Dick Dell wrote:
>My problem is, with several old sports cars what should I do about
>batteries . . . sometimes months go by between chances to drive >them.
>They're all in a big garage, not a museum, more like a used >car lot with a
>roof.
>But under those circumstances batteries go dead . . .
>So what does everyone out there with similar problems do? Buy the >best or
>buy the cheapest?
Neither. What you need is a smart enough battery charger to keep what ever
battery you have up to snuff. A friend gave me a "Battery Tender"
(batterytender.com), which seems to work very well indeed. I have several
vehicles that don't get run very often including a motorcycle that seems to
discharge itself in a few weeks. I just plug the Battery Tender in and
change it to another vehicle every few days. I really should have one for
each, but...... Actually, I have paralleled two batteries also.
To properly maintain a battery, you need:
1)Proper voltage to charge (around 14.4 volts at room temp.),
2)Temperature compensation (the voltage of a "full" battery changes quite a
bit with temperature.)
3)ability to switch itself off or go to a "float" voltage when it detects
the battery is "full"
4)ability to go back into a high rate charge if it detects the battey is
being discharged.
Regular battey chargers can damage a battery by overcharging if you leave it
on too long. They are generally kind of crude, and don't accurately charge
the battery. It takes some logic to apply the correct voltage at the
ambient temperature, and monitor the current so that it will cut off the
charge voltage at the correct timem, then monitor the battery and recharge
as necessary (all the time monitoring the ambient temperature.)
I've learned the hard way that the best way to save money on batteries is to
have a good charger. I think I'm going to get me another one.
Good luck
Frank
'59 TR3A, '71 BMW 2002A, '82 Guzzi, plus other misc. batteries.
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