Car battery froze...

Externet

Well-Known Member
Was like minus 20C for a couple of days, now it is a 10V lead-acid. One cell shorted? Any 'high tech magic' cure to restore it ? If the cell is shorted cannot see it as recoverable
 
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Youtube has a number of videos on folks using high current sources, like welder, to
open up shorts.....and other restoration approaches. But if plates undergo large force,
like freezing, interplate membrane / separator may be permanently damaged. Good
luck.
 
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Yeah, but even so I would imagine all cells would have taken a pasting... You may have no other option.
I changed mine out after crimbo when it had only been stood for two weeks. Cold cranking requires the full battery charge... If the battery froze then the electrolyte percentage level must have been way down..
 
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Externet said:
Was like minus 20C for a couple of days, now it is a 10V lead-acid. One cell shorted? Any 'high tech magic' cure to restore it ? If the cell is shorted cannot see it as recoverable
Click to expand...
What kind of car (and year)?
what weight oil are you running?
When was the battery last changed?
 
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Thanks.
Another question... At the moment that 2 Volt charged and healthy cell internally shorts; isn't that a large power dissipation event; with the heat damaging (or thawing ! ) something ?

A day after the freeze, battery did not crank at all. A few days after, it did slowly crank but not enough to start. It is a fail behavior am not sure to understand.

It is my '62 Cadillac, had a couple of years old battery in good condition and in trickle charge (installed) at that time. Bought a new one and starts and runs perfect again; but curious if there was any cure. Now as with everything else, it is a doubled robbery out there.
 
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Externet said:
Was like minus 20C for a couple of days, now it is a 10V lead-acid. One cell shorted? Any 'high tech magic' cure to restore it ? If the cell is shorted cannot see it as recoverable
Click to expand...

Hi,

Supposedly, if you let a battery sit for too long without a decent charge, it goes bad. If it freezes, there is a greater chance that it goes bad. This all depends on the battery and exact condition and time it was left alone, so it's hard to predict what the damage would be in total.

What I would try is connect a battery maintainer to the battery and let it sit like that for a while. It may work good enough. This will charge the battery.
If it could not take a charge, then it would not be able to turn the engine at all.

There is the strong possibility that there will be an increased self discharge. That means that it may still work if you drive the car every day or maybe very other day, but you may not be able to let it sit for days without running the engine or applying a charge with a good charger or maintainer.
There is also the possibility that the car may not be able to charge it enough if the internal resistance went up. Many cars use a minimal charge voltage level and they do not fully charge the battery even when new. You could check that though by measuring the battery voltage (right on each terminal) while the engine is running. If the voltage is less than 14.0 volts after just cranking it, it may not work over time even if you start the car every day. If it is 14.2 volts there's a good change it will work for a longer time. If it's like 14.5 volts or above, there is a very good chance it will work out for a longer time, although you may still have to run the engine every day or every other day depending on how bad the battery is.

I rarely saw a battery go completely dead, 0.00 volts, but it does happen. To start with, 10.0 volts is a lot better condition than 0.00 volts
 
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Since he already changed the battery, and I assume he returned the old battery to avoid the core chafe and avoid a lead boat anchor from crowding his garage, I would recommend not trying anything with the old battery.
 
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I read about lead batteries freezing.. It recommended that if the battery is fully charged it can withstand -33C
but that must be a brand new one... AND a decent make..
 
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Hi Al. It is not 'supposedly'; it is a fact. 24 hours discharged and will never fully recover again.

The '10V' battery never went discharged, was an active-in use one. Car started fine few days before the freeze weather. Was on a good trickle charger weeks before and during the freeze days.
I did not return the failed '10Volt' battery as core; instead a true cadaver one was the core given.

I have other uses for the '10V' one, for irrigation pump from a cistern...
Externet said:
Another question... At the moment that 2 Volt charged and healthy cell internally shorts; isn't that a large power dissipation event; with the heat damaging (or thawing ! ) something ?
Click to expand...
 
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ZipZapOuch said:
Since he already changed the battery, and I assume he returned the old battery to avoid the core chafe and avoid a lead boat anchor from crowding his garage, I would recommend not trying anything with the old battery.
Click to expand...

Hi there,

Well that's interesting. If he returned the old battery 'core' it would be very hard to recommend trying anything with the old battery. Well, we could recommend it, but it would be impossible because there is no old battery anymore unless he goes back to the store and askes for the old one back
 
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Hello again,

Well the phrase "fully recover" may or may not apply when it comes to the application. If it does lose capacity, it may not be enough to make it impossible to start the car anymore. If the car is driven every day and the charge voltage from the alternator is high enough, it could still last another year.
It should be checked carefully though or else one cold morning the car may not turn over
 
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MrAl said:
unless he goes back to the store and askes for the old one back
Click to expand...
Naivety is so cute. Bright eyes and smiles trying to solve a problem and nothing can get in your way.

Unfortunately, as soon as the battery retailer accepts the old battery, it becomes hazardous waste* and they can only transfer it to a licensed handler.

* unless the battery passes rigorous tests and it can be sold as "used". But you'll quickly find the used battery market is nearly non-existent because few people replace good batteries for the joy of having a new one.

So, no, asking for the old one doesn't work in the U.S.
 
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Pretty much the same in the UK as well - I also doubt they would label the old battery with the customers name, so couldn't identify it anyway. I doubt any of the old batteries are tested and resold, they will just be recycled - not far from where I used to live is a lead recycling facility, that's been recycling the lead from old car batteries for many decades (originally it was an old lead mine).

A friend of mine has come up with a way of 'smuggling' electronic items out of his local recycling centre - there's a CCTV camera watching for such actions, so he takes a box full of recycling in, then empties the box and takes it back out, hiding the purloined item behind the box where the camera can't see it He keeps the open top of the box towards the camera, so they can see it's empty.
 
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Yes Naivety is so cute isn't it.
When you quoted my post you left off the smiley face at the end of that sentence.
It was a joke, no one would go back for the old battery I seriously doubt.
So you replied to something you turned into a serious statement while it was not so.

Here is the full quote:
"Well, we could recommend it, but it would be impossible because there is no old battery anymore unless he goes back to the store and askes for the old one back "
 
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If it is worth un-derailing this conversation; seems nobody read post #9 third paragraph. I do have the failed '10V' freeze-failed battery, and plan an use for it.
As a core, a useless cadaver years-old defunct junk out of the backyard weeds was instead, the return to the store.
 
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I’ve had a similar situation with a battery freezing in the winter.. After a few days of cold, it started acting weird, and I hoped I could bring it back to life. Unfortunately, once a cell goes bad, there’s really no saving it. I tried charging it with a low current, but in the end, I had to replace the whole battery.
 
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If you can measure each cell voltage and access acid to sample with s.g. meter, it will tell me if one cell failed due to short or almost open ( low s.g.) like a weak capacitor that charges/discharges quickly.

If weak, from sulphation, it will freeze first as stronger acids have lower freezing temp.
Then if not too old > 6y, it might be rejuvenated with a +ve flyback current source to breakdown lead-sulphate oxide. This will improve s.g. if possible to max on all cells.

I have had decades of cold car experience battery testing and -40'C every Feb in Winterpeg. I also was Eng Mgr and tested/C-MAC built the patented Solartech Pulse rejuvenator ( sold to USA co)
 
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Hi,

Yeah that's a good idea, give them the worst one as the core return, why not
 
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