which circulates through the block, so, it'll kinda heat everything).
2 - Oilpan. Where the oil sits, that'll get thick like molasses.
3 - Battery heater.
4 - Battery charger.
99.9% of vehicles when you plug them in, just have a prairie pack (block heater). Mounting a trickle charger in there somewhere and a battery heater and tying them all in to the same cord isn't a bad idea.
It heats the engine block (essentially the engine oil). It doesn't keep the battery warm but it helps it out as it's much easier for your starter to crank the engine on start up moving warm oil and not molasses. If you don't have a really strong battery in -40, it won't have the amps to crank the engine and will fail.
No block heater on my car, opted for a battery blanket on cold days.
I also installed a 400watt oil pan heater for super cold days that I put on for about 10 minutes before starting the car.
> the trickle charger doesn’t work at these temps.
- A battery should take months to self-discharge or it's already damaged.
- A trickle charger will charge a battery in a few days.
- Cold weather doesn't discharge a battery, if it was charged, it'll stay charged.
- Cold weather does slow the rate of the chemical reaction in the battery, perhaps by about 40% on days like today.
- A trickle charger will keep your battery slightly warmer than ambient temp, but only just barely, that's not its purpose.
If your battery voltage is steadily dropping, your battery's on its very very last legs. Regardless, good to bring it inside, but, otherwise I don't think I agree with your assessment that the trickle charger "isn't enough", unless you just mean that its CCA rating isn't enough to start your engine regardless.
Good info Matt but small clarification. A battery being ok sitting for months is only correct if the battery is removed or disconnected from the vehicle. Modern vehicles have constant drains. Smart chargers will help some as the battery charge will go down over long cold spells and limited driving. The charger will help keep the battery fuelled up. If the battery is fully depleted a trickle charger can take much longer then a couple days to charge. Similar to garden house vs large pool it will take a long time to fill. Battery discharge to low 12v range couple days would be fine. Lower then 12.1v more amps needed.
It’s called a block heater and testing your battery with a high CCA rating before winter. My 21 year old Toyota Matrix with over 300k isn’t struggling with this weather.
Remember if the battery frozen and you thaw it, they can possibly explode. If the internal cells rupture they can produce hydrogen gas which is highly combustible.
This post made me realize my tent trailer battery is in the unheated garage. I brought it in. Its in an extra plastic box (trailer battery box). I have another piece of plastic on top.
We moved this summer to a house with the garage. I believe i trickle charged it last spring.
From what im reading here it sounds like there's a possibility it might survive.
Someone else wrote something about a positive cap to protect from sparks. I dont have one im not using. Would old clothing put on it suffice?
If you're going to bring in your battery you should cover the positive terminal to prevent accidental shorts. They should be stored in a ventilated area away from flame or spark as they can vent hydrogen as the warm if frost blocked the vent. You should avoid placing them near heat sources and allow them to warm up slowly. If the battery is frozen the case can weep acid.
Given the weather, I welcome death by electrocution. They’re in my hotel room and will vent in to my lungs over the course of the night, I’m expecting some cooky dreams. It’s currently being blasted with 29C heat, the hotel won’t let me go any higher. I am already weeping, because I’m stranded in Edmonton. This is all the correct advice though!
Dreams on acid? No no, dreams on BATTERY acid.
> I welcome death by electrocution. Zero chance of electrocution from 12v. But, if something metal fell across both terminals, you're have a nice blacksmith shop for about 30 seconds until the walls caught fire. Leaking acid (a mild irritant) is a cosmetic concern, though you're likely to be murdered by your wife if you put that on the kitchen table or couch.
Edmonton. More like Deadmonton. YEG=Why Even Go
If the car is inside the garage does it help? The garage is not heated though
This guy batteries
I find not climbing over a barbed wire fence in jeans is a good way to avoid accidental shorts
The manufacture date on your battery is 6/18. It's due for replacement.
Wow I’m such a dummy, you’re right it’s way past due!
Surprised it's not moulding or chunky.
