Dear Mr.Kilmer,
Good day, hope you are well.
My question is I just purchased a new battery with 690 cold. Crank. But overnight the battery drained and I cannot start the engine. Model is chrysler 2004 Sebring,. With 14600 miles.
It's -10 degrees outside but my brother car has no problem starting his car. It's very stressful Specially when you are on your to work.
Thank you I hope you can help me. Solve this problem.
Regards,
Aries
Do you have any aftermarket gadgets/electronics/accessories, such as stereos/amps/speakers, navigation devices, phone chargers, dash cams, etc? Try unplugging everything.
You should measure the voltage (1) with the vehicle running (2) when you park it, and (3) when you go to start it up.
If something is draining it over night, then you should narrow down the source. It wouldn't hurt to get the alternator load tested as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0
Try fully charging the battery and then check again (maybe it was discharged), if thats not it, than you have a big drain in your car. Go somewhere where they can check your Amp drain. Or buy a Multimeter with Amp check ability. In normal car it should last ""at least 2 weeks"" before the battery is weak. If there is a small drain it depletes battery in few days. Amp drain should be between 0.02-0.04 Amps and 0.08 Amps MAX in some cars. Standard led battery should be charged up to 12.95Volts and when put into car voltage should drop a lot for a while, and stabilize at 12.8v after 1 to 15min. And 12.6-12.65v next day. And it should stay at that level and slowly drop over weeks. After 1 week it should be at least 12.4v. After 2 weeks 12.2v at least. You should never let battery drop lower than 12.0v and in perfect conditions for life of battery never below 12.4v.
as a Band-Aid for now you could hook it up to a battery tender overnight
If that is -10F that low temperature will drain a battery pretty good. At 0F your battery is already at about 40% power. I have a nearly new Everstart Maxx battery, and it really tests it when it is -10. I did it about a week ago at about -5 and it just did turn over enough to start. I jumped off a lady's jeep Sunday that had died, and their temp was -7 the night before, but when I did it, it was probably up to around 5-10.
It may have a small power drain that is not normally noticeable in normal conditions. Lots of variables that could affect the starting, including things like if you use full synthetic oil.
Yes cold affects electric a lot, perfect for battery is around 26*C, in -18*C battery has 50% of its efficiency, in -35*C only 10%. In 20*C alternator needs around 20-30 min to recharge what it lost to start car, in between -0 to -18*C twice as much, below -18*C at least 3x as much and sometimes even 4-5x as much. Good idea is to buy the biggest battery you can put in your car, or at least with the most starting amps you can get. and high heat also kills battery.