03-20-2004, 01:09 AM
A weak battery will discharge rapidly. As the above post said, you have to load test it.
Most batteries suffer from neglect. To get the max life out of your battery you need to keep the water levels filled, never letting the plates become exposed. And try to minimize time that the battery sits without a full charge. Lead acid batts do not develop memory. Try not to completely discharge them and after using them, charge to full as soon as possible.
I have to disagree with the above poster's comment on onboard battery chargers. They are the best thing you can do to maximize the life of your batts. They have the intelligence built-in to know when to charge with high amps and when low amps are needed. And the good ones can be plugged in and left all winter long without boiling your batts dry. An ideal charge starts at high amps and the amps decrease as the charge level increases. The best onboard charges are CSI and Guest.
Most batteries suffer from neglect. To get the max life out of your battery you need to keep the water levels filled, never letting the plates become exposed. And try to minimize time that the battery sits without a full charge. Lead acid batts do not develop memory. Try not to completely discharge them and after using them, charge to full as soon as possible.
I have to disagree with the above poster's comment on onboard battery chargers. They are the best thing you can do to maximize the life of your batts. They have the intelligence built-in to know when to charge with high amps and when low amps are needed. And the good ones can be plugged in and left all winter long without boiling your batts dry. An ideal charge starts at high amps and the amps decrease as the charge level increases. The best onboard charges are CSI and Guest.