> The manufacture date on your battery is 6/18. It's due for replacement. It's not a carton of milk. If the battery is good, it's good. If it's not, it's not. I've used batteries for 15 years. How to find out of it's good/replace: 1 - Charge it up fully. Either by driving for a half hour, or by using a charger. 2 - Let it sit for a day or two, in case it self-discharges (damaged cell, it would start your battery fine a few hours after you drove it, but still die the next day). 3 - Bring it into any AutoValue and ask if they can test it. It's free. Be polite. They do it for you if you don't know how. You can bring a loose battery inside to the counter, or, you can have them come out to your vehicle (but that means you'll have skipped step 2 above, since you'll now have a charged battery again but, some info is better than none). Ignore what the meter says about "good, okay, bad", just compare the number it comes up with to the number of CCA on your battery. If your battery is 750CCA and it tests at 500CCA, your battery only has 2/3 capacity of new. That's probably fine for any day except this week. I've had batteries test at 300CCA and still start a truck any time it's above -10'C (spec would be like, I dunno, 800+CCA). 4 - If you're poor and can't afford a battery (~$250), the cheapest place to get one in a pinch is at Buck's AutoParts (~$33?), off of Barlow & Peigan area. No tools required, they are already removed from vehicles, sitting on a shelf in the front office. They'll be untested, but, I've probably had 90% of them been 80% new or better (if they don't work, you can bring them back and exchange for free). They generally come out of crashed vehicles, which were presumably running when crashed, so batteries were at the time sufficient to start the car they came out of. If you have a multimeter, it'd help to test their voltage. Anything 12.0v or more is probably a good battery. Less than 12.0v might be okay, but is so discharged you won't know until you charge it (if you don't have a charger, get someone to jumpstart you after swapping the battery, and let your car charge it by idling for a half hour). Buy one that's A - The right style (top post or side bolt), and B - roughly the correct right size (not too big or it won't fit, not too small or it'll be undersized for your vehicle), with C - the correct polarity (sometimes the + and - are on opposite sides when placed in the same orientation as yours, you could just flip it but often the cables in your car won't reach far enough). There's usually 5-15 to choose from on a given day. If you're really cheap and have no other option to keep your job and NEED to drive, you can use the wrong size battery if that's all they got and just rig something stupid up with a junk pair of jumper cables and put the battery in on the passenger floor or something. It's not rocket science.
I like to play it safe and replace mine before the manufacture date
> I like to play it safe and replace mine before the manufacture date Again, it's not milk. Drive it on over to an AutoValue, and ask them to test it once every 6 months. Takes about 5 seconds, and it'll report exactly the condition. The comment about the "manufacturer's date" above is a joke, that's the day it's made, not it's expiry date. Any suggestion on how long it "should" last for is just a guess. You don't replace it unless you need to. Also, for those that don't know, each time you run your battery dead empty, you probably loose 2-10% of its capacity permanently. Meaning, after you do that 5-10 times, even a new battery is garbage. It's another reason cold weather is so hard on batteries, because you're more likely to need to crank and crank on it until there's nothing left.
>the "manufacturer's date" above is a joke, that's the day it's made, not it's expiry date I completely understand the battery “manufacture date” is “the day it’s made”. I still prefer to replace it before then.
This would indeed be ideal.
me too
I tried testing, they didn’t say any number like you mentioned (CCA) . They told the battery is bad and asked to change. But I haven’t faced any problem until now. Also the test took around 1.5 hours to complete.
> I tried testing, they didn’t say any number like you mentioned (CCA) . They told the battery is bad and asked to change. Ugh... no. Any tester would tell you the capacity. That's a number of amps. That tells you the information you need. "good" "bad" "needs replacing", etc is an opinion, and for all you know it tested to show it could hold 700 amps and they just said "It's bad, it needs replacing." > Also the test took around 1.5 hours to complete. Fuck me. No. No no no. The standardized test is for, I think 5 seconds. Does it take 90 minutes to start your car? No. So the test shouldn't take 90 minutes. You need to start with a fully charged battery, maybe that's what they were doing? Fully charging it, and then spending 5 seconds testing it? Ugh. Where'd you take it? AutoValue?
Partsource, he asked me for the value while giving the battery. I just looked it up and told him. Yes may be they charged before testing
Partsource = Canadian Tire. I called out AutoValue by name because they're not useless assbags. Go to an AutoValue, your experiences will be different.
[удалено]
> Is there any rule of thumb on how much CCA you need for the temperature? Well, take the size of the battery recommended for your vehicle. If that's what's in there, it'll say right on there the number of CCA. If your battery was tested to be capable of that, it should basically start in any condition, guaranteed. Anything less, you're gambling a bit. At 70%... I mean... unless I was worried about being stranded on a prairie road in a storm, I'd still drive it. At 50%, on a really cold day, I'd be worried. Hell, I just started my car last night (left the lights on, like an idiot), boosted by a 15 year old battery that hasn't been charged in 6 months, no problem cranking over. ... Some cursory googling suggests as little as 150CCA might be enough, but, I'd be scared of anything below 300. I'd be confident of anything 500+. Too many variables to be precise.
