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If the engine is considered the heart of
your Corvette, the battery is certainly the pacemaker. The car will not run
if the engine won’t start, and the power to get everything moving comes
from the battery. The battery is one of those parts that you seldom
consider when it’s working, and think a lot about when it’s not.
Many Corvettes sit in the garage for
extended periods of time awaiting the next sunny
day. This is hard on a battery. A battery will discharge even if it’s
disconnected and just sitting in the car. If the car is equipped with a
computerized ignition, a clock, or an alarm system, there’s a constant
drain on the battery. The longer a battery sits idle, the more it will
discharge.
When a car sits idle and the temperature
rises above 80 degrees F, a battery will start losing around five percent
of its charge, and the longer it’s exposed to heat, the more it will
discharge. Batteries are unforgiving if not properly maintained. Choosing
the right battery and its proper maintenance will lessen the likelihood of
inconvenience and expensive towing bills.
Two Types
There are two basic types of batteries. A
starting battery is designed for one purpose--to start the engine. It is
not designed to go through a deep discharge and recharge cycle more than 50
times. The more it’s discharged, the shorter its life span. When a starting
battery is allowed to discharge to half its power, it will lose half of its
overall life.
A deep-cycle battery is designed for
hundreds of deep discharging and recharging cycles. You can use a
deep-cycle battery for starting a vehicle, but it’s not recommended unless
it has a high cold-cranking amperage rating. There is a difference in the
construction and materials inside each type of battery. A deep-cycle
battery will have thicker plate materials and a different chemical
electrolyte mixture.
If your vehicle sits for extended periods
even with the battery disconnected, it’s wise to install a heavy-duty
starter battery that has higher cold-cranking amperage (CCA) and reserve
capacity (RC) ratings than a standard OEM battery. A starting battery with
higher CCA and RC should offer good performance and lasting power. If you
leave the battery connected and it’s powering the accessories, installing a
deep-cycle battery with higher CCA and RC is advisable.
As with most items in our market-driven
society, bigger may not always be better. Battery
manufacturers will tout a battery’s high CCA numbers, but that comes at a
price. Generally, as the CCA goes up, the RC goes down. This is due to the
internal construction of the battery. So the question is,
how much CCA is enough? A rule of thumb is, you
need at least the same number of CCA as the cubic-inch displacement of your
engine.
Another consideration is the temperature in
your region of the country. It’s unlikely, but if you fire up your Corvette
in the middle of a North Dakota winter,
you’ll need a battery with a massive CCA number. In most cases, look for a
battery with a respectable CCA number and a corresponding high RC. That
way, you’ll get the best of both worlds.
Maintenance
Properly maintaining a battery will add to
its life span. The Corvette owner should periodically charge their battery
to peak capacity, and make sure battery connections are tight. A loose
battery connection leads to poor performance and acid buildup on the posts.
Another tip is to keep the top of the battery clean. Dirt and acid can be
electrically conductive and cause self-discharging of any battery. Use an
old toothbrush to scrub the top of the battery and the posts with a
solution of water and baking soda.
Check the battery’s fluid level every time
you change the motor oil. Most maintenance-free batteries are, in reality,
low-maintenance batteries. If you can remove the top vent caps, the battery
water needs checking. Add enough distilled or top-quality drinking water to
bring the electrolyte to the bottom of the fill hole. Do not overfill the
battery--that can cause acid to boil out of the battery while you’re
driving.
Battery Chargers
Battery chargers come in
different power ranges and with different functions. One of the largest
manufacturers of battery chargers is Schumacher. They make over 40 different
models to meet your specific charging need. Two units of interest to the
home mechanic would be models SE-60 and SE-5212A. Both are
50-amp/10-amp/2-amp chargers.
You run out to the garage late for your
local Corvette show and when you hit the key, nothing happens. The 50-amp
mode on the charger is used to start a car whose battery is dead. This is
for emergency starting. It will not charge the battery.
It’s early that morning and you’re making
final preparations for the car show; you discover the battery is dead. By
using the 10-amp mode, you can completely charge the battery in three to
five hours. This way, you won’t need a jump-start at the show to return
home.
The best approach is to use the 2-amp mode
the night before and trickle-charge the battery to maximum voltage in 2 to
12 hours. This way, the battery is ready to start the car the next morning.
Model SE-5212A is fully automatic. You can set it and forget it, and it
won’t overcharge the battery. The SE-60 has a timer, but it’s not fully
automatic. Therefore, you must watch the charger so it doesn’t overcharge
the battery.
Model SE-60 has a couple of other features
worth mentioning. It has a 300-milliamp maintenance mode. It will keep the
battery at full power when the car is in storage. It also has a built-in
multifunction-test voltmeter to test the battery’s condition before and
after charging.
Another approach to battery maintenance
comes from Auto Meter Competition Instruments. Its Battery Extender
monitors the power of stored batteries. With sophisticated electronic
circuitry, it delivers a one-amp charge with 250 milliamps of maintenance
current to keep the battery at peak efficiency. By continuously charging
and monitoring the battery, it will not allow the battery to be overcharged
and boil the water out of the battery. This unit can also detect bad cells
or warn of a sulfated battery.
The Battery Extender will work on deep-cycle
and gel-cell batteries in addition to normal starter batteries. The
advantage beyond extending battery life is the constant power to maintain
any accessories and alarms that are battery-powered. You won’t have to
reprogram your favorite radio stations because your battery went dead when
your
Corvette was in storage. This small
(4x4-inch) box can be permanently mounted next to the battery, making it
easy to plug in when the car is in the garage.
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