Gen 1 - Battery Breaking , Spring routine

[fed007]

Hi All, I have been loving my 1995 Viper/RT for a few years now and this year I am about to buy yet another new battery.... please help me stop the cycle

I am located in Edmonton,Alberta,Canada and it gets cold here for the winter so keeping the battery topped up seems to be a challenge with my luck and schedule.

Year 1 (bought the car) - had an old weak battery... so replacement was due. - Buy a new battery.
Year 2 - Spring time rolled around , I was lazy topping up the battery charge. Died hard over the winter wouldn't hold charge. - Buy a new Battery
Year 3 - Spring time rolled around, this time I had bought a "smart" charger, hooked it up a few times over the winter. (come back to the garage and encrusted on the floor is a pool of acid residue. ) Seems to have been a result of a bad charger or cracked battery?) This was exacerbated with charging I believe. Clean up the mess . Buy a new battery.
Year 4 - This Spring rolls around. No winter charging. and AGAIN another pool of residue under the battery compartment on the concrete floor but I never had a charger on it....?

So I am now leaning towards the battery cracking, what is odd is that the floor of my garage was spotless all last summer so this seemed to leak over the winter. The last time this occurred I thought the charge might have blown / overheated the battery. But this time the charging was not in the equation so maybe the stock mounts are too rough for the battery type I bought?

Another theory is that over the winter the chemical reaction has continue on the concrete creating more crystals... I am nervous about charging a possibly cracked battery.

Looks like the tire is coming off to check no matter what.

N

 

[99 R/T 10]

Get the MAXX battery from walmart. Good battery, 3 year free replacement. It's all I buy now, only replaced one out of a half dozen.

 

[daveg]

Take the battery out during the winter months and put it in the basement with a trickle charger.

 

[Steve-Indy]

As above...either take the battery out for the winter or keep a quality FLOAT charger on it full time. DO NOT attempt to charge a frozen battery!!

 

[Indy]

Get the MAXX battery from walmart. Good battery, 3 year free replacement. It's all I buy now, only replaced one out of a half dozen.

That's what I bought...real happy with it so far
If you have a decent smart charger, I would still leave that connected during the winter, as it does maintain the battery much better.

PS: Hang on to your receipts! You should have no problem exchanging a bad battery after only a year!!!!

 

[DJ'sviper]

Just repalced my battery after two years. No leakage. I put a trickler on the battery everytime I garage it or in 3 to 5 days the battery will be Had a two year warranty so new battery didn't cost anything. Its a pain to have to take the tire off and inner fender well to get at it.

 

[CEJ]

How cold does it get in your garage during the winter?

Maybe keeping a battery tender or similar always connected to your battery during storage may help.

 

[fed007]

OK So the verdict is the battery is pooched. Thanks for the advice, I will seek out a float charger for this next winter season. Or take the battery out.

I think the battery froze and I may have tried to charge it too early... here are some pics of battery :

http://www.orbitalsoftware.ca/ceo/viperbattery.jsp

Pic 1 shows the cracks where the splitting occurred and acid leak out. Note the nice pool effects on the concrete. Weird crystals growing on the concrete.... I am guessing that is crystal **** and how it is made

There is also a the battery holder all caked up, I am guessing this will accelerate oxidization / rust. Should I scrape it clean and repaint? if so what paint product would be best for that?

The funny part of this story is that I got a FREE battery. The manager of the local parts/auto desk is a huge viper fan /expat form Detroit so he just pushed the order though. Owning a viper certainly has some perks

N

 

[Steve-Indy]

Clean/repaint the tray. There is a great write-up on this in the Illustrated Upgrade section above.