USE CODE: GJP99PYB - This Amazon Pick is Recommended by Saabnet.com!
Site News - 6/4: Advertising Position/Commission Available | 5/10: Members: Log In to See Fewer Ads!
[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

95 Bulletin Board
1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only

[Main 95 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
battery death is most often a case of murder 3 Saabers Like This Post!
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by bobc [Email] (#473) [Profile/Gallery] (more from bobc) on Mon, 24 Feb 2020 13:25:18 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Hmm...could alternator have killed this Bosch early?, NCCaniac [Profile/Gallery] , Mon, 24 Feb 2020 09:50:20
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

TLDR: Yes your alternator could certainly be guilty of murdering your battery. more on that below.


Side note, I traditionally hated Walmart batteries, for a time they were bonafide crap. But in the last 5 years or so I've come around. But they are now made by Johnson controls and are decent batteries and have an excellent warranty.

I believe that Optima batteries are also made by Johnson controls.

I believe that Bosh batteries are made by Exide

(there are rather few actual manufacturers of battery lead acid batteries)

Battery death:
- catastrophic death: A battery can die from plate failure. This is sudden and rare. the mounting structure fails and one plate touches, shorts out against, an adjacent plate. You may have experienced this: a dead battery but a jump start has no effect. in order to start the car you have to take the failed batt out of the current path, usually just disconnect the neg and clip the jumper cable to the neg cable directly.

- murder by neglect: (neglected by the charge source, not neglected by the owner). This is a slow death. if the charge current is too small, either due to a failing alternator, a failed regulator that over-regulating, or high resistance in the wiring between the batt and the alternator, the battery will charge very slowly and spend too much time in a discharged state. On short trip will will not even recover the charge that was lost from starting and running.

With any lead acid battery, the more time it spends discharged, the more sulfation will act on the lead plates. This will slowly suffocate the battery, until it can no longer start the car.

- boiled to death: if the charge current is too high, the reaction at the plates will be be too fast and the electrolyte will boil off. you can hear it happening. there is a nasty side effect of the release of explosive hydrogen gas. This is usually the cause of a failed regulator that is under-regulating (and allowing a very high voltage to pass to the batteries)

- old age: batteries can simply die of old age. this is what we hope for in our batteries ... to live a good life, and die with dignity.

I'd say that Murder by neglect is the most common scenario for our cars. A fairly high "always on" drain combined with less than stellar charge wiring means that our alternator and regulator need to be at 100%. Once they start to degrade, the car starts to face a charge deficit leading to premature sulfation and inevitable suffocation and death.

side note: the regulator is built into the alternator and not replaceable. but I have occasionally toyed with the idea of installing an external, high end, voltage regulator. It would be an interesting experiment ... if it weren't for the constraints of time and money. 
_______________________________________
'08 9⁵ 2.3T SportCombi, Polar White
'01 9⁵ Aero Midnight Blue (benched) 
'00 9⁵ Aero Midnight Blue (rescued)
'99 9⁵ Base model, Cosmic blue
'00 9⁵ Aero Silver (RIP - transmission )
Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
 Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).
Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)



StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2025 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)
This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot


Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!