[dp87]

bought a new battery a few weeks ago.

im not going to put it in my sierra till get the new motor in.

the new battery is just sitting there. will it be ok in a few months?

[buzbox]

It depends on a few things, like brand, quality, where it's stored, but generally yes, a few months will be ok.

[89_tintop]

what are you sitting it on??

should be ok for that long..

[dunnjab]

Just keep it off the cement

[shakes]

dunnjab wrote:

Just keep it off the cement

x2

[dp87]

OH really??? its been sitting on cement for about 2 weeks now...

[da13ro]

Pretty certain that is a bit of a myth - concrete has a few properties but conducting electricity isn't one of them. Two vague possibilities are that concrete wicks up water, but since batteries are well insulated around the bottom this isn't a problem. Concrete is usually colder than the surrounding air, and cold batteries aren't as efficient at producing power, let it warm back up in a few months before use and the cold could of preserved the battery better.

The battery you bought would of sat on the shelf for a good few months, a few more won't hurt it. Just make sure it has had a good charge beforehand.

[royce]

Cement thing was once well and truly disproved on another forum once, that stemmed back to the days batteries were made of bitumen and stuff

do you have a battery charger that can float charge? cant hurt to keep it topped up but it would likely be fine, just charge it before you use it

[buzbox]

I've had my old used battery sitting on the cement next to my workbench for the past year or so, I needed to test a 12v light so I stuck my charger on it but it indicated it was still fully charged, I left the light on for a good 4-5 hours and it was still working, I put the charger back on it to top it back up.

[zammit]

buy yourself a trickle charger and you wont have a problem

[Polar_Bear]

i pulled the battery out of my swb about 3.5 years ago.... it wasnt all that old..maybe 6months and has been sitting on concrete the whole time, still seems fine. Had it in the lwb for a few months and all was good, now its sitting back on concrete, and i used it to jump start the territory the other day

[fordem]

royce wrote:

Cement thing was once well and truly disproved on another forum once, that stemmed back to the days batteries were made of bitumen and stuff

Agreed - it may have been a necessary precaution in the days of the old glass jar cells, definitely not required with today's rubber & plastic.

Ideally, you want to charge it every 90 days if it's going to be sitting unused for any length of time.

[Ben_Sierra]

How long do you reckon they sit on the shelf at SuperCrap etc?

A few more weeks wil be fine...

[mnemonix]

I had an optima yellow top in the back of my daily to run the stereo.
At one stage it spent 2 years disconnected and not getting charged.
Before I reconnected it I whacked the multimeter on it. 12.2volts - more than the cheapo main battery that was used for cranking/connected to the alternator.

Don't stress about it sitting around. Keep it dry so any moisture across the terminals won't incite surface discharge. Give it a zap with a trickle charger if it's going to be left longterm.

[buzbox]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

How long do you reckon they sit on the shelf at SuperCrap etc?

They get the rep coming in weekly and are rotated / stock controlled / FIFO (First in First out) New one's put behind the old ones, what ever you like to call it when the new ones are delivered. Once a month I use to check the charge and condition of the one's I noticed havn't moved, I've have the rep replace it if required or I'd just stick it on a charger.

And every battery the sell they check the charge of it before it leaves the store.

So at the stores I've worked at, they are less than 2 months old from date of manufacture, Obviously it depends on which battery has been sitting there longest based on popularity/sales, probably the least common battery to sell would be the Marine batteries, but even then they usually are fine.

[2stroker]

I find it funny how people on here bag Supercheap, their stock control and operating proceedures are actually pretty good. Some guys on here paint their cars with spray cans, use shockies from vans and passenger cars, buy second hand tyres etc because they are tight arses and then bag out our best discount parts supplier.

I actually bought a battery from Supercheap last week for my daughters late model purgeot it was a Century with 2 year warranty, it is an odd fitment high output I guess for things like the full metal mechanical convertable roof etc. Supercheap Keperra had the Century on the shelf for $169 and a SCA on the shelf for $129, our small local car parts place Streets Auto had a Mercury one on the shelf for $189, Repco Enoggera didn't have one but could get me a Motoguard in next day for $204, they also wanted the VIN number to work out what battery while the girl at Supercheap and the guy at Streets looked it up in a book in 5 seconds just from the make, model and year.

"Supercheap Auto and much much more......"

[rexxar]

if your're really worried use a trickle charger...can get them some supercheap for like $40 odd dollars
hell I have some 10yr old battery in my skyline still start up fine and holds charge

[ajsr]

I have a ten year old cheap arlec charger on my fj attached to a dial timer that charges for 5 min a day every day.
this car sits for up to six months at a time and the battery has been happy for 5 years now

[stocker]

Ok... So here's the myths about batteries.

1. A battery will go dead on the shelf due to Internal Resistance causing current ( a very very small amount ) to flow.

2. Sitting it on a very cold floor like Concrete, speeds this process up as we all know the colder you keep a conductor the more current will flow though it.

So sit it on a bit of wood in a dry place. if you don't install it in a couple of months i suggest you buy a trickle charger from supercrappy auto or similar, they are cheap and effective or ebay...