I have my baby put away for the winter. I have an Optima red top battery. I have had it on a 1 amp trickle charger all winter.

Last week I took the charger off to put it on my motorcycle for a week or so. Today I took the cover off, opended the door and my battery is stone dead.

I put the big charger on it, at 10 amps, and it's showing almost a full charge, and I got nothing on the dash or inside.

What's going on?

And how do I fix this??

 

You might want to check your battery connections. If the battery isn't dead, yet you have no power to th car I would suspect your ground cable isn't grounding.

Good Luck

 

You might be using the term "trickle charger" in a generic sense. Most owners who need to store their vehicles for long durations w/o driving them use a float maintenance charger. It charges the battery to full power, then "sleeps" until the battery needs to be charged again.
The most popular is usually a BATTERY TENDER PLUS (1.25 amp) or BATTERY TENDER JR (.75 amp) by DELTRAN CORPORATION.
Another popular maintenance charger is a CTEK, which comes from Europe.
Maybe your "trickle charger" has failed? Did it charge the motorcycle battery? Is it a generic off shore made charger? Some of those are popular because of their low cost compared to above (HARBOR FREIGHT or WALMART), but they might not have the electronic protections of above.
Maybe the "one week or so" period that you used your "trickle charger" on your motorcycle was enough to deplete your battery charge, especially during the cold winter? The C5/Z06 cars have lots of electronics to maintain.
Maybe you have a parasitic drain somewhere? Not many accessory laden C5/Z06 batteries can survive not being charged for extended periods and have abnormal parasitic draw. Do you have an alarm system or high end stereo system installed in the car? Did you leave your hatch, hood open or glove box open that could have drawn down battery power? I think they should have gone off after a period of time by design...but, it's possible.
Maybe the battery has failed? OPTIMA has a good warranty. While some owners don't like them, I've used them since before they were available to the public and never had one fail. Mine are always on a BATTERY TENDER PLUS unless it's a daily driver.
If you go to the OPTIMA website, you should find that they do not recommend high amp charges as the heat destroys the battery.

 

Thank's for the help. It's in a heated shop, and shouldn't be too hard on the battery. I'll go down in the morning and clean up the clamps and ground, they sure look clean.

[I'll play around with a volt meter and see what kind of drain I have on the 'lectric system.

Thanks again.

 

 

I've killed a few Optima batteries with the wrong battery chargers as well.

I killed a yellow top by letting it sit in the car stored too long, then I killed a red top with a battery tender that basically cooked the battery.

Now I have the ultimate battery maintenance device. I let my car sit for months at a time with this connected to it.

When I uncover my car and unplug the BatteryMINDer it fires right up every time. No damage to my red top.

I got this a few years ago and I absolutely love it. It is very small and sits on the edge of the garage floor. One plug to the wall and two aligator battery clamps slipped thru the edge of the hood.

 

Thanks for the help.

It turned out the trickle charger was toast.

Used the big charger overnight, and she's right up now. I think I'll leave it on the bench until the car goes on the road about April 1st.

 

I can't help but think you guys are making this way too complicated.

I have been storing cars for nearly 40 years - including C5's - and the single best method I have found is simply disconnecting the battery for the winter. I know, battery tenders preserve the batteries, and I don't challenge that technology. You may get an extra year out of your battery -- big deal. However, if you are storing the car for the winter, I contend you can save yourself a lot of grief and simply disconnect the battery. In the spring, re-connect the battery and start the car. It doesn't get any simpler.

I am now in my 5th year on my Exide battery on my C5. I know there are naysayers (flame suit on) that say this is not possible, and that you must either use a battery tender or start the car during the winter months to somehow maintain the battery. My 40-year experience says otherwise.

I may not get the same life out of a battery as those that use the battery tenders (maybe 4 to 5 years vs your 5 to 6 years, but my question: Is it worth it? IMHO, the answer is no -- make your life easier -- disconnect it for the winter and walk away - and, btw, enjoy the break. I can spend the winter not worrying about my vette. I know it will start the spring and run through the summer with no issues.

That's good enough for me.

 

When you do this the car doesn't throw any codes? Do you lose your radio presets and other electronic settings? Seems like resetting everything could be more trouble than putting a battery minder on and off? Just wondering....

 

Glad you found the problem. For the next winter, get a Battery Tender Plus - works very well and has a great warranty.

 

I saw the snow at your house and think you are if you think you will be on the road April 1st.

shmoky

 

I have read so many negative posts about Optima Batteries. I don't know why they are so problematic and expensive. My Diehard has given no problems and has always cranked strong even after sitting for weeks on end so I think I won't ever spend the big bucks on an Optima.

 

I guess it depends on whether you use the car in Winter

In my case it comes out on a nice day, maybe once a week or so. Its way easier to have it hooked up than go through the hassle of refitting the battery, setting up the radio etc.

For those that store the car throughout the Winter, I'm with you. I'd just unhook it and reconnect in Spring.

 

I too fell into the Optima trap... three Red Tops in the span of ~2 years and I am back to what has been in every one of my other cars- DieHard. Currently running a DieHard Gold and no problems to speak off even after sitting in an airport parking garage a couple weeks w/o being driven (i.e. no trickle charger, tender, etc...), it fires right up.

Bag the Optima and get over the pretty red plastic and you'll have one less headache. Best of luck with whatever you decide.