How did a year old car battery lose three cells while parked for a week?

softdown

Could not understand the death of the cars electronics since the battery charger showed a 75% charge. It is a 75% charge at six volts. 

Battery mfg. date: 11/18 and worked perfectly a week ago. Now it has three bad cells while the car was parked.  I've seen some weird battery stuff but nothing like this. 

When it Rains - it Pours.

EDIT: Showing 5.32 volts after hours on a charger. That is more than three bad cells I would think. Each bad cells causes a loss of ~ 2 volts. I've lost about 8 volts with a very fresh charge normally reading ~ 13.2 volts.

Marc Kurth

softdown said:

Could not understand the death of the cars electronics since the battery charger showed a 75% charge. It is a 75% charge at six volts. 

Battery mfg. date: 11/18 and worked perfectly a week ago. Now it has three bad cells while the car was parked.  I've seen some weird battery stuff but nothing like this. 

When it Rains - it Pours.

EDIT: Showing 5.32 volts after hours on a charger. That is more than three bad cells I would think. Each bad cells causes a loss of ~ 2 volts. I've lost about 8 volts with a very fresh charge normally reading ~ 13.2 volts.

Some general comments abd discussion:

I do not understand this: "Could not understand the death of the cars electronics since the battery charger showed a 75% charge. It is a 75% charge at six volts."

Voltage is not an indicator of battery capacity. A "worn out" battery can show full standing voltage but fall flat under minimal load. This is a pitfall of buying old batteries. The tiny residual loads over time on an old battery starting battery can be catastrophic.

Battery sulfation has many faces, but will generally exhibit a low standing voltage. As the sulfation increases, the standing voltage will decrease further. As this process progresses, you will see a continuing reduction in standing voltage to the point of appearing to be a lost cell.

softdown

I love it when Battery 302 questions get solved with Battery 101 solutions.

 Or do they? This is not a common battery phenomenon.  

Marc Kurth

softdown said:

I love it when Battery 302 questions get solved with Battery 101 solutions.

 Or do they? This is not a common battery phenomenon.  

It is a common occurrence, especially with cheap starting batteries.

Fundamentals are often a good place to start.

Let that battery sit around for a while and it will begin to swell as the extreme sulfation collapses more plates. Sulfation growth can almost become exponential.

Marc

softdown

Turns out it was a simple battery drain from leaving something on. Think this also happened in 2011. Should have recognized it since everyone has done this at least once or twice. Charging at over 13 volts - it will be good for one more trip. A trip to the battery store. It was stone cold dead/dead for over a week. This kills the battery. 

How much would it cost car companies to cut off battery drain at ~ 10.5 volts? 

mike95490

softdown said:

How much would it cost car companies to cut off battery drain at ~ 10.5 volts? 

A lot of replacement battery sales !!

softdown

I think my gas thief opened up the car and left a light on. Got a cargo door that doesn't lock. Need to check the memory card in that area - a hassle to be sure.