Tuesday, May 19, 2015
How long should I let the car run after a battery has been dead for 4 to 5 months?
I turned my car over today, some people helped me jump it; prior to this last night, I was trying to charge it through an old desktop PSU which I read works. That did put some juice into the battery but it wouldn't even "click" to suggest that there was even remotely enough energy to start the engine. So when they jumped my car and it started, I let it run until the engine slowed down to like 1600 rpms suggesting to me that the battery was charged… I let the car run for like 10 minutes, but then when I turned it off and turned it back on again, there was not enough power to start the engine it got maybe a third or half of the startup and then quit.
So I'm going to have them jump the car again and this time I'll let it run longer… It's not huge that I get my car functioning right now as I can't afford to fix it but I'd like to know based on the conditions I have listed, what to do…
Well, I'm curious if I should get like a multimeter or something although I think the amperage of the car battery is far too much for a multimeter.
Is it shot do you think?
Maybe I could overnight charge it with the PSU which outputs 12 v @ 18 amps though I have read that you want like 13V @ 10 amps for a trickle/overnight charge.
Any thoughts?
It was a good battery prior, reliable.
It's a battery for a ford focus zx5
Read more: How long should I let the car run after a battery has been dead for 4 to 5 months?