19 Sep 12 15:45, Mark Hofmann wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
      
      
    RW>> When the battery has to go through temperture changes like the   
    RW>> transition from summer to winter weather, they have a tendency to   
    RW>> live a shorter life. Of course they can be better maintained by   
    RW>> using a trickle charger that has a voltage detector in the circuit   
    RW>> to take it to the high limit and maintain it there and not over   
    RW>> charge it. This would work to keep your Monte and/or the Charger   
    RW>> batteries well maintained, while one sits and the other is used on a   
    RW>> daily basis.   
      
    MH> Here in Maryland, this time of year (September-November) is the peak   
    MH> time for car batteries to fail.  The temperature change does wreak   
    MH> havoc on them.   
      
   Been there. They usually failed in December/January in northern Illinois.   
      
    MH> I have a nice trickle charger that I use for the HD battery.  I wired   
    MH> a fast connector off the battery under the seat and all I have to do   
    MH> is plug it in to the charger.  Keeps the HD battery from failing over   
    MH> the winter or extended times when it is sitting.   
      
   I had one on mine too, but the battery died because of it. Either that or   
   batteries made exclusively for HDs don't live long at all. It wasn't even   
   a year old when it gave up. It looks like new, I still have the original   
   unused since I brought it home box and intended to take it back, but never   
   got around to it.   
      
    RW>> My recommendation is such a device, rather than replace a battery   
    RW>> that is only 3 years old. Especially such a great battery as the   
    RW>> Sears Diehard.   
      
    MH> Neither the Monte Carlo or Charger will be sitting for longer than 7   
    MH> days, since I am alternating driving them every other week.  I didn't   
    MH> think 7 days would cause the battery to fail, but it is apparently   
    MH> weak.   
      
   I have a friend who thought the same thing. He has a 2008 Chevy Colorado   
   that sits during the week as he drives his POS Toyota Yaris to work every   
   day. The battery in the Colorado goes dead on him after a few days of   
   sitting. He now uses a trickle charger and has no problems starting his   
   truck on Saturday mornings. Drives it on the weekend and then cycles back   
   to the Yaris to drive to work. He's a cheapskate and I was surprised that   
   he took my advice and bought the charger, since he'd rather pinch a penny   
   than spend it.   
      
    MH> I have been driving the Monte Carlo all week and it has been starting   
    MH> right up, so I'm not sure what to think.   
      
   That's how my Silverado acted. Then it sat for 4 days and it wouldn't   
   start when I returned to drive it. The Optima battery had gone south and   
   it was a fairly new one. O'Reilly replaced it under warranty.   
      
    MH> I had cleaned the terminals before charging it this past weekend   
    MH> (using a can of Coke).   
      
   Not coke! Baking soda, water and a tooth brush...the baking soda   
   neutralizes the battery acid, the water gives the baking soda a medium to   
   travel on and the brush makes sure that you clean every surface. Then a   
   good garden hose flush and you're done.   
      
    MH> Will wait to see what happens after it sits for a week.  I would plug   
    MH> it into the trickle charger if there was an easy way to do it.  The   
    MH> HD is in my garage with a fast connector to the battery.  Easy to   
    MH> hookup.  The Monte is on the street (since the 2-car garage and   
    MH> driveway is full of vehicles, etc).   
      
   Doesn't the person with the most body-hair have priority in parking?   
      
   He does here. 8^)   
      
    MH> I wonder if it would be of any value to remove the battery from the   
    MH> Monte and let it trickle charge for a few days to see if it then   
    MH> keeps it's charge going forward.  The problem sometimes becomes that   
    MH> you get a bad cell.   
      
   Yeup... I had a 'Chicago' brand trickle on the HD and I have a brand name   
   trickle on the Camaro. Both batteries weakened and died, but the HD went   
   first.   
      
    RW>> Before I moved my workbench out of the garage, I maintained two   
    RW>> batteries on one trickle charger as I mentioned above. One of those   
    RW>> two was out of my 2001 Rodeo and came out of a Honda previous to   
    RW>> being installed in the Rodeo. It had to be at least ten years old at   
    RW>> the time. The trickle charger kept it at peak voltage, but when   
    RW>> removed, it quickly died to a level of 9 volts.   
      
    MH> Sounds like a bad cell.  I had one in my old HD battery.  I would   
    MH> charge it all the way up, ride it somewhere, stop and get gas, and it   
    MH> wouldn't re-start.  It just couldn't hold a charge very long at all.   
      
   Been there too. That happened to the original battery in my Camaro. But it   
   was at least 4 years old then. 1998 Camaro (sold new in Dec 07), by late   
   2002 it was new battery time.   
      
      
                   R\%/itt   
      
      
   ... Mark Owen: "Hey, did you ever hear anything about that beer?   
   ... Fellow SEAL: "You believed that shit, I bet you voted for change too,   
   ... SUCKER."   
      
      
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