SCALLOPED91

glbeauchamp

If you ahven't already done so, I would remove the battery tray and check to see how much, if any, acid got under the tray and on the computer housing and surrounding area. If not, I would cover the computer with plastic, check to make sure all connections were undamaged, and use water to rinse off the area..

knewblewkorvette

Definitely remove tray. Not only is the car's computer under there, so are vacuum hoses that WILL get eaten by battery acid.
Use a battery tender, not a battery charger.

c4cruiser

When you are ready to install the new battery tray, get an absorbent mat to place on the tray. Any future electrolyte leakage should get soaked up and hold it to give you time to fix things.

I have Interstate batteries in both my C4 and C5 and they are an AGM style. Never had a leak problem with that brand. The newer AC Delco "Professional Grade" batteries are also an AGM style and they will work fine in your car.

If you are going with another Optima, make sure you use a battery maintainer designed for that brand. CTEK battery maintainers will work with Optima batteries and with other AGM batteries.

JR-01

AGM batteries are less likely to leak, but since they do contain battery acid they still can. Get one of these mats to put under your next battery.
https://www.batterymart.com/p-battery-mat-black.html

Vetteman Jack

The advice to remove the tray and see how much, if any, battery acid may have spilled down onto the computer/vacuum hoses is spot on. You definitely do not want that acid to have a chance to eat away at the wires and hoses - a whole lot of problem will occur.

SCALLOPED91

SCALLOPED91

I heed your warning very closely. I think/ I thought I was doing everything perfectly fine before. After this episode, I will be going down a checklist to ensure nothing is overlooked and this type of thing is “humanly” avoided. I just found me a highly rated battery acid mat I am fixing to purchase to go along with my new battery tray. Can’t be careful enough.

SCALLOPED91

The acid spilling on that computer, the lines, and hoses was my greatest fear. I’ve ripped a car’s wiring out to replace every wire and censor in the whole thing for and Accel system and I don’t plan on willingly doing that again anytime soon. So far, so good. Nothing looks cooked under there. So, we will see.

again, thanks to everyone for whom responded to this thread. Everyone was very helpful and I truly appreciate your time and advice.

striper

You must have really cooked that battery. I have used Optima batteries for 19 years now and have never had any problems. My first one lasted 15 years, used in two different Vettes. Second one is now going on four years in the second car. You should be using a battery tender, not a charger unless you buy Optima's own charger. I didn't know an Optima could leak, I thought the purpose of them was that they couldn't.

Clancy209

JR-01

It is possible for any lead-acid battery to leak. Less likely with AGM batteries.

knewblewkorvette

I was under the same impression until I had a yellow top in my Ford Expedition when the alternator went bad. The regulator let the alternator put out over 17 volts and the battery did not like that. It cracked and acid was boiling out (the battery itself was very hot). I got lucky, the only other thing that fried was my subwoofer amp.

GCG

SCALLOPED91

jdmvette

gimp

All but the lowliest of modern chargers/tenders both charge and tend the battery. I am sure you did nothing wrong, OP.

FWIW, optima is no longer the brand name it used to be. I am sure yellow-tops are still relatively good. People seem to have trouble with the red-tops far too often. Shrug.

UM Rebel

I've got this battery. No problems.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli34dtm

GCG

Battery Tenders are microprocessor-controlled devices and follow a charging process with very distinct stages that may be named differently by each manufacturer, or may have custom tweaks, but in essence are like these:

• Initialization Mode - where the battery is tested to ensure it is working fine.
• Bulk Charge Mode - at constant current until voltage rises to a predetermined level.
• Absorption Charge Mode - at constant voltage (the one reached at the end of the previous stage) until current drops below a predetermined threshold.
• Maintenance Charge Mode - at constant voltage, but just between 0.1v to 0.5v above the normal voltage of a fully charged battery sitting at rest. This keeps the battery topped off at voltages well below the gassing voltage of a lead-acid battery.

Trickle chargers do not have the same sophisticated level of control than tenders. A trickle charger charges at a constant rate regardless of the battery state of charge.

A trickle charger will deliver a charge that is equal to the batteries rate of self-discharge plus some, and should be disconnected once a full charge has been established to avoid overcharging.

As trickle chargers, or chargers that switch to "trickle mode" at the end of their charging cycle, allow the value of the charging current to trickle down to what appears to be safe levels, the output voltage of the charger may very well rise to an unacceptably high level, sometimes even going higher than 16v depending on the charger type and the battery that is connected to it. A voltage this high is far above the gassing voltage of a lead-acid battery. Keeping a battery connected to this high level of voltage for a prolonged time may cause irreversible damages to it. In addition, overheating and pressure buildup from gassing can crack its case producing leaks, etc., or explosions and fire in extreme cases.