The Alfa was entered in a club concours this afternoon. I put in a new battery about 6 weeks ago. Seemed to be charging fine. Last drove the car about ten days ago. Went to Vermont this past weekend and disconnected the battery with that little green knob "just in case". Tried to start it and cranked slowly for 5-6 seconds and died. Dead battery. BTW, when we go to Florida, both the TR6 and the '02 Honda with a 6-year old battery sit in the garage with their batteries hooked up and have never failed to start almost instantly after sitting for 3 1/2 months. Question - how can a new battery go dead with its ground terminal disconnected? Is this a bad battery? How can I tell? It has checked out on a VOM and so has the alternator. I'll have to check it again tomorrow when my 6-amp charger is through charging. Any theories?