Raising Battery Voltage

[securespark]

Perhaps someone would tell me whether I have a cat in heck's chance of doing this:

I have a kaput car battery outside at 1 degree C. Its voltage is 1.34V.

My CTEK MXS 5.0 will not charge unless the battery voltage hits 2V.

I am using a hairdryer to warm the battery.

After 9 minutes, the battery voltage has risen from 1.34 - 1.5V. Enough to power my calculator, but not the charger...

How long (indeed, if ever) will it take to hit 2V?

 

[Robin0577]

It's possible that the battery is beyond charging anyway, but I think you're going to have to use an old fashioned "dumb" car battery charger at least to start off with if you're going to have any chance.

Either that or find some way to "fool" the clever charger into seeing more than 2v.......

 

[JohnW2]

It's possible that the battery is beyond charging anyway, but I think you're going to have to use an old fashioned "dumb" car battery charger at least to start off with if you're going to have any chance. Either that or find some way to "fool" the clever charger into seeing more than 2v.......

Yes, I agree with all that. As for the 'fooling', one could presumably temporarily put some other appropriate battery in series with it, if the problem is that the charger refuses to work unless it sees at least 2V?

However, as Robin implies, I think we may well be talking about a lost cause!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Might help to check your electrolyte strength as well. If its a sealed for life battery then you're totally stuffed. If not sealed for life you used to be able to get tablets to perk the electrolyte up a bit.
But if I was honest, I'd say a reading of 1.34v would say the battery is deader than a dead thing that has died.

Time to bite the bullet and replace the battery. A battery in good condition should survive a bit of a chilling.

 

[Robin0577]

But if I was honest, I'd say a reading of 1.34v would say the battery is deader than a dead thing that has died.

You never can tell, I got our 24v truck battery (ok, 2x12 in series) back from below 4v a couple of weeks ago.

 

[securespark]

But if I was honest, I'd say a reading of 1.34v would say the battery is deader than a dead thing that has died.

A battery in good condition should survive a bit of a chilling.

It has been discharging slowly for eight months.... don't ask....

CTEK state that 2V is required in the battery to operate the charger. It's a good quality Bosch Silver battery only 18 months old.

 

[securespark]

Up to 1.90V.

Don't know what the leccy bill looks like, though...

 

[Aragorn84]

Bring it in the house to warm up and leave it for some hours and see if it recovers.

I had something similar with a bosch silver in my parents old E30. They'd flattened it by leaving a light on, and then left it for weeks (with the light still on). My "smart" charger refused to charge it and the volt meter registered similarly low voltages.

disconnected it from the car and brought it indoors for a few hours and the voltage rose enough that the charger would engage.

Once charged it worked perfectly for over a year before we sold the car.

 

[Spark123]

Have you tried jump starting it?

 

[ericmark]

I am a total butcher and I would clip on the battery charger then add a set of jump leads and connect to a good battery long enough to start the charge.

One does need to be careful with lead acid batteries you can charge them in reverse and a 2 volt threshold does seem a good idea.

I have got back to life a totally discharged battery it is time rather than voltage which is the big decider. Over time the sulphur becomes hard and the process become irreversible but always worth a try.

I have seen the add pellets to get batteries working again but I am not convinced they work. The trickle charge over weeks seems to be the answer.

As an auto electrician I have had many batteries to decide on if they will be OK or not and in the main the answer is smell. Seems odd I know but the smell of a battery on charge is the best indications as to if it is going to work OK.

However to describe the smell well can't think of the words. It is really down to many years in the trade and not something I can write on a forum.

 

[SaladFingers]

The battery has possibly sulphated by now.

 

[securespark]

Aragorn: cannot bring it in - the bolt is siezed!

123: not yet, but will do if this fails...

eric / salad: it is sulphated, no doubt, but the charger has a special reconditioning mode that will desulphate.

From CTEK's website:

The MXS 5.0 is a charger that offers state of the art technology that was previously only found in CTEK’s professional product range. The charger can solve a broad range of battery-related problems and is the perfect charger for those with high demands. The MXS 5.0 offers features such as battery diagnosis that shows if a battery can receive and retain a charge, a special reconditioning function that restores stratified and deeply discharged batteries, unique maintenance charging, a mode for optimised charging during cold winter days and the charging of demanding AGM batteries (i.e. Optima). The unique display allows the user to follow the entire charging process.

The MXS 5.0 is a fully automatic 8-step charger that delivers selectable 0.8A or 5A to 12V batteries from 1,2-110Ah and is suitable for maintenance charging up to 160Ah. The charger is IP 65 classified (splash and dust proof), designed to protect vehicle electronics and non-sparking, reverse polarity protected and short-circuit proof. It is delivered with a 5-year warranty.

I got it up to 1.96V then stuck the charger on it.

So far, so good. I'll keep you updated.

 

[ricicle]

Don't let it happen again otherwise it will you being charged with neglect of a battery. Naughty boy !

 

[mattylad]

"Sealed for life" ?
While I may not see that many car batteries, every one that I have seen that says it is sealed and no maintenance has access to the electrolyte access plugs under the sticker on the top.

 

[RF Lighting]

Have you got a little SLA battery possibly off an old burglar alarm you could wire in parallel with the car battery just to get the charger going?