battteries on concrete

[carman]

I have heard that concrete will kill batteries. Is this true and how could it happen?

[auguste]

I heard that was true for the old batteries that were wrapped in rubber . . . they kept* the batteries on wooden boards or pallets . . . I do not know if that is true for today's batteries ? ? ?

Good question . . . I will be following this thread.

[Reel-Rascals]

carman - 1/3/2005 9:29 PM
Is this true and how could it happen?

It [red]was true[/red] with the "old" batery cases, but once they went to the plastic ones you see in use today, it can't happen. With the old cases, they could discharge through to the floor and discharge the battery.

Funny ... even though I know that ... I still put my batteries on a block of wood on the concrete floor , I guess some habits are tough to break.

[Shorty]

Im with Reel Rascals. old habits ARE hard to break..Mine are on a piece of 2x10 in the basement. Get charged every few weeks in the winter.

[Preoccupation]

Old wives' tale from days gone by...all batteries will self-discharge over time regardless of what they are sitting on...the concrete thing might have had some credibility when the cases weren't modern materials and leaked and cracked easier...and maybe even some credibility that a cold concrete floor could create temperature differences (in extremely large batteries) to speed up this self-discharge...

But the real reason I don't store batteries on concrete floors if it ever leaks you'll have a hard time cleaning up the acid...

[The Classic]

I keep them up on wood blocks, its not as if it is difficult to do so, and I don't think it can hurt, so I'll keep doing it.

[Mud Runner]

*Yep! I agree.* Old habits die hard.* Additionally though, one cause of discharge is residual acid on top of the battery due to gases being let out when charging.* It creates a short across the terminals.* Just take a digital voltmeter and go from*the positive*post to the case.* Work the negative lead toward the negative post and watch the voltage go up.* Another good reason to clean the battery top.**

[Eyeball]

carman - 1/4/2005 6:29 AM

I have heard that concrete will kill batteries. Is this true and how could it happen?

Absolutely!!! Set the battery on the ground, then drop a 40,000-lb piece of concrete on top of it.

[Major Woods]

Concrete will allow the cold to soak into the bottom of the battery.
The temperature difference from the top-bottom of the battery will cause a slight discharge over time.

P.S. I was a quality control supervisor in a battery factory for 6 years .
Auto, naval and space batteries were manufactured in the facility. On the hi-performance batteries there was always a thermal barrier attached to the bottom of the case to prevent the thermal (difference) discharge from occurring.

[paxfish]

That's a new one. How long is "over time?"

[Major Woods]

We could tell the diffrence between a properly stored and a cold soak (battery left on a cold suface) battery in a months time. Granted it was still only a slight diffrence, over the cource of a winter it does add up though.

[carman]

Thank you for the help. The thermal part I did not know about. Should I sit it on wood then most of the time. It seems like the ground or jon boat floor would do the same.

The reason why I have asked was that I had a deep cycle battery that worked great for two years then recently I put it on charge over night and them went to the lake. The bat. would not run anything. I put a load tester on, and it said it was dead. The top had the sealed plug but I pulled them out. Most of the cells needed about 16 oz of h2o. I thought the maint. free bats would not go dry. I did not know if the places I sat the bat made the difference.

[slickster]

It's the heat sink idea, the concrete can pull the batteries' temp down affecting charge.....I don't think concrete is a very good conductor, what is supposed to happen??? the electricity decides to run down the side of the case and be absorded into the concrete??? think about it....Mick

[74Formula233]

My batteries sit on Fiberglass during the winter

(Never had any problems, BTW, even thru super cold winter spells)