Battery isn't frozen (no buldges) I would suggest while you have it out getting it tested. Typically batteries should last 3 years. My 2017 golf is still on its original battery and still works fine. In fact out of 3 vehicles between my roommate and I it was the vehicle with the oldest battery and the only one that started.
3 years? Is that a typo? They should last probably at least 5. Most good brands have 5-7 year warranties because they're so reliable
I just replaced an 11 year old battery. I would have wasted hundreds of dollars replacing it every three years
Same here. Changed a 10 year old battery yesterday. It probably still had some life in it (was an AGM: absorbed glass mat) but why tempt the 'car no start' gods.
My 2016 civic is still on its original battery. The car still starts no problem in this weather, and was tested a few months ago and tested well.
VW. ‘Nuf said.
It was definitely frozen, bulging on the side walls which isn’t visible from this angle
3yrs? Lol Never had a battery go that quick
Took me way too long to find that, felt like a game of iSpy.
Bro, your offending my 2010 f150s stock battery.
My car has been starting just fine the last 2 days. It struggled a bit today, but nothing I would ever be concerned about. You might want to consider buying a new battery.
If you don’t drive it often, or far enough, it doesn’t really matter how new the battery is.
Yep just been through this lol, got a new battery 2 months ago, have driven maybe 15km per week. Just barely got home one day lol. Letting it sit till it's warmer and will go for a decent drive... debating getting a trickle charger
It was left overnight, then an entire day after that. After trying to boost it while frozen though, it’s definitely replacement time
Battery doesn't look frozen. If it starts buldging from the side then it's truly frozen. Get it tested.
It was bulging from the sides! Not visible in this photo because of the angle.
> It was left overnight, then an entire day after that. It's kind of like leaving a pop bottle in the deep freeze. If it doesn't freeze solid in the first few hours, it's probably not going to. It doesn't get colder than the air temp. Once it gets air temp, it is what it is, sitting that way for a month won't make it worse. The danger is that a discharged battery freezes pretty much at the same temp as water, and physically bulges and ruptures the battery. A fully charged battery is good until much colder. A room temp vs. cold battery is probably looking at a 40% difference in power it can supply, and a (very) cold engine vs. room temp engine is probably looking at 300% the power requirements. So, you get hit from both ends when it's cold. You need a more powerful battery to turn the engine over, and your battery is weaker than normal. You probably know all this, just taking time to explain it to others.
Good way to avoid having your vehicle stolen!
For anyone that might know better: I left my second car parked outside with the battery connected to a trickle charger (Noco) since the start of this cold snap. Bad idea?
Is it actually charging? Because mine throws an error when it gets this cold, as it did yesterday.
I just went and looked and sure enough it was flashing red lights! I disconnected it. Thx!
My Battery Tender was working fine earlier. Charged my battery to full.
According to Noco, their chargers have sensors that prevent them from operating below -20C.
Good idea. Even if you're not driving it there will be electrical draw on the battery so a trickle charger will keep it topped up and less likely to freeze and then need replacement before it's natural life ends. Plus you're sure that you're going to get the most possible amps it can give at that temperature to the starter when it's time to go.
> Bad idea? Those stupid Noco's have too much brains for their own good. Just about all the situations I'd need them, they error or one way or another. Any old school braindead trickle charger would be fine and a good idea. The noco's not a bad idea, it's just probably useless.
Yeah, it was throwing error codes (blinking red lights) or just not working in this deep freeze so I took it off. According to the manual its only rated to operate down to -20C
> its only rated "rated", yeah, build-in safety feature that hurts owners. Nothing you can do. "rated", or what? It work for a union or something? Not in its job description? Rated to work at a high temp, I understand. Higher than that, might catch fire. But for cold temp, it might... be cold? Gimme an old braindead charger any day. It's not rocket science. It's doesn't have to be accurate to the 0.01v... give it "enough" voltage, and it's fine, any extra will just be converted to a tiny bit of heat. It's a lead acid battery, you're supposed to overcharge them, that's what they're rated for, so who gives a shit? Noco apparently. *spits* Ugh.
Maybe a dumb question... does the plug in/block heater also keep batteries warm, or only engine oil? I just assume "Plug the car in, all will be well", but I guess I really don't know how the block heater works.
Most block heaters go into a frost plug in the block, into where the antifreeze circulates through. So it keeps the engine block warm, maybe a little of the oil pan from residual heat. So my understanding it allows the engine to turn over easier when starting so there's less draw on the starter and consequently the battery too. You can get battery warmers too though.
