left car lights on

i forgot my headlights on somehow last night, they were on for about

20 hours. Its a 2000 dodge grand caravan, should i expect my battary to die soon?
Reply to
drummer
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Reply to
JimV

I find if they come back up to charge ok, it is likely ok.

Usually when they crap out from that it happens really fast. They will just refuse to ever take a full charge or sometimes any charge at all.

Mike

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

drummer wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

I just hope when you all leave your light on and drain the battery that you charge the battery separately instead of just running the engine to recharge it. Do what you have to in an emergency of course, but don't tax the alternator to extinction is you don't have to.

Reply to
MaxAluminum

X-No-Archive: Yes

I recommend you pull the battery out, take it somewhere that's at least

50°F, let it get warm. Once warm, charge with a 6 to 10A for 12-14hrs. I do mean overnight. Not the take it in and have it charged in 1 hr thing.

Don't leave it outside with the car if you think it's going to get pretty cold. Drained battery will freeze and if it does, the battery's destroyed for sure.

Don't jump start. It will start, but once you get somewhere and shut it off, you likely won't be able to start it again. Alternator isn't designed to gracefully replenish a totally discharged battery.

drummer wrote:

Reply to
AC/DCdude17

The load on the alternator from starting is a whole lot less than the load on the alternator that's trying to recharge a [drained after 20 hours from the lights left on] battery.

Every remanufactured alternator I pull from the box has a warning tag attached to this effect.

Reply to
Neil Nelson

Starting the engine doesn't tax the alternator at all, it doesnt work until the engine is running. Starting the engine puts all the load on the battery. A weak battery will require more amperage to charge, so the alternator will work harder. The charge state of a battery directly affects the output of the alternator, and a continuous high load will shorten the life of the alternator. You are right about the alt changing ac to dc all the time, but the output will vary according to electrical load and battery state of charge. This is what the regulator does.

Reply to
CURLY

"Rainy" Winter's night ? If it's warm enough to rain, it ain't Winter and it ain't no "high load". Try moving where real men live and see what happens to your girly man start-charge cycle.

Reply to
Jimmy

Let me guess, you're an EE?

Reply to
Neil Nelson

Quite simply because the electrical load is not as high as it is when all those conditions exist plus the increased demand of an already dead battery.

In cases where an alternator of lesser output is mistakenly installed, the alternator will indeed experience a shorter life under conditions as you describe.

Reply to
Neil Nelson

LOL!!!

Reply to
saeengineer

drummer: I agree with JimV. Each deep discharge of a lead-sulfuric-acid (automotive) battery usually causes piecemeal damage, incrementally shortening its life, sometimes by a significant amount. So, yes, if it's the original battery in your 2000 Dodge, expect it to die soon...sooner than it would have. Four years is a typical, maximum lifespan anyway for undamaged batteries. The warranty means nothing pertaining to the actual lifespan of a battery and is just a sales technique. I usually buy Delco batteries. I guess my second choice might be Interstate (though I'm not sure about that). I usually stay away from department store batteries, which are usually made by Globe Union, the cheapest quality manufacturer. I also try to stay away from Exide batteries, which aren't very high quality either.

Reply to
David H. Neumann
[snip]

There hasn't been a Globe Union for many a decade, (grandmother worked there) they are now known as Johnson Controls, makers of Interstate batteries. JC also make many OEM and OEM replacement batteries such as MoPar and Motorcraft, they are back to making the Sears DieHard. Exides are said to be improved from years past. (we'll find out)

Reply to
Neil Nelson

I don't know how these vendors spec their batteries... they still could vary quite a bit depending on who's buying. I do know that I get 5-6 years from an upper level Die-Hard battery here in the NorthEast. That's usually the rule unless you leave your lights on some cold night. One of the nice things with Sears is that you walk in with your battery, you get your remaining credit it any, and you walk out with a new one in 5 minutes. Even if you don't have your sales slip they will honor any warranty based on the date code.

