Club 80-90 Forums

taken battery out my old van to charge...reading about 8v before charging but when i connect the charger is wont take any charge at all(charger shows as not charging) . Its a sealed unit dated 2005...worked fine in the past and was last used to start van about June. any ideas? Charger works fine on another battery.

I think you've answered this yourself. 3-4 years isn't bad you know. 7 months since last use too? Replace it.

bin it....

The plates are sulphated and won't allow the charge through into the acid. The only option, which may or may not work, is to try to de-sulphate the plates by putting a high amp rating throught the battery for 15 minutes but it will have to be one tenth of the amp hour rating of the battery which most chargers won't reach. After that you should find the battery will accept a charge but it will have to be on charge then for about 2 days to achieve a charge.
Failing that, and as said above, a new battery will be needed!

Cheers...suspected that but didnt want to be too premature in buying a new one.....

Allowed to go flat?.........sulphated basically scrap.
Martin