Battery on concrete.....
- Thread starter inkjunkie
- Start date
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zkx14
Duster De-ruster
Correct, but probably overkill, and not doing your electric bill any favors. It's not going to freeze unless it is near dead. An occasional charge to top it off should keep it well out of freeze danger. If the battery is healthy, I would think a couple times through the winter would be plenty. If it needs more than that, it's near scrap time anyway.
inkjunkie
Well-Known Member
Thing is I am talking about a bike battery here. And a bike that until I put compression releases in needs damn near every bit of the battery it can get....
marksmopars
Well-Known Member
A concrete slab acts as a capacitor and when you set your battery on it you effectively put a "load" on the battery as the battery is constantly charging the capacitor. This will result in discharging your battery faster then if it sits on would which effectively isolates the concrete capacitor from the battery circuit. It is true, but note it will not happen real fast and any battery will discharge if left to sit. You should never let a battery sit for more than 6 months maximum without charging it or it will fail.
What acts as the conductor that delivers the charge from the battery to the capacitor, since the battery case, itself, is designed to act as an insulator?
ramcharger
Dismember
Why didn't you say so?
Standard lead acid motorcycles batteries can last 3-4 years if maintained properly. Check the fluid level on a monthly basis and only fill with distilled water. Tap water and well water has a high mineral content that'll kill a battery in less than a year. When not in use, put on a 1-6 amp charger for about 6 hours once a month or on a battery tender for the day and you should be good to go. Never use more than a 10 amp charger on a low battery, it'll boil right over.
If you have a maintenance free battery (AGM..Absorbed Glass Mat), get a charger with setting for such, they charge at a different rate. Everthing else above applies minus checking fluid levels. They are making Lithium Ion batteries for bikes now. Much lighter weight and way more CCA. I haven't used one yet, so I can't really comment too much on them.
Robbie2734
Lambcharger
Just one more opinion, the metal tray your battery sits on in the car is grounded to the body. Wouldn't it go dead in the car much quicker if there was any truth in the old wives tale???
Correct.....i am sure it would discharge faster through the metal then concrete...but those old wives tales are great ......LOL
inkjunkie
Well-Known Member
It is an AGM battery.....Why didn't you say so?
Standard lead acid motorcycles batteries can last 3-4 years if maintained properly. Check the fluid level on a monthly basis and only fill with distilled water. Tap water and well water has a high mineral content that'll kill a battery in less than a year. When not in use, put on a 1-6 amp charger for about 6 hours once a month or on a battery tender for the day and you should be good to go. Never use more than a 10 amp charger on a low battery, it'll boil right over.
If you have a maintenance free battery (AGM..Absorbed Glass Mat), get a charger with setting for such, they charge at a different rate. Everthing else above applies minus checking fluid levels. They are making Lithium Ion batteries for bikes now. Much lighter weight and way more CCA. I haven't used one yet, so I can't really comment too much on them.
Oklacarcollecto
Life is an experiment
Think this out. What is between the car and the concrete? Rubber tires that insulate the car from the ground. That is why they tell you to never exit a car if you are in if there are power lines down on it.
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
No, it does not. All batteries "self discharge." It's called "chemical reaction." A cold charged battery discharges SLOWER than a warm battery.
What the battery is sitting on has nothing to do with it.
zkx14
Duster De-ruster
In that case the only thing I would add is be sure to freshen it up before hand when its lookin like time to ride.
If it could get to the metal....Electricity takes the path of least resistance. Like was said earlier it isn't going to the metal or concrete through the plastic case. Where is 'the least resistance'? Unless it is hooked up in a circuit, the least resistance path is either between the terminals (through dirt moisture or both) or internally! Gel batteries will have much lower internal discharge than wet cells. So, no matter where you keep it it will go dead if you don't charge it.
Oklacarcollecto
Life is an experiment
The actual statement about not having batteries on concrete came from when they were made with the tar-lined wooden box. Needless to say that was in the early 1900s so at that time it was supposed to be accurate. With todays battery cases it is no longer accurate. How many have ever seen a tar-lined wooden battery case?
zkx14
Duster De-ruster
Oh. One more thing to add. I'm not sure if it's even possible to Freeze a gel cell.
zkx14
Duster De-ruster
I've seen house batteries with glass cell jars set in wood cases, but can't say that I've seen a car battery from that era
Nite Moves
Well-Known Member
Folklore crap..............Ive replaced 3 batterys in 51/2 years on my wifes ATV because i forget to pull it and bring it home for the winter. Its on rubber tires and sits on a wooden floor in our shed up North. I brought the battery home last year and didnt charge it and it turned the ATV over in the spring. It was inside in the basement on a shelf..WARM. Flippin cold does wounders on them. Mind you being in the great white north dont help..LOL
65cuda360
Well-Known Member
My father worked for Gould National batteries for most of the 60's. He got a better offer and went to work as a rep. for sealed power from 68 to 75, then opened up the parts store that I grew up in. The batteries we sold were stored out in an unheated garage except for a few on a display rack. The ones in the garage sat on a concrete floor under a row of shelving stocked with mufflers. Early on we would pull the caps and check specific gravity on each cell every few months. Later, the maint. free stuff we would check with an eletronic meter that would read the gravity [I got less holes in my jeans this way]. Rarely would a battery be down on charge, if it was, it had usually been in stock too long and the sales rep would take it back and freshen up our stock. If I had a nickel for every time someone brought up the concrete floor issue, I'd need a new belt!
True on the batteries you can bust with a hammer not the plastic Batteries.
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