Battery health

N

Nlbloch

Member
Is there a way to test the health of a battery?
I installed a new battery November, 2019.
I do not disconnect in winter; store car indoors.
In summer I drive about 5 miles most days.
Approaching 3 year anniversary, wondering how I can tell if the battery is in need of replacement?

Don’t want to waste money, but don’t want to get stuck, either.
Thoughts?
 
Yes, have it load tested at your FLAPS. Also get a battery hydrometer. It measures the specific gravity of the electrolyte.
 

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The lead acid based storage battery lasts the longest if it is cycled regularly. A cycle is defined as an engine start followed by a long enough run to fully charge the battery back to the correct electrolyte specific gravity. This should be done at least every 2-weeks.

If a battery sets longer than 2-weeks without a quick heavy load and recharge cycle then the sulfate that is drawn into the plates as it slowly discharges starts to crystallize on the outer surface of the lead plates. This is known as sulfation. A quick heavy load will knock this stuff off if regularly cycled and the sulfate comes back out into solution at peak specific gravity with the recharge. A battery that sets for 4 to 6-months will sulfate up so badly that it may not recover during a series of cycles with full recharge. Loss of plate area means loss of cold cranking amps so the battery never really recovers back to 100% even if fully charged.

Use your battery and use it regularly and it will last a lot longer. If you can't run a car during a long winter then cycle the starter as in a normal start then put a battery charger on to charge it back to peak specific gravity. The modern battery tenders are supposed to do something similar to this but they don't put as heavy load on the battery. At least they do it on a schedule although they don't really tell a person what the schedule is. These are known as smart chargers but they are only as smart as the folks that made them so I don't have much trust in them. They tend to fail after a year or less so I still do it the old fashioned way.
 
some guys on here get 12 yrs or more out of a 6 volt battery- I have never gone more then 5-6 yrs, but I rarely use or chg the batteries. I pull them for the winter and run a chg on them then.

you should see at least 2 more yrs is my point.
 
Ivan in southeast va. said:
It's not a problem...until it is! Sorry! Seriously, I wouldn't worry about it until you start noticing it dragging when you go to start.
Click to expand...

And then I'd clean up the grounds at the frame and the cable connections at the battery posts first.

A Voltage Test for a Defective Battery (key off)

Place the black lead on the (–) post of the battery and the red lead on the (+) post. Crank the engine over with the starter for 10-15 seconds. As the engine cranks, a volt reading less than 5.5 indicates a defective battery. The reading should be 5.5 – 5.7.

Test from Dykes Encyclopedia of Automobiles and Gasoline Engines
 
Do you check the electrolyte level periodically? Add distilled water when necessary?
 
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