Battery is dead, need opinions

Now I know that I can take it to autozone or O'reilly's and have it tested, but I need some opinions.
Came home after being gone for 5 days and the battery is dead. I tried to jump it and after standing in the snow while it was snowing for 20 min or so I decided it wasn't going to start. I stuck the charger on it overnight and after 10-11 hours the needle has barely moved. This is on an 8 hour charge. Last night after a couple hours the voltmeter was at 10 and now this morning it's sitting at 12, but as I said it was no where near being charged. I took the charger off this morning as no one is home, but I plan on putting the charger back on after work. That is if the battery is worth continuing to mess with.

I'll take it in to be tested, but I wanted to hear opinions first.

Thanks

High5

 

I'd take it out and let them charge/load test it.
Won't take long.

 

If its not a sealed battery go buy a gravity tester ($3 or so) and test the individual cells. This will tell more than load testing. I won' buy a sealed battery because of being able to check the individual cells. Had my gravity tester since high school. You probably have 1 or 2 dead cells in the battery.

 

Ya mean to tell us that they had gravity when you were in school? R)

 

It's an Optima that I have had for about three years or so. I just hope it's the battery since I didn't leave anything on and had just replaced the alternator last Sat. with a 70/100 Powermaster alternator. Sure hope the alternator isn't the cause. I wouldn't think it would be.

I think the Optima's have a warranty on them, but I doubt I sent in the card. I sure will next time.

High5

 

Heres a thought pull it out of the Jeep and charge it in the shop. Worht a try.
I've had my Optima for almost 6 years now.

 

Yeah, I always learn the expensive wayR)R)

High5

 

Sounds like your battery is had.

 

This might not help but....

Wouldnt a stray or damaged wire coming from the positive battery terminal, touching bare metal somewhere cause this?

 

Sure would...I guess I just assumed it was unhooked from the Jeep.

 

I only removed the ground from the battery when I changed the alternator out per the instructions. After I swapped it, I started it up and it ran fine. Whoever said it might not be the alternator was correct though as it still pulls the volt meter down to 13 or so when everything is on. Headlights, heater, fuel pump, electric fans, and everything else that draws when the Jeep is running. I wanted to change the alternator anyways so the money wasn't wasted. I'll have to check my wires again, but I didn't see anything off and grounded.

High5

 

Do you have a battery that you KNOW is good that you can try? If you unhooked the ground...and the battery won't charge...then it's the battery (or the charger).

 

it would cause a fire or a burnt/melted wire
my money is on a bad/weak battery

 

After 11 hours on the charger and sitting until an hour ago, I took it to be tested and it tested at 7 volts. So, I sprung for the optima again. This time I'm keeping the receipt. It now starts and runs.

Wish it just needed to be charged

High5

 

Well,
The damn thing won't start again. Replaced the battery last night as it was tested bad and now this morning it started at 0630, but when I went out to start it at 0730 to go to work it was dead again.

My only thought is that the alternator that I just put on there is drawing it down. That's the only thing I changed. I didn't rewire anything, just unplugged the alt., plugged the new one in. Plus, it was warm to the touch when I went back out to start it an hour later. When I say warm, I mean warmer than anything else in the engine bay. Wouldn't take much since it's 20 degrees outside.

I'm going to put the old one back on and see what happens this weekend.

I really don't need this as it's my DD. The wife had to leave work to come get me in the snow.

High5

 

Pull off a battery cable...when you take it off and on the post...it will most likely spark (it shouldn't)...that means that something is using power.

 

I just can't understand why this would happen to a brand new alternator. I'm sure we have the reciept because we were having some issues from who I ordered it from. Now I hope they take it back without question.

High5

 

Well,

Heard back from Customer Service. They sent me a return label, prepaid, to send this alternator back. Once they recieve it, they will send out another. I'm not going to pay for another one and then be credited. That's where they ran into problems in the first place.

One question though,

Will this alternator perform better if I run a heavier gauge wire from the battery side of solenoid to the alternator???? That's how it's run now, from the battery to the positive sid of solenoid, and on to the alternator. Should it be run directly from alt. to battery????

Thanks