Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Model A (1928-31)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-01-2018, 12:47 PM   #1
BN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Keller, Tx
Posts: 114
Default Battery

The battery in my 29 Roadster went from working fine yesterday, parked it in the garage last night, and this morning it is totally dead (0 volts). Won't take a charge. Got it from NAPA about 3 years ago. Can anyone recommend a better replacement battery?
__________________
Bill Newland
BN is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 01:21 PM   #2
Aretino
Senior Member
 
Aretino's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Dallas, TX, Angola, IN
Posts: 157
Default Re: Battery

I understand that Optima batteries are good. Im running a Rural King battery now and its 3 years old.
Aretino is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 12-01-2018, 03:16 PM   #3
J Franklin
Senior Member
 
J Franklin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 5,947
Default Re: Battery

Put your charger on it for a couple of days, it might take a charge. You haven't given it much of a chance from this morning.
J Franklin is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 04:02 PM   #4
leo
Senior Member
 
leo's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 734
Default Re: Battery

Batteries are a total crap shoot. You can get one Brand A that lasts 3 years like yours and another of the same which goes for 5 years or longer. No rhyme or reason on this topic....
leo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 04:46 PM   #5
J Franklin
Senior Member
 
J Franklin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 5,947
Default Re: Battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by leo View Post
Batteries are a total crap shoot. You can get one Brand A that lasts 3 years like yours and another of the same which goes for 5 years or longer. No rhyme or reason on this topic....
The biggest detriment to battery life is how they are maintained and used. For any specific brand they are built all the same inside from the same parts. I normally get 7-10 years out of the ones I buy.
J Franklin is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 05:16 PM   #6
BN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Keller, Tx
Posts: 114
Default Re: Battery

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
J Franklin - I've never obtained even 7 years from a battery. Would you be willing to reveal how you maintain them?
__________________
Bill Newland
BN is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 05:23 PM   #7
DHZIEMAN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Sunrise Beach, Mo
Posts: 439
Default Re: Battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by BN View Post
The battery in my 29 Roadster went from working fine yesterday, parked it in the garage last night, and this morning it is totally dead (0 volts). Won't take a charge. Got it from NAPA about 3 years ago. Can anyone recommend a better replacement battery?
What is the warranty level of the battery? 2 year, 3 year, Higher?
Is it a battery that has cells that can have distilled water added to maintain liquid level? If so, what is the level of the liquid in the cells? Add water if the cells are the type that allow water add and the water is not above the plates. If not, and the battery is sealed, put it on a slow charge overnight and see if the slow charge takes. For me being in a rural area, I tend on 6 volt batteries,( by the way, I did not ask if you are dealing with 6 or 12 volts), I tend to stick to Tractor Supply for 6 volt. They still stock 6 volt batteries for vintage tractors still being used. I replaced mine when I bought my car in 2016 and it is still going strong.
DHZIEMAN is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 05:26 PM   #8
40 Deluxe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: now Kuna, Idaho
Posts: 3,774
Default Re: Battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by J Franklin View Post
The biggest detriment to battery life is how they are maintained and used. For any specific brand they are built all the same inside from the same parts. I normally get 7-10 years out of the ones I buy.
Quality control is another big factor, I believe. Lack of maintenance usually results in gradual loss of reserve. A 3 year old battery going totally dead overnight points to faulty parts or assembly. Vibration or that last bump on the way home could have shaken something loose and the engine continued to run on the generator.
40 Deluxe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 07:00 PM   #9
mshmodela
Senior Member
 
mshmodela's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 2,763
Default Re: Battery

Interstate... Great price and mine can start my Model A 6V DC after a month in the cold without any charger needed
__________________
-Mike

Late 31' Ford Model A Tudor, Miss Daisy

I don't work on cars --I'm learning about my Model A.

Cleveland, Ohio
mshmodela is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 08:15 PM   #10
CarlG
Senior Member
 
CarlG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 9,109
Default Re: Battery

Batteries Plus is where I get my batteries now, Duracell brand.

Use to be Sears Die Hard, but their quality went down the toilet, and now they have closed all their stores around me, even more so.
__________________
Alaskan A's
Antique Auto Mushers of Alaska
Model A Ford Club of America
Model A Restorers Club
Antique Automobile Club of America
Mullins Owner's Club
CarlG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 09:14 PM   #11
30 Closed Cab PU
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 2,332
Default Re: Battery

Tractor Supply, Farm and Fleet, Fleet Farm all have Lead/acid 6 v batteries with caps for adding distilled water.


Keeping them maintained is important - keep them filled over the plates with distilled water, keeping them fully charged. Keeps the plates from sulfating.


Some bring them into non-freezing area over the winte. Then charge them 1 per month. I now use a maintainer. The key is not to let them discharge, they have a tendency to freeze if discharged or partially discharged and left out in very cold/freezing weather.


If kept charged the Farm and Fleets have lasted me 3- 7 years, usually 5 years or more. Warranty is 1 year replacement, pro-rated replacement 1-2 years.


