Thread: Do you think my battery is bad?

My battery is an O'reilly super start group 31

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I just went out and put the mult meter on it and it said 12.46. I put the charger on it and it said 12.5 and it went up to 13 in less than a minute.

I don't know how much water should be in it.

Originally Posted by 10point

I don't know how much water should be in it.

Fluid levels should be above the lead plates, but not IN the fill hole cylinder (just below the bottom of it is where the level should be).

If it needs more fluid ..... & it's fully charged - add distilled water to fill level described above. If the fluid level is below the tops of the lead plates, add enough distilled water to cover them & then charge it up. Once that's done then add enough distilled water to bring the level up to the fill level described.

Originally Posted by Bricks

This is what they call a wivestail I used to believe the same thing until I did some research doesn`t happen.

It use to way back when. But with new battery casings it is now an old wives tale like you said..

Originally Posted by Barnacle Bill

It use to way back when. But with new battery casings it is now an old wives tale like you said..

It wasn't that the batteries would discharge, it was because if you set them on concrete from too far away (drop them) the glass case would break. Batteries were made with a glass case, not plastic. That's what the warning of "don't put on concrete floor" was for.

Originally Posted by MDCrappie

It wasn't that the batteries would discharge, it was because if you set them on concrete from too far away (drop them) the glass case would break. Batteries were made with a glass case, not plastic. That's what the warning of "don't put on concrete floor" was for.

The cases were never glass, though early cells were. The reason setting them on concrete was a problem was the original wooden cases or the hard rubber cases that replaced wood would allow the cells to discharge when in contact with damp concrete.

Originally Posted by CatFan

The cases were never glass, though early cells were. The reason setting them on concrete was a problem was the original wooden cases or the hard rubber cases that replaced wood would allow the cells to discharge when in contact with damp concrete.

Ummmm, Ok, whatever you say......I guess they didn't break either





Oh, and glass,wood and hard rubber are VERY good insulators of electric current. How in the world could you expect 12 volts to be able to cause current to flow thru several inches of air (or glass) and then wood, and then into the concrete?

Now maybe if the wooden cased ones were so tight as to swell then they got wet from the moist concrete would cause them to break, but it is not going to cause discharge from just sitting. I mean glass has an insulating value of thousands of volts per inch.

I put distilled water in it as instructed. Charged it up and the multi meter read 13.1. 24 hours later it's at 12.5

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by 10point

I put distilled water in it as instructed. Charged it up and the multi meter read 13.1. 24 hours later it's at 12.5

Thoughts?

Sounds like a winner.

How I redneck test a battery is I hook it up to my motor and pull the kill switch, Turn it over for 5 seconds and stop, then repeat, then let it sit for 10 min or so and check the voltage. That will have roasted a bad battery and you'll see 10-11V, a good battery will still be up in the 12's.