I bought a battery for my 87 last winter and it dont seem to hold a charge. When I put the charger on it the amp meter fulls to zero within a minute. Does this indicate that the battery is dead?

 

Also has anyone tried solar battery conditioners? I live in england and we dont get much sun. My car is not parked in a garage so I cant really use a mains one easily.

 

What is the voltage reading at the battery terminals? You'll need a digital volt meter to get an accurate reading. A fully charged battery in good condition should show 12.6 to 12.8 volts. At 12v or less, the battery is discharged.

A garage will be able to perform a load test on the battery. This should be done while the engine is running so that the charging system is checked at the same time. This will tell whether or the not the battery or alternator is bad.

The fact that the meter on the charger drops to zero amps may indicate that the battery has a dead cell or an internal short.

The solar cell chargers may help to keep battery voltage up to a fully charged state, but it's important that they have the ability to drop the charge rate off as the battery comes to a full charge. Overcharging can kill a battery.

But even in the winter with the car parked outside, a good battery should keep enough of a charge to be able to start the car after it has sat for 3 weeks. The early C4's don't have anywhere near the current drain when sitting compared to modern cars.

 

A battery charger whose output current rapidly falls to a low value indicates that the battery is fully charged. You can tell the state of charge of a car battery by measuring its terminal voltage under no load. 12.0 volts and below, discharge, charge the battery up with a battery charger. 12.9 volts and higher, fully charged and linear in between. As batteries age, their no load voltage becomes lower and lower if they are fully charged. If you battery won't hold a charge it can only be due to three reasons, 1. high leakage current when the car ign is off and 2. high battery internal leakage, 3. normal low amphour capacity that comes with age.
GM says leakage current should not exceed 50 milliamps. My 87 vette measures 27 ma. and I have no battery problems.

 

What are the symptoms when you go to start the car ? Does the engine turn over slowly or do you only hear the click sound of the starter solenoid ?? Is it possable that your battery is OK, and that your alternator is the problem ? Disconnect negative Battery terminal and then check to make sure the Bat connection at your starter is good.
If you have a digital voltmeter, you can learn alot about your battery and alternator by performing the following simple tests:

 

I have several cars on trickle chargers for over 20 years now (replace 12v at 5 years regardless of strength) and I never had a ‘boiling battery’ or failure for what it is worth.

Additionally during COVID, the entire fleet is on trickle chargers due to unfortunate inactivity.

 

I wonder how many batteries the OP has gone through in a decade ?

 

Solar Charger, Interesting, will it work?

Short answer for a Corvette, Highly Unlikely.

The average car battery has a 100 [Amp hour] capacity.
Let's assume you Loss per hour is 0.050 amp [Approximate Normal current loads when ignition is Off]
Total Daily loss 1.25 ah.
This will give you battery the best-case solution of 80 days. Realistically 40 days.

To Refill your battery, you will need a Trickle charger to replace your daily loss, "plus" normal battery internal resistance and old age.

Most AC powered Car-Battery Trickle chargers will generate 2-3 ah maximum, with automatic shut off circuit to prevent over charging.

Here is my Theory.
A Solar charger for a Car, will need to generate at least 1 ah at 14-15 volts.
Solar panels are measured in voltage and wattage.
You will need a 14-15-volt output at 1 amp or 15-20 watts minimum.
The physical size of 12-Volt 15-watt panel is about 2 x 3 feet for $140 [south American river web site]

So, in theory, you could put one of these 2x3 foot panes on your roof [best]
or inside your rear window area [poor].
If the car was parked in the Sun trunk facing South, you would get good sun for 1-3 hours per day.

I think solar would work best, if your car storage was in a non-power garage or sun-canopy and Mount multiple panels on the roof.

Regards Miles71

 

There's a button on the CTEK labeled RECOND, which means recondition. The manual says to do this once a year.

It is unclear to me what this does, and whether the battery has to be disconnected from the car before the RECOND process runs. Does RECOND run the battery down, and then back up?

I suppose I could Google for the answer, but I'm both feeling lazy and wonder if others following this thread want to know the answer.

 

Interesting question worthy of a new thread.