1999corvettels1

Hey guys, my Corvette has been parked for some time, I removed the battery from car and had it sitting on shelf.

Yesterday I checked it's voltage 12.1 volts so I put it on my circa 1997 Century battery charger at 2 amp charge.

Ran it for a hour, and went to look, still charing.

This charger is supposed to be a auto shut off.

Then I got paranoid and brought charger and battery to back yard to charge vs sitting next to my Corvette (what if it exploded and battery acid got on the vette?)

Probably just paranoid but car has no insurance so I would be screwed.

Back to question I let it charge overnight from about 7pm to just about a half hour ago 10:45 am.

It still was charging. Unplugged charger and removed charging cables, battery now at 13 volts.

I'm wondering if that charger is bad, after that many hours it should have shut off right?

Did I just ruin my battery?

1999corvettels1

c4cruiser

With the charger set at 2 amps, and the battery probably fully discharged, it will take some time to get the battery back up to a fully charged state which would be around 12.6-12.8V. 13V should be a full charge so it may be that the charger has a problem.

Put the battery back in the car and start the engine. Using a digital voltmeter, check the voltage at the battery terminals. You should see a voltage reading of around 14.1 to 14.3 immediately after startup. Voltage will gradually drop to around 13.5 to 13.7 or so. That would indicate a full charge.

I would also have the battery load tested to make sure its good (no internal short, dead cell etc.)

calvins

Do yourself a big favor... leave the battery in the car, get a Battery Tender Plus and USE it. Done deal...

IMXCITD

a battery that is low should be charged slowly over a couple days....so nothing is necessarily wrong. Just let it keep charging at a low rate. Once charged...install it in the vette and get a battery tender.

mrlmd

Like others have said -- Your battery at 12.1 V was just about totally dead. At a 2 amp charge rate it is going to take a couple of days to fully charge it. Leave it on the charger for 2 days then put it back in the car and go for a ride for a half hour or so.
And when you take the battery off the charger, let it sit for a half hour before you measure the voltage otherwise you are getting a false reading of a "surface charge".
If you measure the battery voltage a day after you charge it and it still holds the same number, the battery is OK, but the best test is to load test it (at a garage or battery place, done for free).
If the car starts and runs OK. don't worry about it. Use it, that's the best thing for the battery instead of letting it sit for prolonged periods.

Paul 75 L82

Buy this.

Vetteman Jack

Good advice. I'd let the battery charge for a while longer and then see where it stands.

Kenny G

+1 for CTEK

ztheusa

Do yourself a BIG favor and get rid of that flooded cell battery. If it ever decides to leak all over your computer/wiring/vacuum lines/body/frame.......... NOTHING will ever be the same.

Get a red top.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Optima-Batte...dVgpSx&vxp=mtr

El original

2 amps is just a battery maintainer...two days at least...maybe more to get a suitable charge. A good deep charge would be 4-6 amps. Now you know the rest of the story.

laurent_zo6

+2 for CTEK

calvins

The battery in my Ford Escape went dead because of something plugged in that I'd forgotten about. I got sick recently and didn't leave the house for a week.

Got in the Escape and .... click...click...click.

Put it on a Battery Tender Plus for a day and a half and now it's 100% charged.

I've never used a CTEK but have used Battery Tender Plus's for YEARS on motorcycles, boats, and Corvettes. It's all I'll use.

57gman

Exactly what he said!!!!! I've been doing it for three years w/o any issues, enough said.

CactusCat

Another vote for Battery Tender Plus! Great great reviews.

mrlmd

The Battery Tender Plus puts out 1.25A - not really a charger, but a battery maintainer (or trickle charger) - a big difference, unless you don't mind waiting 2-4 days for your dead battery to fully charge up. They are meant to keep your battery charged when sitting for a prolonged period of disuse, not meant really for charging up a dead battery, and if the battery is heavily discharged, may not bring it back up.
Ctek puts out multiple different "chargers" but most of these are also battery maintainers with outputs from 0.75 to 4.3A and most are also not battery chargers. It doesn't matter how "smart" they say they are, if they only put out 1 or 2 A, they are really not very useful except for storage. My advice is to get something you can use to actually charge a battery in few hours, as well as to maintain it, and I would get a multiple output charger that has say 3 different ranges, like 2A, 6 or 8 A, and 12 A. These are readily available anywhere, Walmart, Harbor Freight, Autozone, anyplace. They are all reliable, inexpensive, and work well, and I think are a much better value and much more useful.

Rico7142

Corvette#2

I have a battery tender for my motorcycle. Last month my corvette battery went completely dead due to a 1.2A parasitic draw.

I hooked it up to the battery tender and 24 hours later, it was still charging. I got impatient and bought a cheap 6amp schumacher charger at Walmart. That got it fully charged by the end of the day. Nothing wrong with battery tenders, except they don't put out much current and will take a long time to fully charge a dead car sized battery.

CactusCat

Just wanted to make sure I was inline with the OP. This thread is not about quick charging a battery. It was about a slow low amperage input to keep a battery maintained. I will agree with all the statements that if a battery is really discharged, the tenders are not the way to go. I have a Big Ol' Schumacher that can put out a brief 50amps if needed and has the other low to midrange amps as well. But guess which one I use 99.9% of the time...

imlowr2

I'm curious whether you guys using these chargers are disconnecting the battery cables or leaving them connected to the battery when you connect the charger? I used a trickle charger but connected it with the cables attached to the battery. Left it on over night and had no problems. My 4 year old battery is starting to go. After 2 days of sitting, I get a reading of 12.3 or 12.4 volts. I did a load test and it showed in the yellow area which was weak. I did this test after the car sat for a couple of days. I can still start the car with no problems, but after a couple of days of sitting, you tell it's struggling turning the starter over. I'm planning on getting a new battery this weekend. I just bought a memory saver that you charge up and it plugs in under the dash. It keeps a 12V current on the car while you disconnect the battery. It's only for temporary use while you change a battery or do electrical work. You don't lose memory or have to reset your radio, windows, etc. It was only $60.