New Battery But No Power

On Apr 16, 7:34 am, KC <[email protected]> wrote:
> I bought a NAPA Legend battery and installed it in my car. No power,
> the interior lights did not even come on. I put the battery on a
> "Battery Tender" brand trickle charger overnight. The next morning the
> charger indicated the battery was fully charged, so I installed it in
> the car, and still no power.
>
> I took a 4-year old battery out of a second car, and it provided
> enough power to start the car.
>
> I figure the new battery might have been a little low on power just
> coming off the shelf, but when it didn't work after an overnight
> charging, I'm not sure what to think. Any ideas?

Bad battery

In article <[email protected]>,
KC <[email protected]> wrote:
>I bought a NAPA Legend battery and installed it in my car. No power,
>the interior lights did not even come on. I put the battery on a
>"Battery Tender" brand trickle charger overnight. The next morning the
>charger indicated the battery was fully charged, so I installed it in
>the car, and still no power.
>
>I took a 4-year old battery out of a second car, and it provided
>enough power to start the car.
>
>I figure the new battery might have been a little low on power just
>coming off the shelf, but when it didn't work after an overnight
>charging, I'm not sure what to think. Any ideas?

It's bad. Get your money back.

Unless it was shipped dry and nobody filled it up. But you'd notice the
lack of weight.

The thing about batteries is that if you leave them on the shelf to discharge
long enough, they will never charge properly again.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Thanks for the info. I will return the battery. I forgot to mention
that I had checked the battery with a volt-ohm meter after charging it
overnight. I read 13.3 volts. I also had checked the battery's water
levels and they were fine.

The car is being driven right now with a 4 year old battery, so I know
that the charging/electrical system is fine.

Bad electrical connection.

On Apr 16, 9:24 am, zzyzzx <[email protected]> wrote:
> Bad electrical connection.

The battery cables seem to be fine, and the problem does not exist
with a different battery. Do you mean a short in the battery itself?

"KC" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:9a7a0702-f9bf-4bc1-bb24-5e44a8c481c5@p25g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
| On Apr 16, 9:24 am, zzyzzx <[email protected]> wrote:
| > Bad electrical connection.
|
| The battery cables seem to be fine, and the problem does not exist
| with a different battery. Do you mean a short in the battery itself?

It could still be a wiring problem. When you put the old battery in, the
cable may be twisted differently, allowing current to flow.

I had something similar on a Vega. Replaced the battery clamps and all was
well.

Does the new battery do anything in the other car?

> Does the new battery do anything in the other car?

I don't know. I will give that a try.

Did you put the voltmeter on the battery while trying to start? Trace the
lines with the voltmeter to see where the power is being lost and stop
try,try, try until you are lucky enough to find the problem....

"KC" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:4ff91e3a-ebd3-43c8-ae2f-bebcc77f9088@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>> Does the new battery do anything in the other car?
>
> I don't know. I will give that a try.
>

On Apr 16, 6:14 pm, "Woody" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Did you put the voltmeter on thebatterywhile trying to start?

The 13.3 volt measurement was the reading from the battery with no
load on it. The car is running fine now with the 4-year old battery
that I "borrowed" from one of our other cars. I will try cleaning the
battery cable connector bolts (side terminal battery) and give the new
battery another try.. Also will check the voltage while trying to
start the car.

"KC" wrote:

> The 13.3 volt measurement was the reading from the battery
> with no load on it. The car is running fine now with the 4-year
> old battery that I "borrowed" from one of our other cars.
> I will try cleaning the battery cable connector bolts (side terminal
> battery) and give the new battery another try.. Also will check the
> voltage while trying to start the car.

Try even a small load... a few years back I had a battery that seemed fine;
only a year old, lots of power to start, lots of reserve. One day, I stopped
at the store to pick something up, then turned the key and cranked for a
few seconds with no start. Turned the key again and *pfft*, that was it.
No more starter, no lights, just barely dash lights. It also showed over 12V
when sitting, but just open the door and 11v...10.5....10....9.5....9...........
Turns out it blew one of the internal connectors between cells, so even
though the acid bridged the break enough to make the voltmeter show 12v,
it had basically zero amp capacity. You (or someone at the store) didn't
accidentally short out the terminals, or drop the battery hard enough to
break anything inside, did you?