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Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:21 pm

Anyone ever have heat ruin a battery?

A fairly new interstate and another battery (that was good) will not start my baja and neither will not take a charge. I have charged the non interstate battery several times with no problems.
I have had the windows up for painting and I have a feeling the batteries are dead because of the heat. I dont have the receipt for the interstate but they did say I can bring it in and they can test it to see what the problem is.

The only other thing I can think of is a wiring fault but I have drove the car around the block at least 3 times with no problem and I would think something would have shown up then.

I am looking at getting an optima.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:44 pm

Nicksan wrote: Anyone ever have heat ruin a battery?

A fairly new interstate and another battery (that was good) will not start my baja and neither will not take a charge. I have charged the non interstate battery several times with no problems.
I have had the windows up for painting and I have a feeling the batteries are dead because of the heat. I dont have the receipt for the interstate but they did say I can bring it in and they can test it to see what the problem is.

The only other thing I can think of is a wiring fault but I have drove the car around the block at least 3 times with no problem and I would think something would have shown up then.

I am looking at getting an optima.

Battery life is reduced at higher temperatures. For every 15* F over 77*, battery life is cut in half. How hot are we talking here? How old was the battery?

There are plenty of desert dwellers here. Maybe they can fill us in on how often they go through batteries.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:50 pm

It has been sitting in the heat all summer mostly with the windows up.
First the interstate went dead and I thought it was the starter and I went over the electrical system then finally found out it was the fairly new interstate, I installed the old battery which is 10 year old and the car started right up so I drove it around the block, left the old battery in and the other day I went to start it and nada...... Also, the sides of the battery are bulged out. :shock:
I have never had this happen before during any summer, but I have never had the windows up in the heat like this before either.
I am going to try and refill one of them with distilled water and then try to charge it to see what happens.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:01 pm

With the battery going dead after sitting it is more likely that you have a parasitic draw than heat killing the battery. Cars sit in the sun in the desert for weeks on end and still start. I would start testing for a draw.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:06 pm

I did consider that but I have a cutoff switch hooked up to the battery, the kind that has a big red key that you remove, but it sure does seem like theres a draw somewhere, Ive never had a battery go bad due to heat and its sat in the heat the last 5 years of so.(every summer)
I was thinking of a short somewhere but like I said before I drove it several times with no problems and the wiring is all new and easy to trace.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:07 pm

If your big red key is the $7.00 kind I would start there.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:12 pm

baja5 wrote: If your big red key is the $7.00 kind I would start there.

LOL, that funny you should say that. I had one before and it caused a problem, I installed a new one but it was $15 :lol: I have already disconnected it when I was going through the electrical to find any faults.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:15 pm

A 10 year old battery is rare. It's probably on it's last leg.
A bulging battery is also a bad battery. Don't use it. It will over draw current, melt wires, and fry generators.

A battery will also self discharge between 3-20% per month. Couple that with one that's 10 years old, and in the heat... you can kiss it goodbye.

Time for a new one.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:24 pm

Lotrat wrote: A 10 year old battery is rare. It's probably on it's last leg.
A bulging battery is also a bad battery. Don't use it. It will over draw current, melt wires, and fry generators.

A battery will also self discharge between 3-20% per month. Couple that with one that's 10 years old, and in the heat... you can kiss it goodbye.

Time for a new one.

The interstate was less than 2 years old, When it died I installed the 10 year old one and car started up, until it sat for a while.
I think I am going to buy a cheap battery drive the car around, remove the battery, store it in a cool spot and do this until the weather cools down then leave it in and see what happens and in the mean time look for direct shorts and test the alternator.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:37 pm

Nicksan wrote: The interstate was less than 2 years old, When it died I installed the 10 year old one and car started up, until it sat for a while.
I think I am going to buy a cheap battery drive the car around, remove the battery, store it in a cool spot and do this until the weather cools down then leave it in and see what happens and in the mean time look for direct shorts and test the alternator.

