Old Acid Battery Charging

[Rick A.]

Dumb question perhaps - found an OLD tar top battery - appears to have never had acid in it - just how long should it take to charge this old style battery after adding the acid?

reason I ask, added acid, and let battery charger charge with a 2 amp charge for 24 hours - still will NOT crank my 1963 - HELP!

[Jack H.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

At 2-amps, you'll be DAYS putting an initial charge on the battery. Most new battery chargers have a selection of charging current levels and for best results, bring the battery up to tip-top shape as long/slow as you can. Plus, these chargers typically have some form of automatic cutoff to indicate when the charging process is done.

Figure, the typical lead acid battery is rated at 2.2V per cell, which would give you (6 x 2.2 = 13.2 VDC) an open circuit (charger removed) measured voltage in the range of 12.8-13.2 VDC when the battery is fully charged.

Consider how slowly you're charging now. At 2 amps for 24 hours, you've moved essentially 48 A-Hr of charge into the battery. It's rated for a cold cranking silhouette in the 585 Amp range!

[Terry M.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

Back at the dawn of SST (Sealed Side Terminal) batteries -- 1969-1970 -- the over-the-counter SSTs were dry-charged and vacuum sealed. The dry-charging process is just what Dave described. After drying those batteries were vacuum sealed with a wax seal. To install the acid one had to break the seal. The purpose of the vacuum seal was to keep atmospheric moisture from the battery plates and keep them dry until ready for use.

The moisture from the air is enough to deteriorate the plates during long-term storage, and this may be what happened to yours.

[Rick A.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

thanks for all the great replies! my greatest concern was that I put the battery in the car, before the acid in and then have been charging - could hear the acid gurgling/bubbling and didn't want to increase the amperage and get an overflow problem - will see what happens in the next day or two - trying to get max points where I can for National - hoping to Duntov my "LADY" 1963 Z06

[Wayne W.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

Back in the day when we sold dry batteries the simple act of adding acid would result in a charged battery. It would start the car by just adding acid.

[Clem Z.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

thanks for all the great replies! my greatest concern was that I put the battery in the car, before the acid in and then have been charging - could hear the acid gurgling/bubbling and didn't want to increase the amperage and get an overflow problem - will see what happens in the next day or two - trying to get max points where I can for National - hoping to Duntov my "LADY" 1963 Z06

do the judges expect you to have a 45 year old battery in your car ?????

[Bob B.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

Judges don't expect a 45 year old battery but, if it works, go for it! However, a good repro with no tar on top might get a 30% standard deduction. Add some real tar and, if that is done well enough, you might get a 10% deduction or even zero.

Bob

[Dick W.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

Even though they are dry charged, the plates will still sulfate. If your battery is real old and you do get it to take a charge, don't depend on it. It might last one day or 100 but not much more. I can tell you about my experience while having my car PV'ed. Ain't worth the chance

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

Even though they are dry charged, the plates will still sulfate. If your battery is real old and you do get it to take a charge, don't depend on it. It might last one day or 100 but not much more. I can tell you about my experience while having my car PV'ed. Ain't worth the chance

I agree with Dick. Years ago I found a origional new battery for my 70 LT-1. I charged it & used it to get it judged. 3 monts later it died. I toyed with the idea of cutting the old caseout & trying to fit a small new one inside. I gave up on that idea.

KEN

[Rick A.]

Re: Old Acid Battery Charging

once again, thanks for all the insightful responses - like I mentioned trying to maximize points for the Duntov - will be driving the car on the Road Tour, and when I had the car last judged at Charlotte Regional did score just enough over 97% to warrant going for the Duntov - just trying to have a little more breathing room - every point counts as they say!