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Ain't clairvoyance Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Tue, 19 Jul 2005 06:47:56
In Reply to: Thanks Ari, Chris, Tue, 19 Jul 2005 06:20:26 Members see ZERO ads on the bulletin boards and get more feature. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
You said that if it sat for 3 days or so, the battery dies. It's not a great stretch to guess that it happened more than once.
It's quite common for the battery to charge really fast. You can think of the battery as a gallon jug, and the charger adds water until it is full. If the battery is dead, it should take a lot of time to fill it with water, because the charger only supplies so much current (water). Too much too fast would overheat the battery.
Now, say the jug is filled 90% full of rocks. It can only hold about a pint of water, instead of a gallon. The capacity of the battery is reduced. Yes, you can 'charge' it fast, because it doesn't take long to replenish that pint of water. But if you think of the water as what it takes to start the car, you don't have much capacity.
When a battery gets old and is discharged a bunch of times, it loses capacity. The plates get covered with sulfur oxides, which effectively seals them, reducing capacity. In effect, you've made the battery a lot smaller. It charges quick, and holds very little. And the other chemical reactions inside the battery cause it to lose the charge really fast.
As to your meter - there is a fuse in the Amps circuit to protect it. If you accidently touched both the positive and negative leads of the battery in the AMPS range, you'll blow that fuse. Or if you pulled more current than the fuse can take. That would explain why you always read 0 volts. There isn't a fuse in the Volts range. If you want to test it, find a light bulb, like a tail light bulb, and connect it in series with the meter between the meter leads while the meter is set to AMPs. Or you could just pop open the meter and check the fuse. The meter manual should tell you how to replace it.
As to batteries, I've had good luck with Interstate. I've also done OK with Die Hards, but only if I replace them every three years. Die Hards can be expensive for the Saab, so I just chase down the Interstates. They can be hard to find, but worth it.
posted by 192.249....
, Wed, 20 Jul 2005 08:37:28, Tue, 19 Jul 2005 05:26:14
, Tue, 19 Jul 2005 12:18:02, Tue, 19 Jul 2005 06:47:56 <-- Viewing This Message
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