I charged a battery a couple of days ago. Took it off the charger yesterday morning. I came back this morning and found a puddle on the ground. After a bit of searching I found liquid around the negative battery terminal. I assume this battery is shot? Odd thing is that my tester says state of health is 98%. CCA and MCA are slightly higher than the battery is rated for. Very strange
Awww Snap! It leaked!
- Thread starter Project_Mayhem
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Is it a regular flooded lead acid battery with cells that you can open to add water, or is it sealed? What was the charging voltage? You may have just boiled over some electrolyte. If you really want to know the state of health you could try a 20 hour load test. They’re a bit of a pain to do, but as Maine Sail points out it’s a much better way to get a good idea of the battery’s health.
There are no caps to remove but it looked like half of the plastic on top might flip up. The weird thing is that this happened after I took it off of the charger. It was charging on the floor. I've heard that can cause issues. I did notice a ton of white crap on the terminal of the battery that was charging. I've never had that happen with this charger
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Problems with setting a battery on the floor is an already debunked myth. What kind of charger are you using, a smart charger or a dumb bulk charger? Boiling electrolyte over is a sign of a bad battery but also of overcooking with a dumb charger. Only take readings of a battery at rest for a few hours as that can result in lower or higher readings than the actual state of the battery. Many sealed batteries are not really sealed, it looks like you can pop up the piece that holds the caps. For a 12V battery usually there are two, 3 cap covers. Fill with distilled water to replace the lost electrolyte. Check the voltage, a fully charged battery should read at rest 12.7V. Charge if needed and let it rest. Purchase or borrow a Load Battery Tester and test each battery individually. Harbor Freight sells one for $19.99. If not haul the batteries to your friendly auto part and have them load tested.
I had my doubts about the floor thing. Thanks for confirming it. I'm guessing the extra powder on the terminals had something to do with this battery emitting extra hydrogen into the air?
It's a "smart" charger - Schumacher SPI-1298. I know @Maine Sail has said that Schumacher chargers are known to fry batteries. I don't remember if that was all of them or just the bulk chargers
The reading was taken 12-14 hours after it finished charging. That tester only runs a 10 second test
It's a "smart" charger - Schumacher SPI-1298. I know @Maine Sail has said that Schumacher chargers are known to fry batteries. I don't remember if that was all of them or just the bulk chargers
The reading was taken 12-14 hours after it finished charging. That tester only runs a 10 second test