Revive Stone Dead Battery?

[Mr Nick]

I have an optima red top battery, apparently the Cutlass has a parasitic drain I need to track down. Battery is at 2.2 volts. My cheapo charger will not recognize it at that level, and displays "fault." Charger works fine on other batteries.

I was thinking of hooking it up in parallel with another good battery and charging it like that, so the charges 'sees' enough voltage to work, but that sounds like a "It seemed like a good idea at the time " type of thing...


Is there a way to revive this battery, or is it toast?

[Chad-1stGen]

You could do that but you will drain the good battery. If you have a deep cycle battery just hook the two batteries together in parallel and the charged one will equalize with the discharged one if its still good. then see if you can charge them both individually.

Just an idea

[justimagine]

Mr. Nick, that's precisely the way to bring it back - check the optima website www.optimabatteries.com - it's in the charging info.

[monza]

I'm going with toast...

[OptimaJim]

Hi Nick, it doesn't sound good for your battery, but it is worth it to try parallel charging it. The procedure Jimi linked to is also explained in this video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoaL3DWWEg

If you have a parasitic drain you should definitely try to track it down and address it, as this problem is likely to happen again if you don't. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, optima batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[Mr Nick]

Thanks guys!

I let somebody borrow my jumper cables, and they are no where to be found. Once I get a new set, I'll try it out.

[Mr Nick]

The jumper cable method worked well to bring it back to chargeable state, but overall not looking good...

Took forever to take a full charge and trigger the auto-off feature on the charger. Unhooked it and immediately checked voltage, only 12.3 volts. 11.5 volt by morning. Tried it again, same results. This is with the battery not hooked up in the car.

Another expense...

OptimaJim, do you offer a lightweight battery like the Braille? I considered doing a trunk mount set up, but I'd rather not have to buy and route the cables, not to mention the extra weight. Would make more sense to just install a lighter battery in stock location.

[rrunner68]

I forget where the link was, but there was a long post about setting engines back and relocating batteries. Reclocating the battery to the back was worth more than setting the engine back several inches. I'd say moving the battery back there is worth the couple pounds of battery cable.

[OptimaJim]

Nick, if your battery is discharging that quickly in that short amount of time, it's probably not recoverable. The lightest 12-volt battery we offer is our Group 51 yellowtop, which is a 38 amp hour battery that offers 575 cranking amps, a three-year replacement warranty and weighs about 26 pounds. This battery also offers ports for connecting a vent hose, in case you decide to relocate your battery to an enclosed space (trunk or interior). If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, optima batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[John Wright]

I have revived a few batteries by zapping them really hard for a few seconds with a surge of amps(100+) and then they would take a charge with the regular setting of 15 amps or so. Sometimes there is a small short within the plates and that surge will clear it out...LOL

disclaimer: I would stay away from the immediate area in case the battery busts it's case. Eye protection and keeping some distance would be my recommendation. My F-I-L was twisting the cables on top of a top post battery and the post broke off and created a spark inside the battery that set off the gasses that built up during charging. I had to lead him into the house so he could flush the acid off his face and arms. Luckily he didn't get that stuff in his eyes.

[monza]

I have revived a few batteries by zapping them really hard for a few seconds with a surge of amps(100+) and then they would take a charge with the regular setting of 15 amps or so. Sometimes there is a small short within the plates and that surge will clear it out...LOL

disclaimer: I would stay away from the immediate area in case the battery busts it's case. Eye protection and keeping some distance would be my recommendation. My F-I-L was twisting the cables on top of a top post battery and the post broke off and created a spark inside the battery that set off the gasses that built up during charging. I had to lead him into the house so he could flush the acid off his face and arms. Luckily he didn't get that stuff in his eyes.

That's some funny words of wisdom right there! Who's trying it first?

[Mr Nick]

That's some funny words of wisdom right there! Who's trying it first?

I'm all about creative solutions, but I'd rather spend the money on a new battery then risk it exploding on me!

[online170]

Geez, what is it with 69 cutlass's and battery drains???

My buddy had the same thing with his car. Instead of buying new batteries and feeding them to your drain, buy a good battery once, and disconnect the negative cable when you park it.

Find that drain!!!

Hook up an ammeter from your battery to the cable, and find out what its drawing, it will give you a good idea of where to look.

My buddie's car had an amp draw that suggested a bad alternator regulator, so he got a new high out put alternator (he wanted one anyway), but that didnt solve the problem. Some more research revealed that same amount of draw could be ppointing to a relay.

He checkd his horn and head light relays, the culprit was the head light relay. It had melted, and shorted onto the frame. The lights still worked, but drained the system over night.

[MonzaRacer]

optima batteries dont produce hydrogen gas, as for a lot of these new fangled chargers they SUCK. Its all well and good to use a regulator to control charging but I have an old Tru-Test 10 amp charger and its only safety feature is a circuit breaker and the blue top blem in my truck has been ran down twice and so far charged back up, I need to recharge it again and hope it lives again.
I honestly dont see a lot of people having good luck in red top batteries and not driving the car regularly.
You always hear about them going bad but in cars theat get little driving.
Very odd.
And yes the newer chargers you may need to get it up to a decent amount of charge then switch over and charge it separately. Big problem is unless you have 2 identical batteries the wet battery has a different internal resistance over Optima AGM design.
Good Luck

[OptimaJim]

Optimas do produce hydrogen gas, just like any other sealed battery. Under normal conditions, the hydrogen will recombine. However, if a voltage regulator fails or if the battery is overcharged, it could vent dangerous gas, which is why we strongly recommend venting any battery mounted in a passenger compartment or trunk.

As Lee has indicated, optima batteries can be charged like a regular lead-acid battery in normal conditions and our batteries do have a very low internal resistance, which allows them to operate well beyond their specified ratings. I read a lot of comments from people who refer to the “luck” they have with their batteries, both good and bad. More often than not, the people who properly maintain their batteries and always keep the voltage at or above 12.4 volts have the good luck, while the folks who let their batteries discharge and sulfate seem to have the bad luck. I wish everyone here good luck with their batteries. If you watch this video, it might help bring you some good luck with your battery- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dNwNFZnLbc

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, optima Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[senor_camaro]

check to see if you still have warranty on it. Most autozone or kragen or oreilly offer warranty, if you charged it and it doesnt hold the charge most likely it has cell damage.

[JRouche]

Kinda funny but I think its a battery charger issue, not a battery issue. These new battery chargers suck!! They want to be all smart and not pull current if they dont see a load. So they wont kick in till they see something that is well above an open. A really dead battery will look like an open circuit and some of the newer chargers wont even turn on.

So I force them. Ill short the leads to turn the charger on and make it pump some current. Sometimes alls it takes is a quick shorting of the two terminals while its hooked up to the dead battery and it stays lit. Then it will pump current through the dead cell. I dont like the new smart chargers. My old wheel around unit will pump current into whatever is hooked up to it. JR

Oh, and for really bad batteries, YUP, Ive zapped them with some very high current to remove some deposits from the plates. Its done all the time. Burning whiskers. Large and small cells. I dont have a problem doing that. Some folks will. But they prolly have more money than I do. JR

[John Wright]

Oh, and for really bad batteries, YUP, Ive zapped them with some very high current to remove some deposits from the plates. Its done all the time. Burning whiskers. Large and small cells. I dont have a problem doing that. Some folks will. But they prolly have more money than I do. JR

See I wasn't the only crazy one here......LOL
Just have to be careful and excerize some caution and common sense.