Why Won't a Frozen Battery Start a Vehicle.

the electrolyte goes to mexico

Hi, Better go back to high school chemistry text book. It's all in there. Tony

Yes

Yes

You bet!

Can you put out a lot of energy at -30C? Batteries do lose ability to provide sufficient starting current as the electrolyte temp falls to extremely low temps.

Look for a AC powered battery blanket heater or plate to keep the battery warm.

Even keep> A battery that is perfectly good why when it is -30C

And why do you think that was?

Voltage is generated by a chemical reaction. Cold slows chemical reactions down (well, most common ones). IOW, the chemical reaction in the battery is too slow to produce enough current to run the starter while maintaining a normal voltage, so the voltage drops.

Yep. Nothing to do with an unheated garage.

Two reasons.

One the chemical reaction in the battery is slow in the cold and two the oil in the engine on all the moving parts is cold and thick.

Combine them and sometimes not enough power is left over to fire off a good spark.

I have seen it work when then headlights were pulled on for a couple minutes before trying the starter. That can heat up the battery enough sometimes but is a last ditch effort.

A battery blanket to heat it or a block heater to heat the oil on the moving parts and away you go.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Denny B wrote:

the rule in the universe is as the temperature goes down, virbrating atoms slow down to which is less energy. Everything is subject to dropping temperature except at different degrees. But all will freeze at absolute zero or -273 far. A good general rule is that heat speeds it up, and cold slows it down. for all quotes there is an equally opposite quote

Hi, I am afraind 0 deg. K is -273 C. not F. Tony

His point is still valid though. An unheated garage is a warmer area than that area just outside the garage.

You are right, but I hope it did not degrade to much from the point I tried to make. I will be more carefull with details. I do remember that cold enough will affect everything though. for all quotes there is an equally opposite quote

Plus even at 0K you have quantum fluctuations and perhaps even string vibration.

Most of the truly interesting reactions in the universe take place within half a dozen degrees of 0K. The others are slotted at near 310K and at over a million.

I think I arrived at the end of my knowledge about the subject. I just know enough which can be more of a liability than being ignorant. Mostly general rules because I am not intelligent enough to get to many details. Just rules like how do you know if a electrical gadget is to hot. Generaly if its not a gadjet for making things hot, then if its to hot to touch, its probably malfunctioning. Or even more simple, don,t press read bottons if you don,t know what its for. (this one is dumb though)

At minus 30, how much warmer is a garage to make a difference? I mean when the battery reaches that low temp, it won,t crank no matter where it is. maybe a attached garage is valid.