I recently bought a 12 volt battery for my 18year old riding lawn mower and then the engine finally died beyond the point of no return. How do I stor e said battery for about 1 to 2 years before taking said mower to the scrap yard? Thanks for any reply Herb
Store it in a warm spot if you can. There are also battery maintainers available. Bikers use them to keep the motorcycle batteries happy during the winter. I'm not sure about the cost of battery maintainers. It might exceed the price of the battery. Farmers generally just leave them by their power units or in the equipment outside. Some disconnect one of the terminals to prevent a slow drain down. A combine might not run for about ten months at a time without any serious problems.
Why will it take you two years to scrap the lawnmower? Why so you want to preserve the battery for that period of time (instead of discarding it or putting it to use in some *other* device before the mower is scrapped)?
How much do you have invested in the battery? I.e., is it really
*worth* anything to that (yet unnamed) potential future use?Is the battery sealed/"maintenance free"? If you can drain the electrolyte ("acid") from the cells and store it *separately*, you can preserve the battery almost indefinitely. Then, refill it and use it immediately.
Remove the battery from the machine. Store it in a cool cellar, which does not freeze. Sit the battery on wood, not cement floor.
Might want to put the purchase receipt in a plastic Ziploc or similar bag, and store near (but not touching) the battery.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
In my experience, batteries deteriorate. Draining and storing the electrolyte separately would be a good way to prevent that.
If the battery is a 12 Volt Gel Cell, I suggest keeping it connected to a "Battery Tender Plus" when not in use. It will maintain an unused battery for an extended period, but not forever.
You might be surprised how much some Gel Cell batteries cost. My Honda generator uses a Yuasa battery that is also used in some motorcycles. I found one at a Yamaha motorcycle shop for half the Honda price, but it was still expensive!
Fred
IME, many "tenders" are cheaply designed -- little more than a transformer and a diode (counting on the transformer windings to limit current). As line voltage fluctuates, so will the output "float" voltage of such a device. "Overcharging" is a surefire way of toasting a battery prematurely. Unless *you* (or the circuit) are carefully monitoring the *actual* voltage, all bets are off.
["batteries" are notoriously hard to charge as you tend to only be dealing with two terminals (by definition, a battery is more than once *cell*). So, if any single cell goes wonky, the charging algorithm for the entire battery is faulted.]Ever buy SLA's for a powerchair? :>
NO!!! Store in a cool dry spot.
The warmer it is the faster it self discharges. Store it off the ground, preferably on a dry wooden shelf in your cold room if you have one. Wooden shelf is non conductive, acid resistant, and will not draw heat from the battery. Storing the battery on a concrete floor or metal shelf is not recommended - and no, I don't need a lesson on how it's an old wive's tale that storing batteries on concrete will kill them. I didn't say that. I just answered the question - what is the BEST way to store a lead acid battery.
And make sure it is a real automatic battery maintainer, not a cheap chinese "trickle charger" sold as a battery maintainer. A standard battery charger on a timer set to charge at 2 amp rate for ten minutes once a week will do the job
A "battery disconnect switch" is a good idea for equipment that is not used for long periods of time.
Letting the plates dry out can be a good way to totally screw up the battery. It's not quite like a new "dry charged" battery
What I was thinking and didn't express well is to keep it from freezing. A basement is what I was thinking.
Exactly right.
I was a Senior Service Engineer at Enersys-Delaware and have 38 years of experience with lead acid batteries. Self-discharge will be kept to a minimum if the battery is stored cool. The battery should be recharged about every six months and will last for many, many years.
I actually have a battery that's over 20 years old that still has capacity. Though it's not likely you will get 20 years of storage, if it's kept cool and periodically charged, it will last a darn long time.
Now that is correct. Note: the freezing point of a charged lead acid battery is colder than 32F however but I would not store one quite that cold.
A fully charged lead acid battery may be good down to -70F but if it's fully discharged it will freeze near 32F
Years ago, (western NYS) I had a vehicle battery in unheated shed. The day I needed it, frozen solid. Ought have stored indoors.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
You can buy it a battery blanket so it doesn't shiver
If you're gonna leave the charger connected when not energized, make sure you measure the leakage current back thru the charger and factor that into your charging schedule. I discovered that the hard way when the truck wouldn't start.
On 9/9/2015 9:38 PM, mike whimpered:
I left a harbor freight trickle charger on a marine battery. Few months later, a quart and a half of water had disappeared, and the battery didn't work after that.
That's what I recommended. But not everywhere equipment is stored has power - and a simple battery disconnect eliminates ALL external draw from the equipment.
I think you do need a lesson, because there is nothing wrong with storing a battery on a concrete floor and putting it on a shelf is no better. You also contradicted yourself, first saying that a cool place is better, then saying that a wooden shelf is better because it won't draw heat from the battery. Also, a wood shelf isn't battery acid resistant either and whether it's conductive or not isn't an issue.
IME, the bigger issue wrt storing a battery (lead acid) is what you put under/around it to *protect* the other things near to it. People seem to like to set batteries in cardboard boxes -- easy to move them around without having to *handle* the battery!
But, those boxes end up deteriorating over time. Any water that gets into the room (garage) -- e.g., rainwater dripping off a car, snow melt, etc. -- seems to get drawn to the box like a magnet!
I keep my (extra) batteries in plastic "battery cases". These make it easy to move the battery without handling it directly. I can lift one into a car without worrying that there is acid on the underside that will eat the carpet in the vehicle, etc.
They also are impervious to "rotting" from battery acid, moisture, etc. And, they *look* a bit classier than just having batteries "lying around"! :>
Too bad putting Trader on a kill-list doesn't stop me from having to put up with his replies when someone replies to him.
Wood is not acid PROOF but it is acir resistant. We always used wood shelves for battery servicint and storage - and the reference to concrtete "drawing the heat" from the battery was in regards to acid stratification - which is a real issue whether Trader believes it or not.
As long as you are giving lessons. . . .
Don't store the battery on the living room carpet in back of the chair by the door.
Many years ago I had a weak battery (in my '64 Karmen Ghia) and was stretching its life until payday. On some cold nights I'd bring it in the house to keep it warm. You can probably figure out the rest.
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