Reply to
Jimmy

I bet he has monster cable to his speakers :-)

Reply to
Jimmy

Too small. Use jumper cables.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

Thanks for the update. I retract the term "Globe Union" from my previous post. I also would like to change "Four years" to "Four and a half years." And instead of "lead-sulfuric-acid," I should have said "lead-calcium-sulfuric-acid," since I believe the majority of automotive batteries for the past ten years or so now have plates composed of lead-calcium "foam," to maximize surface area, increase plate strength, and perhaps decrease self-discharge rate. drummer: Also, I forgot to mention, I usually recommend buying the highest-quality, highest-capacity (maximum cold cranking amps and reserve time) battery that will correctly fit into the battery holder of your vehicle (provided the battery is the correct type specified for your vehicle)...and don't worry about the extra 10 or 15 dollars you pay. Some merchants will try to sell you the cheapest-quality, minimum requirement battery for your vehicle, which can lead to additional battery problems because the battery has little or no extra capacity for the application.

Reply to
David H. Neumann

Thanks for the update. I retract the term "Globe Union" from my previous post. I also would like to change "Four years" to "Four and a half years." And instead of "lead-sulfuric-acid," I should have said "lead-calcium-sulfuric-acid," since I believe the majority of automotive batteries for the past ten years or so now have plates composed of lead-calcium "foam," to maximize surface area, increase plate strength, decrease outgassing, and decrease self-discharge rate. drummer: Also, I forgot to mention, I usually recommend buying the highest-quality battery having the highest reserve capacity (time in minutes) that will correctly fit into the battery holder of your vehicle, provided the battery is the correct type specified for your vehicle and provided it generally does not have more cold cranking amps (CCA) than specified by your vehicle manufacturer...and don't worry about the extra 10 or 15 dollars you pay. Some merchants will try to sell you the cheapest-quality, minimum-reserve-capacity battery for your vehicle, which can lead to additional battery problems because the battery has little or no extra capacity for the application. (And the reason for not exceeding the required CCA is because the plates get thinner to produce a higher CCA and therefore have a shorter lifespan.)

Reply to
David H. Neumann

Thanks for the update. I retract the term "Globe Union" in my

2003-12-21 post. I also would like to change "Four years" to "Four and a half years." And instead of "lead-sulfuric-acid," I should have said "lead-calcium-sulfuric-acid," since I believe the majority of automotive batteries for the past ten years or so now have plates composed of lead-calcium "foam," to maximize surface area, increase plate strength, decrease outgassing, and decrease self-discharge rate. drummer: Also, I forgot to mention, I usually recommend buying the highest-quality battery having the highest reserve capacity (time in minutes) that will correctly fit into the battery holder of your vehicle, provided the battery is the correct type specified for your vehicle and provided it meets but generally does not exceed the cold cranking amps (CCA) specified by your vehicle manufacturer...and don't worry about the extra 10 or 15 dollars you pay. Some merchants will try to sell you the cheapest-quality, minimum-reserve-capacity battery for your vehicle, which can lead to additional battery problems because the battery has little or no extra capacity for the application.

By the way, the reason for meeting but not greatly exceeding the required CCA specified by your vehicle manufacturer is because higher CCA is achieved by adding more plates inside the battery; i.e., thinner plates. But thinner plates are less robust and have less deep-cycle resistance, and therefore have a shorter lifespan.

Reply to
David H. Neumann

Thanks for the update. I retract the term "Globe Union" in my

2003-12-21 post. I also would like to change "Four years" to "Four and a half years." And instead of "lead-sulfuric-acid," I should have said "lead-calcium-sulfuric-acid," since I believe the majority of automotive batteries for the past ten years or so now have plates composed of lead-calcium "foam," to maximize surface area, increase plate strength, decrease outgassing, and decrease self-discharge rate. drummer: Also, I forgot to mention, I usually recommend buying the highest-quality battery having the highest reserve capacity (time in minutes) that will correctly fit into the battery holder of your vehicle, provided the battery is the correct type specified for your vehicle and provided it meets but generally does not exceed the cold cranking amps (CCA) specified by your vehicle manufacturer...and don't worry about the extra 10 or 15 dollars you pay. Some merchants will try to sell you the cheapest-quality, minimum-reserve-capacity battery for your vehicle, which can lead to additional battery problems because the battery has little or no extra capacity for the application. (By the way, the reason you usually wouldn't want to greatly exceed the required CCA specified by your vehicle manufacturer is because, for a given battery case size, higher CCA is achieved by adding more plates inside the battery; i.e., thinner plates. But thinner plates are less robust and less resistant to deep discharge damage, and therefore have a shorter lifespan.)
Reply to
David H. Neumann

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