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Battery Issue

I came out to a 2+ week dead Jeep this morning. I believe that one of the aux. lights got left on while I have been away on vacation. Both batteries were totally drained as far as we can tell. I run a red top Optima as a starting battery with a yellow top Optima to run the winch and things. I have a NW Wrangler isolator set up for it. They are supposed to be totally separate from each other except when the engine is on. Obviously this wasn't the case....

Anyway I got a jump start and then ran it a couple of miles up and down the road each way, the battery indicator was sitting at its normal 14. I shut it off to gas up, and it would not start. The needles just flickered and nothing else. I got another jump start and then let it idle for 15-20 minutes, ran it the 6 miles up the road to a friends house, let it idle for 45 minutes while we talked, ran it the 6 miles back home. I shut it off in the driveway and was able to fire it back up this time. The battery indicator is now sitting between 12 and 13 (a little lower than normal, but not near the red).

Does this sound like it was just a really dead set of batteries or do I need to be in the market for a new Optima right now?

This is my only vehicle until late next week, as I dropped my car off at the shop yesterday (silly me for not trying to start the Jeep first!).

Thanks.

-jenn

Reply to
jbjeep
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45 min of idle and 6 miles of driving isn't enough to charge a flat battery, let alone two.

You need to hook it up to a charger or put a good twenty to thirty miles on it, preferably highway and without the ac/headlights/etc on.

Some reading

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Reply to
DougW

Agreed

Take more than 20 or 30 miles. The best thing to do here since they were flat is to slow charge them for a day or two to try to recover full capacity. Try about a 4 to 6 amp charger across both batteries for about 24 hrs. You can get more total energy into a battery that has been depleted if you slow charge it. Those batteries do not take kindly to be run flat. I would also add a islation switch so that you can seperate battiers in storage or under load when need be.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

Thanks guys. I was reminded of the following: "If the primary battery dies the Wrngler setup need manual intervention to jump the primary from the secondary battery." So maybe its just the red top that was flat, and not the yellow. I didnt try the winch, which is on the yellow. Anyway, I will see if it starts again and run over and borrow a charger if I can, and or run it into town tomorrow (40+ miles). Thanks.

-jenn

Reply to
jbjeep

jbjeep said....

It's normal for the voltage to be low while charging seriously low batteries. Once they come up to near capacity the voltage will rise back to "normal."

Reply to
Dale Beckett

I'd put it on a charger. Trying to charge 2 dead batteries with the alternator is a good way to burn it up.

-- Old Crow "Yol Bolsun!" '82 FLTC-P "Miss Pearl" '95 YJ Rio Grande BS#133, SENS, TOMKAT, MAMBM

Reply to
Old Crow

Optimas like a heavy, deep charge once they have been depleted. As in 50 amps or so for a good bit to wake it up. Trickle charging is not the recommended solution for the Optima.

tw

Reply to
twaldron

Yea, it was getting even with me. lol.

Good news is that it has been fine since. Since its been starting up ok I never put it on the charger. It had a couple of good long runs today (45+ miles each way) so ought to be fully charged if it wasnt before.

-jenn

Reply to
jbjeep

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