Date: Fri, 7 May 2021 13:44:06 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: Bad battery?
In-Reply-To: <123250387.813714.1620400316887@mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Richard,
I wasn’t dismissing your hypothesis, I was just jumping on the topic to bore you with my battery mantras
:-)
Cheers
Ab
> On May 7, 2021, at 8:14 AM, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Alistair, I recently posted "my theory" to the List but I guess it never made it. I cut and pasted from my Sent message, and here is what I said:
>
> Here's my theory: Vibration and Shock
>
> Walmart battery was only 5 years old at the time, I typically get 8 years or more. BUT, I mostly do long roadtrips on smooth asphalt and concrete. Now, imagine over time that plates inside battery are gently corroding and getting coated with sulphates, this is perfectly normal. But structure is weakened internally. Next...go down to Baja....down to see the gray whales. Even though the road is way better than before, it's miles and miles and miles of washboard. Since battery is rigidly attached to Vanagon frame, each and every bump is felt by battery. These take their toll. A little crack here, a little crack there. You make it home....but the damage is done. Now, the corrosion stuff can really get inside those cracks. Everything is fine until suddenly one day it isn't. Voltage drops from 12.3 VDC to 10.0 VDC...mechanical failure inside one of battery cells. No amount of charging will fix this.
>
> My theory anyway.
>
>
>
>
> On Friday, May 7, 2021, 7:43:24 AM PDT, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>
> Richard,
>
> My hobby horse when it comes to battery maintenance is…
>
> Regular external charger charging of it. A good charger, like ctek or Noco. I plug in once a week during winter even though van is daily driver.
>
> I do have a big aux battery in the system (and an ACR), I’m mainly concerned about keeping the aux battery topped up. But I think reg charging of the starting battery , especially if you don’t drive daily, is a good thing.
>
> Alistair
>
> > On May 5, 2021, at 6:05 PM, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> >
> > You are correct Dave, 0% chance of battery freezing in garage in San Diego. But I've got some ideas on what happened and why battery gave out, and may be helpful for all. I'm having some difficulties posting to the Vanagon List, so will wait until things get back to normal.
> >
> > Rich
> > San Diego
> >
> > On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 5:44:38 PM PDT, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > It is very unlikely that the battery froze in San Diego, like dead certain
> > that it did not.
> >
> >> On Wed, May 5, 2021 at 3:02 PM Jack R <jack007@comcast.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> A battery with a low charge or no charge, and is allowed to freeze in the
> >> winter, will typically die.
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> >> Of Richard Koerner
> >> Sent: Tuesday, May 4, 2021 8:42 PM
> >> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >> Subject: Bad battery?
> >>
> >> Was all set to go for a nice cruise today in Vanagon. Instrument cluster
> >> lights ok, but no familiar sound from fuel pump. No crank, no click, no
> >> nothing. Parking lights work, but no headlights. Voltmeter says 10.0 VDC;
> >> makes me assume 1 dead cell. Walmart Group 41 battery is exactly 6 years
> >> old, I'm used to getting much longer life, but with Covid I will admit not
> >> too much long distance driving these days. Tried PepBoys, NAPA, O'Reillys,
> >> Walmart via computer...these Group 41 batteries are getting harder and
> >> harder to find. But local Autozone has one; I called....the guy checked in
> >> the back to physically confirm the thing exists; no idea of Manufacture
> >> Date. My plan is to take old battery to Autozone and have them check out;
> >> assuming it's dead will immediately buy new one and install. I will add
> >> that I recently in last month replaced old alternator in Subie EJ22 motor
> >> with a new one; no issues, but the old one was at least 160K miles and
> >> replaced as a preventative measure; wondering if the renewed voltage coming
> >> into old battery kind of pushed it over the edge, don't know, probably just
> >> a coincidence. Old Walmart battery was $100; new batteries are $150, just
> >> the way it goes.
> >> Rich
> >> San Diego
> >>
> >
>
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