Lead acid battery = 10V . Should I re-charge it ?

[eem2am]

10v with big battery

hello,

my car wouldn't start so i turned everything off and meaured the battery voltage ...it was 10V. Do you think i should re-charge it , or does 10V mean its ruined forever ?

 

[joozwa]

Lead acid battery = 10V

"Store always at a full state-of-charge. Do not store below 2.10V/cell; apply topping charge very 6 months."
Taken from:
**broken link removed**
I think it explains everything.
Regards

 

[Audioguru]

Lead acid battery = 10V

Is your car battery more than 5 years old?
Does your car turn off everything if you forget?

 

[eem2am]

Re: Lead acid battery = 10V

yes, everything was turned off.

i can't understand how its so flat, i drove it fine 4 days ago...then 2 days ago i got in and it seemed completely flat.

there was a bit of cold weather in uk of late but not that cold

 

[FvM]

Lead acid battery = 10V

An old battery may spontaneously fail. You'll find out the actual battery condition, after you tried to recharge it. With an old one, it may be waste of time.

 

[eem2am]

Lead acid battery = 10V

hello, i re-charged it with a cheap charger.

the charger was 2.7 Amps DC.

The battery became fully charged (or rather the green "fully charged" LED came ON) after 7 hours.

When fully charged , its voltage open cct is now ~12.6V

That doesnt seem long for a 200Ah battery
(Battery is "Fiamm L1 200")

Do you think its ruined ?

I'm wondering about driving anywhere in it in case it dies when i'm at the destination

 

[Ante]

Re: Lead acid battery = 10V

If possible measure the specific gravity of the electrolyte in all cells, should be about the same in all cells (1.27 – 1.28). Check if you have any current “leaks” by disconnecting the negative wire from the battery (everything shut off in the vehicle) and connect a bulb between the wire and the battery, if the bulb comes on you have a consumer which drains your battery. The voltage (12.6) seems ok so you should be able to start you car again. 200Ah is a very large battery for a car, more like a truck size battery. “Normal” cars usually have from 60 to 110 Ah (90 and up for diesels).

 

[xaccto]

Re: Lead acid battery = 10V

measure the voltage when you apply a load, Eg Engine not running, turn on all your head lights, now measure the voltage, if it immediately drops to 10V or less, one
or more of the cells in the battery is DEAD.

A very good battery, though a bit discharged should crank a vehicle whilst its terminal voltage drops to 10volts....

200ah is indeed a very very very big battery for a car though.

 

[mister_rf]

Re: Lead acid battery = 10V

When fully charged , its voltage open cct is now ~12.6V

In my opinion there's still one element in short-circuit...
Usually you may have 2.4V per element at full charge, that's a total of 14.4V for a 6 elements pack.

 

[pranam77]

Re: Lead acid battery = 10V

Hai friend. You try these remedies and tests. First measure the specific gravity of the acid. Be sure you have enough electrolyte with good gravity. Try charging the battery with the charger having atleast 10% of the total battery capacity in Ampheres. Connect a 10 amp ammeter in sieres to the posetive line and see wether it drops to "zero" indicating full charge. If it doesn't, do that within 12-16 hours, your battery is GONE. If it does come to "Zero" well your battery passed first test. A fully charged 12 volts battery should measure 13.2v to 13.8v with fully charged condition. Secondly after getting full charged, try to crank the engine. If it does, for consecutive 4-5 attempts, the battrey is 90% ok. If it doesnt crank more than 1-2 times, then i strongly recommend to replace it.