Storage charging suggestions?

Brother A

Brother A

Senior Member
Just thinking about laying the Model A up for the worst part of the winter. I was planing to leave the battery in the car and hook up a storage charger to it. My storage charger has both 12V and 6V settings. Good or bad idea? Should I remove the fuse? Thanks

Steve
 
I keep mine on a Battery Tender, I disconnect my cables. Had a Harley on one and had a close lightning strike and cooked the tender blew the tender fuse near the battery, blew a circuit breaker on the bike and still fried my voltage regulator.
 
I have never used a tender and even after 6 months expect the car to start, my only charging is the generator while driving, my latest battery is 14 years old, (Optima), the previous battery was used-off the junk pile(5years), before that 7 years from a Delco, and 9 years from a Motorcraft.
The only deviations from a stock electrical system on my car ---diode cutout, and Quartz Halogen headlight bulbs.

Many times the battery maintainer is used as a crutch to cover for other problems such as a draw, poor connections, improperly adjusted charging system ---and using a 1 wire alternator.

A good fully charged battery should not have problems sitting in cold storage for a few months.

I once asked a battery company representative how long I should expect to have a battery last if I used a maintainer --he said 5-7 years ---I asked --5-7 years more??I already get 7-9 years--he said no, the battery should last 5-7 years from new ---he didn't have an answer as to why mine lasted more without using the maintainer ---

A car with a LOT OF ELECTRONICS will need a maintainer to sit for more than a few weeks if the electronics don't sleep soundly(modern network cars)--some of these cars a 35-50 ma draw is normal.
 
I do nothing except remove the fuse.I store the cars in cold sheds,if the spirit moves me or we get an odd warm day I will start them and let them run an hour or so.I shut them off in November and start them again in April or May for the most part.The battery in my roadster I bought in 02 and the one in my pickup I bought in 04.I do use EVR's in all of the A's.They've made me lazy,sometimes I realize that I have not checked the water in a year or two.With the EVR's the water level in the batteries has never dropped.
 
I also don't use a maintainer and never have a problem starting the car with my old junkyard battery. Using a maintainer is OK 99.99% of the time if you have a good battery. I don't like to leave things hooked up and unattended. About 12 years ago I was using a 1 amp charger on a 12 volt battery setting next to my dad's 91 Olds. Sometime during the night the battery blew up and sprayed acid all over the hood of the Olds. I didn't find enough of the battery to fill a drinking cup.
 
I store 4 cars from October until May. I NEVER START THEM,and do not use a battery tender or charger. Just put Stabil or Seafoam in the gas. An insulated storage space is best,as it cuts down on condensation,when the temp varries greatly. Never start a stored car unless you can drive it 10 or more miles. Just idling does more damage than just storing,you can't get rid of moisture in the crank case by idling.
 
Thanks for the responses. I would prefer not to leave the charger on if I don't need it. My garage is connected to the house so it's a bit warmer than the outside temp and definitely drier. I think I'll give it a try without the charger this winter.

If I don't put my lawn tractor battery on the tender in the winter it will be dead come spring.
 
Brother A said:
Just thinking about laying the Model A up for the worst part of the winter. I was planing to leave the battery in the car and hook up a storage charger to it. My storage charger has both 12V and 6V settings. Good or bad idea? Should I remove the fuse? Thanks

Steve
Click to expand...

Mike V has good advice, in that nowadays you can buy a battery charger/maintainer that is vastly improved over old simple technology. Turn off the master switch(you do have one don't you:eek:) when in storage with battery tender in service.
BTW...check out the definition of sulfated battery. Then decide whether you want to have any lead/acid type battery to go DEAD for any period of time.
 
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