Ther are a lot of other er metods. Some use a timer and trickle chargers, some run a tricle cjharger off the garge door opener or garge lights, etc>
30 Closed Cab PU is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 09:21 PM   #12
Bill G
Senior Member
 
Bill G's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Walla Walla, WA
Posts: 1,044
Default Re: Battery

Something odd about being fine one day, then totally zero volts the next. They just don't go to absolute zero. Even if it was totally drained, it should come up to something after a charge. When you charged it, did you remember to put the red charger clip to ground and the black one to the hot? (assuming you have are running stock positive ground)
Bill G is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 10:54 PM   #13
Mike V. Florida
Senior Member
 
Mike V. Florida's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: South Florida
Posts: 14,054
Send a message via AIM to Mike V. Florida
Default Re: Battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by Magicbox51 View Post
Something odd about being fine one day, then totally zero volts the next. They just don't go to absolute zero. Even if it was totally drained, it should come up to something after a charge. When you charged it, did you remember to put the red charger clip to ground and the black one to the hot? (assuming you have are running stock positive ground)

I have to agree something is not right. Any water in the battery, brake light switch stuck on (more common then you think)?
__________________
What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do some thing about them. - Henry Ford II
Mike V. Florida is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2018, 11:11 PM   #14
J Franklin
Senior Member
 
J Franklin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 5,947
Default Re: Battery

I would guess a drain happened. I maintain my batteries by keeping them charged and use distilled water when adding. We have battery manufacturing plants in Oregon and Entek (battery separator plates) so maybe they are fresher here? My last battery I changed was 7 years old.My modern truck has had a mystery discharge twice, completely dead, but has taken a recharge.
J Franklin is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2018, 01:24 AM   #15
30 Closed Cab PU
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 2,332
Default Re: Battery

I had this happen a couple of times. I had to adjust my brake switch due to worn brake linkage occasionally not letting the brake pedal to fully return. Figured it out by checking the ammeter every time I turned the ignition switch off. Took me a month of monitoring before it happened so I could figure it out and fix it.

Last edited by 30 Closed Cab PU; 12-02-2018 at 01:25 AM. Reason: corrected/proofed
30 Closed Cab PU is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2018, 08:01 AM   #16
marty in Ohio
Senior Member
 
marty in Ohio's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Elyria, Ohio
Posts: 753
Default Re: Battery

This thread got me to thinking. I've always used plain tap water in my batteries and you all are saying distilled water. Can I dump out the water in mine and put in distilled? Will I gain anything by doing this? BTW, I got eight years out of my last battery. It came from Autozone.
Marty
marty in Ohio is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2018, 08:49 AM   #17
wmws
BANNED
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Coatesville, Pa
Posts: 719
Default Re: Battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by marty in Ohio View Post
This thread got me to thinking. I've always used plain tap water in my batteries and you all are saying distilled water. Can I dump out the water in mine and put in distilled? Will I gain anything by doing this? BTW, I got eight years out of my last battery. It came from Autozone.
Marty
Not all tap water is created equal. Some has more minerals in it which is bad for the battery. Years ago I used tap water but now use distilled. It is cheap enough. Do not empty out your battery as you will also be emptying out the acid. I suppose you could empty it all out and refill with the proper acid water mix but that is a dangerous messy operation.
wmws is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2018, 09:00 AM   #18
wmws
BANNED
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Coatesville, Pa
Posts: 719
Default Re: Battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by Magicbox51 View Post
When you charged it, did you remember to put the red charger clip to ground and the black one to the hot? (assuming you have are running stock positive ground)
Can I restate this quote just to clarify. When charging you always have the positive lead go to the positive post and the negative to negative. It doesn't matter which post is grounded.
wmws is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2018, 09:25 AM   #19
WHN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Connecticut Shoreline
Posts: 1,815
Default Re: Battery

Exide seems to be the leader in 6 volt Model A type batteries.

Our 1929 has had only four batteries in the forty years we have owned it. The forth one put in two years ago.

We use only distilled water. Car is stored every year from November until April with the battery left in the car. Sometimes I will put charger on battery for 10 to 15 minutes during the winter but not offen. I do remove fuse.

My experience has been as they start to get to the end of there life. There cranking power starts to fail. Finally one day they are just dead and will not take a charge.

Tractor Supply or NAPA, they both sell Exide around here. Enjoy.

Last edited by WHN; 12-02-2018 at 03:32 PM.
WHN is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2018, 10:10 AM   #20
BRENT in 10-uh-C
Senior Member
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Posts: 11,486
Default Re: Battery

There is one thing that has been missing in the advice above, and to me this is the same as changing engine oil. You get longevity out of an engine that has the oil filtered & changed on a routine basis, ...and a battery's longevity can be much the same. Google "Battery Maintainer Desulfator" and read up on this topic. MAFCA's Tech Director Jim Cannon has 6 volt batteries that have/are approaching nearly a decade old. His secret to battery longevity is the desulfation process.
__________________
.

BRENT in 10-uh-C
.
www.model-a-ford.com
...(...Finally Updated!! )

.
BRENT in 10-uh-C is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:09 PM.