Monday, May 20, 2019 at 14:51
Years ago, our car was about 18 months old when the original
battery died. I replaced it with a cheapie, because I was about to be sent overseas for 2 years on a job. The job thingy changed, and I didn't go. After about 2 years, the car needed new rings (a Mitsubishi Sigma). I fitted the new rings in the depth of winter. When I tried to start the car, the
battery didn't have enough grunt to turn the engine over, so I had to buy a new
battery. I emptied the acid out of the old "dead"
battery into a bottle, and kept the
battery as a doorstop for the garage door.
Fast forward a few years, and we had a Magna by then. Again, the OEM
battery lasted just over the warranty period (1 year) and died. I bought a new Gel
battery for the Magna and it worked for about 4 years before it too died. At this stage, as an experiment, I got the doorstop out, filed it with acid and installed it. To my amazement, it worked, and we used it for another 5 years before we sold the car to a
young girl. All up, the Magna did 345000 km for us, so it was used almost every day, and I think that is the secret to getting a long life from your
battery.
Certainly, if we had simply put the weak
battery which couldn't turn the engine over with new rings on the shelf, it would have died within a few months, So if you are going to store a
battery, drain the acid out from it and wash it out thoroughly. You have nothing to lose...
AnswerID:
625638