How do you store battery?

**evag** · December 27th, 2012 11:02 AM

Hello and Happy Holidays to everyone,
I was out of town when my wife called telling me the car won't start. In her haste, she called motolite for a delivery pero hindi pa rin nag start. She then called for a mechanic and it turned out it was a faulty starter relay.Since the old battery is more than 2 years na, she opted to accept the delivered battery. So can anyone offer an advice how to properly store a car battery? Would it be practical to use the old battery ( considering malakas pa naman) and just store the new one until the first one gave up? Thanks very much!!

**yebo** · December 27th, 2012 02:05 PM

pwede. you will need to place the battery on wood, in a dry place but with ventillation. the wood is very important! kasi pag pinatong mo sa semento it damages the battery beyond repair, mag-flake off ang plates. i can't explain it but believe me subok ko na yan. patong mo sa semento/ground kahit 24 hours lang and sigurado yan madali na ma-discharge ang battery. more than 2 days nakapatong sa semento di na macha-charge ulit, bumabatak ng amperes sa charger pero disconnect mo yung charger tapos 1 hour lang wala na ulit ang charge. tapos pag i-check mo bitak-bitak na yung battery plates. pero pag nakapatong sa dry wood kahit 6 months pa yan di mawawala ang charge at di masisira ang battery. pwede din yung styropor na packaging nya instead of wood. rubber gasket/matting does not work as well as wood or styro.

**Retz** · December 27th, 2012 02:24 PM

store it in a secure, enclose safe place.

**evag** · December 27th, 2012 03:00 PM

Sir Yebo/ Sir Retz,
Advice well noted, thanks very much. On second thought, might as well use the new one since waranty for it has to be considered. If this would be the case, is it okey to store the old one the way it is or have it recharged bago i-store?

**bobzy** · December 27th, 2012 06:54 PM

I think i'll also have opinions here in mind, lagi na discharge yung battery of my car.
palibhasa ako lang talaga gumagamit ng car pag nasa vacation ako...

would you peeps believe going 3 years na yung car 5k+ pa lang odo? I'll keep an eye on this thread

**Retz** · December 27th, 2012 07:00 PM

Another thing with car maintenance type battery, don't add the electrolyte solution to the battery. just let it separate when storing.

**CVT** · December 27th, 2012 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by yebo

pwede. you will need to place the battery on wood, in a dry place but with ventillation. the wood is very important! kasi pag pinatong mo sa semento it damages the battery beyond repair, mag-flake off ang plates. i can't explain it but believe me subok ko na yan. patong mo sa semento/ground kahit 24 hours lang and sigurado yan madali na ma-discharge ang battery. more than 2 days nakapatong sa semento di na macha-charge ulit, bumabatak ng amperes sa charger pero disconnect mo yung charger tapos 1 hour lang wala na ulit ang charge. tapos pag i-check mo bitak-bitak na yung battery plates. pero pag nakapatong sa dry wood kahit 6 months pa yan di mawawala ang charge at di masisira ang battery. pwede din yung styropor na packaging nya instead of wood. rubber gasket/matting does not work as well as wood or styro.

Hhhmmmmm.... Could it be that because the earth is ONE BIG GROUND, bro?....

17.7K:santas:

**yebo** · December 27th, 2012 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by CVT

Hhhmmmmm.... Could it be that because the earth is ONE BIG GROUND, bro?....

17.7K:santas:

yes it's one big ground, but the battery has a casing and it's supposed to be an insulator. kaya nga di ko ma-explain bakit nagdi-discharge at nasisira ang plates e.

*bobzy: disconnect mo both terminals of the battery. yun ginagawa ko nuon sa car ko sa US since 39 days ako wala lagi (offshore work). or like my post above remove it and place it on top of dry wood blocks.

**lowslowbenz** · December 27th, 2012 08:41 PM

I normally disconnect my batteries when the cars are in storage, but they are still left inside the cars. I upgraded my battery terminals to "quick-release" types basically for this purpose. Once a month I check on battery voltage, if I get a voltage lower than 12.7, I hook up that battery with a portable charger.

When storing batteries in off-car situations, be sure that the battery is fully charged before storage. Storage area should be well ventilated, cool, dry, and away from direct sunlight. The aforementioned block of wood is necessary, batteries need to be fully insulated from the earth so that they don't discharge.

Or, make yourself a battery tender. See here: Making a Battery Tender?.Give Your Tired Bike A Jolt!

My 2 cents.