STRANDED AT WORK battery/charging system

[streetpirate]

just got a new optima red top at costco.
it was uncharged (i think some places charge their batteries before they sell them to you)
i charged it for a few hours, installed it sunday. drove around sunday ~80 miles or so. everything fine.
~35 to work on monday, everything fine.
after that everything went to hell.
started smelling sulfer, thought it might have been the trucker i gave a ride to,
but the smell persisted long after i dropped off the trucker. this morning, the battery was dead. jumped it with another car and i was off to work.
more bad sulfer smell.
get to work, search here and a little on google, go and lift up the hood and there the sulfer smell coming from the lightly hissing hot to the touch optima.

bad battery, bad alternator, or voltage regulator?

oh, forgot to mention running im only showing 12v (on gauge inside not with a voltage tester) when running, and about 9 when its off, this has been this way ever since i put in the new battery.

 

[streetpirate]

ive got it unhooked now. just in case

 

[cal]

sounds like a bad battery. if you were local i'd drop a spare off for you. maybe someone local to you can give you a hand.

-C

 

[streetpirate]

i just called optima, they said their not sure what would make it do that unless its being overcharged, and my voltage gauge never shows over 12v. they said it may be bad and to have costco load test it.

 

[XgeekstarX]

all batteries are charged off the shelf except for motorcycle batteries

 

[streetpirate]

i thought is was strange that it wasnt charged, ive never seen it before.
ill call costco at 10 when they open and drill them for info.

 

[cal]

When I bought my jeep, I got it for $700 because it was doing exactly what you describe. The kid that sold it to me KNEW it wasnt the battery, because he had just replaced it (it was just not starting before). Interestingly, he had a costco optima in it as well. The local 4wd shop swears costco optima's are not the same as what you buy elsewhere, i havent looked into it yet - maybe gcurtis will chime in (thats his industry).

I had the sulfer smell, wouldnt start, low amperage. Replaced the battery and it ran like a champ for 6 or 8 months, then i had to replace the altenator.

-Cal

 

[streetpirate]

yeah i called my dad about it and he is thinking its the diodes in the alternator that are causing it to overcharge the battery and still only show 12v when charging.

 

[cal]

From Grant Curtis at Force Batteries:

I can't post from work ..

Here, post this for me:

The smell of sulfur around a battery is a bad sign that the battery is old. Sulfation is the chemical process that starts when a battery is low of charge, starved of charge or under charged. It crystalizes on the grids and reduces the chemical paste used to create CCA.

When you smell it or see that the battery is "chubby", it is deep into the process. Your battery was most likely sitting on a shelf for some time, unrotated or recharged, before you got it. This most likely explains the "needing a charge", as the battery wasn't charged as it should have been when on shelf, keeping the sulfation process at bay.

Return it and get another; that is a warrantable battery and the retailer screwed up.

 

[streetpirate]

perfect, i borrowed the bosses truck and got my old battery from home so i can drive the heep home tonight. dropped the optima off with my dad and he's taking it back today and exchanging it.(he had the recipt and its his costco card) so all is well.

crossed fingers

 

[TiRod]

Keep us posted.
Battery rotation has been a big deal at automotive parts suppliers for decades. Pennys, Wards, Autozone, and now O'rielly have all insisted I keep the oldest batteries up front, recharge the ones not moving, and even relabel the real old dogs as no warranty. "My" store turns over Optimas often enough it's no issue (- they have a two year shelf life. ) Still, it may not be your store's fault much if the regional warehouse shipped it to them out of date, if it was.
Still, the general trend to discount commodity items and sell diverse product lines will ensure things like this will keep happening. It's been my experience with Sam's Club, so I now avoid them and their big brother.

Driving a heep, too.

 

[RichP]

Actually alot of parts stores sell standard batterys with no liquid in them at all. I've bought both motorcycle and lawntractor batterys like this as well as a couple of car batterys. It did get to be a PIA getting rid of the unused water/acid bags cause they always put more in the bag than you need...
When I bought the optimas for our jeeps I checkd the date on them and they were only 2 months old which is pretty good for this area where most don't buy optimas...

 

[xjgrn]

No matter what you use for the battery, You bought the Xj with a charging problem, and didnt check a thing. gauges dont always tell the truth, Dead batteries usually never smell, but overcooked, overcharged batteries do. BTW truck drivers may smell from time to time, due to a lack of available showers. So unless he was farting his brains out, I doubt it was him!More than liikey the alt. has gone south.