Battery Charge Level VS Freezing

[GeoHorn]

A fully-charged Lead Acid Flooded-Cell battery can withstand minus-60 degree Fahrenheit temperatures. A discharged battery will freeze about the same temperature as plain water.

Moral: Keep your battery charged, and if possible on a battery-maintainer during this cold weather blast.
Watch out for parasitic drains such as clocks and other devices which are constantly “ON” ...as they can slowly discharge your battery and you might forget about it.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHARGE A FROZEN BATTERY because it can EXPLODE!

Any frozen battery must be completely. Thawed before placing a charger (preferably a ”trickle”-charger (less than 2-amps) on a discharged battery in cold weather.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

If you get a lot of 'brrr-cold' days, install a battery warming blanket, plug in with block heater ! A warm battery will start a warm engine a LOT easier than a brr-cold battery. It'll also recharge better.

 

[D2Cat]

When a battery is fully discharged it can be charged in reverse if one is hooked up + to- and - to +. Then trying to isolate problems can be a challenge.

 

[thirdroc17]

I've never had a frozen battery that didn't have a big hole it. They really won't charge then. I know this because of all the worthless electronics on cars now a days. My cars often sit for extended periods of time, and until I added battery tenders to everything, I had to replace more than one holed battery.

 

[Henro]

When a battery is fully discharged it can be charged in reverse if one is hooked up + to- and - to +. Then trying to isolate problems can be a challenge.

Really? Doesn't seem to make sense since it is a chemical device, but what do I know? Just sayin'...

 

[GreensvilleJay]

well I KNOW from first hand knowledge it can happen.....
afte rthat ALL my equipment was 'upgraded' to 12 volt, NEGATIVE ground....

 

[GeoHorn]

Careful and Deliberate Reverse-charging can be useful in “de-sulfating” batteries which suffer that problem.

 

[kubotasam]

I bought a B7100 about 6 years ago. Got it home and checked the battery. Looked carefully and it was connected with the positive cable to ground. I was fairly sure no Kubotas were positive ground. Gout out the multimeter. Sure enough the battery had been reverse charged. The positive side and the negative side had changed. I totally discharged the battery. Flipped the battery cables so the negative terminal was connected to ground. Put it on a trickle charger. Let it charge for a few days. All was ok and the battery was good for another 2 years before it needed to be replaced.