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We live in the city with very expensive parking. We have two cars, once which I dont use at all and hence park it far away in a free parking spot. I havent used it for two months at a time in the last year and everytime the car battery dies. I have to jump start it but now its not even jump starting using my other car. Last time I had to call a jump start help company who somehow managed to start it in 5 minutes while I could not with my car. I think all the jump starting has destroyed the battery.
I have a few questions?
1. Can I not jump start the batter but slowly charge it. Is there such a charger available?
2. Is there a way that I can use a battery charger maintainer or something similar that I can hook up to the batter every month or so to maintain the battery..
I would like to point out that I park the car on the street and hence there are no charging terminals nearby. Hence it has to be a battery charger/maintainer.
You hang it in a windows(preferably South facing), and plug into cig lighter.
BTW, sometimes when jump-starting, you need to let the good car charge up the weak battery before trying to start the engine. Maybe 3 - 5 minutes depending on how dead the one is.
You can put it on wood blocks( not concrete) then use a maintainer like Battery Tender constantly. I use one for my lawn mower battery when not in use. Guys I know with motorcycles and limited use hot rods do same. Do not forget check water; if not maintenance free.
Take it home with you and put it on a Battery maintainer. If you keep it in the car try using a solar powered battery maintainer. In any case make certain all the connections are clean and tight before you try to jump start the stored vehicle. Also buy a digital multimeter and learn how to use it. If the battery is below 10vdc put on the jumper cables and let it charge to around 12 vdc. Then try to start the car. Once the car is running the battery voltage should be 14.6 vdc while charging and about 12 vdc with the engine shut off.
Why do you have this car if you use it very little? It might be cheaper overall to sell this car and rent one when you need a second car.
Best solution is get rid of the car. Rent one when you need to. Problem solved.
Second best solution is going to either needless drive the car once a month or so for a good distance (a good idea for more than just the battery) and/or remove the battery and take it with you and put it on a tender at your apartment.
Getting rid of the car makes the most sense to me.
We thought about getting rid of the car but the apartment living is just a temp solution till we can find a house. If we sell this car and then will have to buy one when we live in the suburbs it will be an expensive endeavor. We have not been able to find a house in the area we prefer for 6 months now...low inventory
I will think about a long term solution like getting the solar powered tender (although I live in Seattle so not sure how effective this will be), but for now what is my best solution to start the car?
a. Jump Start: I tried to do this with my other car this morning. The batter was completely dead, no door open light..nothing...I tried for 30 minutes, the lights all came on, but the car wont start. I think its the battery and not problem with the car.
b. Charge the battery: I can get the car and park it in my building garage on Sunday and hook a batter charger to one of the plug points. In such a case which charger would you guys recommend?
You can put it on wood blocks( not concrete) then use a maintainer like Battery Tender constantly. I use one for my lawn mower battery when not in use. Guys I know with motorcycles and limited use hot rods do same. Do not forget check water; if not maintenance free.
That was true a long time ago when battery cases not made of plastic, could swell over time, now it can easily be stored on concrete. There is no way a battery will discharge to concrete. Only thing that could happen is if the case leaks, the acid will slowly destroy the concrete.
I have stored and charged my deep cycle trailer battery on concrete for years, and nothing has happened to them.
My suggestion to the OP is just to disconnect the negative battery cable and let it sit. Just make sure it is fully charged, if in the winter, and it can sit for many months and never drain. However, if not fully charged in the freezing winter cold months, the battery can freeze.
Jumping didn't kill your battery, letting it drain repeatedly did.
Disconecting and solar maintainers are both good solutions.
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