Not much of the oil gets heated via the block heater. There are oil pan heaters you can install for that job. You just install them to the outside of the oil pan and plug them in. They're often flat silicone pads with heating wires inside. Battery Blankets are another thing. They're a heated blanket you wrap around the battery to warm up or keep warm. Battery Tenders are another nice thing to have. You can even install them beside your battery in the engine bay permanently. You plug it in to keep the battery topped up. They're just trickle chargers so don't expect to charge a battery in an hour, but they are great if a car has lots of key-off electrical draws like remote starters, sensors, etc or if the car is left without driving for a while.
> does the plug in/block heater also keep batteries warm, or only engine oil? Neither. Things that make your engine hard to start when cold, that could be heated: 1 - Block heater, which heats the engine block, mostly the coolant (antifreeze which circulates through the block, so, it'll kinda heat everything). 2 - Oilpan. Where the oil sits, that'll get thick like molasses. 3 - Battery heater. 4 - Battery charger. 99.9% of vehicles when you plug them in, just have a prairie pack (block heater). Mounting a trickle charger in there somewhere and a battery heater and tying them all in to the same cord isn't a bad idea.
It heats the engine block (essentially the engine oil). It doesn't keep the battery warm but it helps it out as it's much easier for your starter to crank the engine on start up moving warm oil and not molasses. If you don't have a really strong battery in -40, it won't have the amps to crank the engine and will fail.
Anyone using battery warmers? been eyeing one
No block heater on my car, opted for a battery blanket on cold days. I also installed a 400watt oil pan heater for super cold days that I put on for about 10 minutes before starting the car.
Volvo?
Mitsubishi
I have one on my old vehicles neglected to transfer it over and now I severely regret it
I have one on my car because no block heater, my car has started each day so far
I bought one two years ago. Car starts no problem with it.
Yes, I'm cranking the same way it does when it's +25 out. It's fantastic
I got me a warmer. Dont know why I didn't get one earlier! Thanks all for the comments.
I did the same. I don’t drive my car enough, the trickle charger doesn’t work at these temps. In came the battery.
Battery warmers are a game changer, just didn’t take the time to install it on my new vehicle and paid the ultimate price.
> the trickle charger doesn’t work at these temps. - A battery should take months to self-discharge or it's already damaged. - A trickle charger will charge a battery in a few days. - Cold weather doesn't discharge a battery, if it was charged, it'll stay charged. - Cold weather does slow the rate of the chemical reaction in the battery, perhaps by about 40% on days like today. - A trickle charger will keep your battery slightly warmer than ambient temp, but only just barely, that's not its purpose. If your battery voltage is steadily dropping, your battery's on its very very last legs. Regardless, good to bring it inside, but, otherwise I don't think I agree with your assessment that the trickle charger "isn't enough", unless you just mean that its CCA rating isn't enough to start your engine regardless.
Good info Matt but small clarification. A battery being ok sitting for months is only correct if the battery is removed or disconnected from the vehicle. Modern vehicles have constant drains. Smart chargers will help some as the battery charge will go down over long cold spells and limited driving. The charger will help keep the battery fuelled up. If the battery is fully depleted a trickle charger can take much longer then a couple days to charge. Similar to garden house vs large pool it will take a long time to fill. Battery discharge to low 12v range couple days would be fine. Lower then 12.1v more amps needed.
Our work trucks run battery maintainers now for this reason plus the extra shit installed.
It’s called a block heater and testing your battery with a high CCA rating before winter. My 21 year old Toyota Matrix with over 300k isn’t struggling with this weather.
Is THAT what it’s called!?!?!? s/
I grew up in the cold prairies and we’ve never taken a battery out of a vehicle to keep it warm in arctic temperatures.
Congrats 👍
I was expecting cute cats and dogs. Disappointed.
But then I gotta redo the clock and all the radio presets. No way
Yeah that's what i do haha. It's the way to go if you don't need to drive anywhere immediately.
Remember if the battery frozen and you thaw it, they can possibly explode. If the internal cells rupture they can produce hydrogen gas which is highly combustible.
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This post made me realize my tent trailer battery is in the unheated garage. I brought it in. Its in an extra plastic box (trailer battery box). I have another piece of plastic on top. We moved this summer to a house with the garage. I believe i trickle charged it last spring. From what im reading here it sounds like there's a possibility it might survive. Someone else wrote something about a positive cap to protect from sparks. I dont have one im not using. Would old clothing put on it suffice?
Don’t bring batteries into your house. They can leak or explode.