(Leon van Dommelen) wrote:

(Leon van Dommelen) wrote:
>
>>"Jerry" > wrote:
>>
>>>I just got back from the Mazda dealer where they replaced the battery
>>>in the '97 Miata. That's the third battery in three years.
>>
>>They are supposed to last at least 10 years. Does this dealer
>>know they have to be trickle charged, not put an a multi-amp
>>charger?
>
>Interestingly, my Westco took the cold today as a reason to desert
>me. (I got the Westco one or two years ago because I thought my
>battery was bad; that turned out to be the Priority Start device
>I had on it.) So I took my 8 year old original from the Battery
>Tender, swapped batteries, and was on my way in half an hour.
>They last and last.
>
>The Westco is now on the Battery Tender for next time there is
>a problem.

That was today. Not a murmur out of the OEM. I do not understand
why, though. I measured the dark current and it was only 5 mA.
In other words, the 4.5 days that it had been standing is no
more than say keeping your lights on for 5 minutes after shutting
down the car.

I wonder at what temperature the electrolyte freezes. Both times
it was below freezing when the battery would not start the car.
The car is outside, so it could get quite cold.

I am getting quite fast at swapping batteries. But then I spend
the time again cutting off the lip from the negative battery lead
to reduce wear on the screw-down nut.

Leon, and Bozo, back on Westco.

>Don't really know why the Westco gave out after a couple of start
>attempts. I took a fairly long drive to AutoX on Sunday. Maybe
>it was frozen? It was as cold as 23F last night.
>
>Leon

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)