Jumping a car battery: that thing about not connecting the negative leads? All Crock!

[leehljp]

LIL here, and in my experience that is pretty true for aftermarket batteries, not so much for OEM batteries. I replaced the "3 year warranty" truck battery after 12 years and it turned out it was not really bad - it was the alternator (tested fine, but really was not). Might have gone another 12 years lol. I think part of the reason newer batteries seem to fail sooner is that most are "maintenance free" - so you cannot top off the water as it evaporated, which eventually causes the battery to fail. When we could top off the water once a month, batteries seemed to last much longer. Could also be other differences in technology and materials.

For my vehicles that I don't use much - lawn tractor, particularly in late fall to late spring, I hook up a Harbor Freight type of solar charger. I just last month replaced the battery that I bought from Sears back in 2004; 11 good years! I replaced my Ford Ranger's battery last year that was purchased in 2004 also. 10 good years. ON the pickup, I also had a solar charger. I didn't use the pickup that much, maybe once a week to once every two to three weeks. When I needed it, I needed it.

When I was overseas (Japan) we came home once a year for about 3 weeks. The truck and lawn tractor would set up a year without being used. This will kill a battery, almost Every year. So back in 2004, I added solar chargers when not used. One battery lasted 10 years and the other 11 years.

I noticed the last time I was in HF, they have at least 2 models of "trickle chargers" for lead acid batteries that are not used on a daily basis. I bought the better one for my daughter in Missouri to use on her lawn tractor. She keeps hers in a storage shed that has only one window, so not quite enough light for a solar charger, IMO.

Solar chargers and trickle chargers are good for seldom used vehicles and machines with lead acid batteries.

[capncarl]

My "secret" for stretching a batteries life is to never put tap water into it, only use DISTILLED water. Not purified water. I can rarely think of a case where I jumped off a dead battery that there was not battery post corrosion involved.
capncarl

[capncarl]

leehljp..... I like solar chargers as well. The ones that I used on my houseboat that was sheltered under a metal roof worked well with little direct sunlight. One window with partial sunlight may well be enough to keep the battery happy. Has anyone used solar chargers from HF? Quite a price difference from them and the ones at the boat shops.
capncarl

[leehljp]

Has anyone used solar chargers from HF? Quite a price difference from them and the ones at the boat shops.
capncarl

My first solar charger back in 2004 was not from HF. Don't remember where I got it, but for the second one for my lawn tractor was from HF and I used it until early 2011. I bought 2 HF solar chargers since then and they are still working fine. They are easy to check to see if they are charging; there is a blue diode/led that blinks slowly when it is charging.