[AT] Having battery problems--so how to fix?

[John Hall]

I guess the severity of the winter plays into the problem. Avg. winter days 
here are around 50 deg with night temps around the freezing mark. Battery 
problems from sitting in storage have never been a problem.  We seem to run 
into more dead batteries in the summer. We just leave batteries in 
everything and try not to let anything sit over 2-3 months without being 
cranked up. I guess we are far more fortunate than you guys living in areas 
where it doesn't get above freezing for a few weeks at the time.

John


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Wilkens" <jwilkens at eoni.com>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 9:55 PM
Subject: [AT] Having battery problems--so how to fix?


> Say you have 6 old tractors sitting outside through the winter and they 
> all have batteries in various conditions,   how's the best way to preserve 
> them for use the next season?   I've heard different things about this but 
> never paid much attention.    I assume you would take them out of the 
> tractors and:
> 1)  Put them on a wooden surface (heard that somewhere)?    2)  Charge 
> them up good and then leave them alone for say a month and then recharge 
> them?     3)  Keep them on a trickle charger all winter?    4)  Let them 
> drain off about 1/2 charge before recharging ?   5) Alternate between 
> trickle charging and regular battery charger charging?    6)  Or ????? 
> Another thing...I heard you could take an older weak battery and hook it 
> up to 40 or 60 amps for a short time to "rattle the plates" to revive 
> them.  Any truth in that?   (I tried it once on a shot battery and all it 
> did was heatup the battery and totally kill it).    Whatever.  Over the 
> years I've had pretty good luck with Cat batteries....both 6 and 12 volt. 
> John W.
>
>                    In the wide-open spaces of NE Oregon
>
>
>