K87ZZ4

I just returned home after being out of town for 3 weeks. I opened the door to my 87 and there were no lights at all... the battery is totally dead. I put a charger on it, set to 2 amps (it has 2 amp, 10 amp, and 50 amp settings) and when I plugged it in, the charge meter jumped all the way to the right (50 amp zone). That struck me as odd... usually the meter stays near 2 amps. I checked the connections at the clamps... they were getting warm, so I unplugged the charger. I tried a bit later at the 10 amp setting... same result.

I drove the car nearly daily for several weeks before I left town... no electrical problems or indications of problems.

I'm wondering if what's happening with the charger indicates a short in the electrical system somewhere? Or, if it could possibly be a really bad battery? Or maybe the charger suddenly gave up the ghost?

Anyone else had an experience like this? Anyone ever put a charger on a battery and see the meter slam all the way to the right?

Thanks, in advance...

GUSTO14

I have a small 10 amp charger and had it do this a few times when a battery is extremely low. In that case I monitored it closely and usually within a few minutes it would begin to drop below the max.

If your battery is disconnected from the vehicles' electrical system and it is doing this, it is either extremely low... in which case I would only use the charger for a short period... until it dropped below 10 amps or less, or you have a short in the battery... in which case it will not drop and I would discontinue trying to charge it.

If the battery is still connected, I would disconnect it from the car and try again. If it responds normally, then you probably have an electrical system short somewhere which would explain why it is dead. If it does respond normally to the charger, then try to recharge it ...and start looking for the short in the cars' electrical system.

Good luck... GUSTO

jfb

Bits of lead flake off of battery plates and build up on the bottom of the battery and eventually touch the plates and at first cause that cell to discharge rapidly. After some more build up, that cell can be shorted and you have a 10 volt battery, not a 12 volt battery. Battery chargers are designed to charge a 12v battery and a 10 v battery will cause the charger to deliver much higher charging current. Measure the battery voltage and see if that has happened. Also measure the battery voltage with your charger connected and if you don't have 13-14 volts, you have a shorted cell/s and it is time for a new battery.

okies93

we had a new machine delivered. took it out of the crate and went to start it and nothing. put the charger on it and had the same results as you had. pulled the caps on the battery and someone forgot to put acid in it....

SledUtah

There is a short in one or more of the cells. If the battery has a crack in the bottom/side and the acid leaks out the plates short. If you can add DI water, it may charge. Looks like it is battery time in the near future