A battery shouldn't die in 2 years unless it's never seen a charge on it. A battery can sit for 6 months without a charge. I've seen them go a year, but their life span is reduced. Stick it on a charger over night, it may just have been low.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:42 pm

Nicksan wrote: baja5 wrote: If your big red key is the $7.00 kind I would start there.

LOL, that funny you should say that. I had one before and it caused a problem, I installed a new one but it was $15 :lol: I have already disconnected it when I was going through the electrical to find any faults.

The cut off is a good idea for long term storage, as a saftey, and as a anti-theft device, but it's just a band-aid on a short somewhere in the electrical system if you have one.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:54 pm

Lotrat wrote: Nicksan wrote: The interstate was less than 2 years old, When it died I installed the 10 year old one and car started up, until it sat for a while.
I think I am going to buy a cheap battery drive the car around, remove the battery, store it in a cool spot and do this until the weather cools down then leave it in and see what happens and in the mean time look for direct shorts and test the alternator.

A battery shouldn't die in 2 years unless it's never seen a charge on it. A battery can sit for 6 months without a charge. I've seen them go a year, but their life span is reduced. Stick it on a charger over night, it may just have been low.

All of the new Genuine Honda batteries are made by Interstate and I regularly have to warranty them in under a year, their quality has slipped over the last few years.Still better than most but it's definately not unheard of to have to replace it in under 2 years, especially on a non daily driver.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:08 pm

The clock starts ticking from the time they roll off the production line. A battery needs a charge every 6 months or it will die early. I've never seen a rack of car batteries get a charge, so its easy to understand the high failure rate.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:07 pm

pick up a bosch battery, they have a four year full replacement warranty.
after that its pro rated. if the car is gonna be sitting for a while take the battery out and maybe even put it on a battery tender. and whatever you do, do not store the battery directly on cement. it will kill the battery completely if it sits on it long enough.

Fri Aug 14, 2009 5:50 am

DamnitJuice wrote: and whatever you do, do not store the battery directly on cement. it will kill the battery completely if it sits on it long enough.

These days that's not true.

From interstate:

http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechTalk_Batteries_on_Concrete.htm

and

http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1999/November/06.html

Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:00 am

ataim wrote:

These days that's not true.

From interstate:

http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechTalk_Batteries_on_Concrete.htm

and

http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1999/November/06.html

well now i know, thanks for that.

Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:05 am

DamnitJuice wrote: ataim wrote:

These days that's not true.

From interstate:

http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechTalk_Batteries_on_Concrete.htm

and

http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1999/November/06.html

well now i know, thanks for that.

:D I glad that I could help.

Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:41 am

i'm thinking that either like said the suppliers aren't keeping the batteries charged or they are just poor quality.

I have a NAPA 65, the replacement for a bug and it wont even turn my engine when it is got a low charge and if i leave my lights on it will go completely dead in less than 2 hrs.

I recall (many years ago) having left my lights on for a day or more and still having some juice left.

Any one got suggestions on quality batteries?

Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:47 am

Here is also another good site with battery information...

http://www.batteryfaq.org/

Dale

Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:47 am

The old wives tale about not keeping a battery on cement isn't true. The only way putting a battery on cement will kill it is if it has a post leak and an acid trail forms down the side of the battery. An acid path from the cement to the terminal can conduct a current flow and could kill a battery. This kind of ground fault can happen, but it's rare.

There are only a couple battery manufacturers out there. They all compete to manufacture the name brands we know. There isn't much to a battery. grid composition, jar construction, and the electrolyte chemistry are really the only things that could be physically wrong with a battery. Car batteries are all about the same. What kills a battery is how they are used. You could get 10 years out of a battery if it was kept at 77*F, never discharged, and always on a float charge. Anything you do to it outside of that reduces it's life span. High temps, deep discharges, and not recharging after a discharge will kill any battery prematurely.