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Midget Battery

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EastBoundJoe

EastBoundJoe

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The battery on my 1972 Midget keeps dieing, are any recommendations on which type I should get to replace the old one?
 
Joe,

When you say the battery keeps on dying, is it because the battery can't hold a charge anymore or do you have a leak somewhere? How old is the battery you have right now.

That being said, I have a stock battery from Sears. When mine dies, I'm going to look to find an Optima battery that fits in the tray, basically the best you can get.

Ben
 
Or take your tape measure and go to Kmart or some such.
 
I just bought the car and I can't find any type of date that would indicate the age of the battery, though it dose not look terribly old. The previous owner told me he just "re-did" the alternator so I have been counting that out. When I shut down the car (after a jump start) I can run the electrical components for 10 minutes (with key on) and watch/hear them run out of power until nothing (not even the fuel pump) is running.

I just think the timing of this failure is weird, the battery died only a week and a half after I bought the car.
 
DPO haha, I like that. The last guy who had this is handy because he had already restored an MGA, TR6, and is now into Jaguars... Though he did seem like he did some rush jobs (or quick fixes) with this car before he sold it.

I opened up the caps on the battery today and noticed that the fluid level was so low that I could see the cells. In one of the holes it looked like the fluid level was ¼” below the cells. I’m thinking of filling the battery with distilled water then charging it with a trickle charger for a few hours.

I have a dumb question; would it be more cost effective to boil water rather than buying distilled water, because I have never bought the stuff and it sounds expensive.
 
Good tap water is sufficient. No need for the expense of distilled water.

Though I suspect with the fluid being so low in one cell that you will only(if that) get a temporary reprieve. Sounds like you're going to experience a cell sulfation.
 
EastBoundJoe said:
DPO haha, I like that. The last guy who had this is handy because he had already restored an MGA, TR6, and is now into Jaguars... <span style="color: #FF0000">Though he did seem like he did some rush jobs (or quick fixes) with this car before he sold it.</span>
I opened up the caps on the battery today and noticed that the fluid level was so low that I could see the cells. In one of the holes it looked like the fluid level was ¼” below the cells. I’m thinking of filling the battery with distilled water then charging it with a trickle charger for a few hours.

I have a dumb question; would it be more cost effective to boil water rather than buying distilled water, because I have never bought the stuff and it sounds expensive.
Click to expand...

The highlighted statement above makes me immediatly suspect the alternator, especially since you say the DPO specifically mentioned it (he must have had some problem with it I would think to mention he had re-done it!) /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif PS Distilled water is not expensive at all. You should be able to get it at your local supermarket or quickie-mart!!! a buck and change for a gallon!!

BTW I <u><span style="color: #FF0000">WOULD</span></u> use distilled water rather than tap water as the minerals etc in undistilled water will start corroding the plates in any battery and shorten its life!!!
 
EastBoundJoe said:
question; would it be more cost effective to boil water rather than buying distilled water, because I have never bought the stuff and it sounds expensive.
Click to expand...
In short no; the reason you use distilled water is so that there are little or no minerals in the water. If you boil it you actually concentrate the minerals and make the situation worse. The first thing that happens when you boil water is the dissolved gases like carbon dioxide and oxygen come out, then the water boils off, then after the water is gone the pot is left with the dissolved solids like calcium and magnesium. The distilled water you buy is really the condensed water from the boiling.

If you want you can take tap water and put it in a large shallow pan or plastic container. Place the container on a slight incline and put an over sized sheet of plexiglass or similar on top with the low side overhanging the most. Take some popsicle sticks or anything else to shim the plexiglas about a 1/4" above the rim of the container at the corners. Under the low side of the plexiglass that is overhanging place another container. Put the entire setup in the sun and it will act like a greenhouse where the water evaporates and condenses on the plexiglass where it will run down and collect in the second container. This water will then be distilled. It will take a while to collect but it can be done.

As for what type of new battery I just you a quality size 51R.
 
You should get yourself a battery/alternator tester, not very expensive and very helpful. I use mine alot. At least you know where to start. I would also go get yourself a new battery, considering the problems with the existing one, good piece of mind. Good luck, let us know what you find.
 
One of the guys on the Spridget webring had a fantastic site explaining how to test & revitalize batteries. Anyone have it? I can't seem to find it.
 
Thank you all for your recommendations, I'll let you know when I fix the problem or if I find another one.

I think I'm just going to buy a new battery, if it’s not dead now then by the looks of it the battery will die sooner than later. With a new battery I can be confident that the problem is not a combination of bad parts.

Along the lines of the Battery/Alternator tester would a digital multi-meter be able to show if the alternator is junk? I'm just asking because a friend of mine left a multi-meter at my house but I'm not to sure on how to use it correctly and I don't want to break it. If the battery stores 12volts then the alternator should put out 14v... right?

As you can tell I'm still learning in a few areas but thanks for being patient with me.

--Joe
 
1st check the open circuit voltage (the voltage of the battery) with the engine off nothing on then start the engine let it run for a few seconds make sure the volt meter is on DC not AC, positive to pos negative to neg on the battery you should get something around 13.2 to 14.2 just more than you started with these readings could be more or less depending on the condition of your alt/generator and battery
 
You may also disconnect one lead (ground one preferably) from the battery and touch the lead to one side of a 12 volt light bulb and touch the battery terminal to the other side of the light bulb. If anything is drawing power (this is done with the key "off") then the bulb will light and you need to fix the problem or your battery will die overnight again. If the bulb does not light then there is/was a potential charging or battery problem.
Bill
 
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