Dead battery? Help.

11087 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by joefromga, Jul 7, 2016

nc rick

Discussion Starter · Jul 3, 2016

I have tried to do a search. Surely someone before me has done this? Our van has been sitting for a couple weeks and it seems my battery is dead. I opened the hood, connected a volt meter to the jumper point and get 5 volts. Got out my trusty battery charger and, it's weird, the voltage is switching or something. I'm trying about a half amp charge. Don't want to try to jump it, in case something else is going on. Any pointers? I went up to the van and opened the doors via the key buttons. It wouldn't re lock. Also, no cargo light. I am not totally sure what's going on. Input appreciated. Thanks in advance, Rick

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Budsky

· #2 · Jul 3, 2016

Hi Rick!
Are you using a "smart charger"?
I ask because some of them don't work well bringing a truly dead battery up. I've even seen some incorrectly "assume" it is a 6V battery and won't charge past that point.
The old fashioned ones that are just a transformer and rectifier seem to do better in the truly dead case. Then when you get it near 12V use the smart charger to finish or not if you aren't using that type.

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Budsky

· #5 · Jul 4, 2016

I'd keep the current low- say no more than a few amps and see if it comes up overnight. If not the battery may be shot.
Seems to be a fair number of people on here that have had bad batteries.

The rejuvenator or desulfator Eddie mentioned may work but they are typically slow- many desulfators I've played with take weeks or more to revive a battery if they work at all.

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