flat battery

[sketty]

hi folks
the misses went out this morning and the surf wouldnt start. it has been struggleing for the past couple of weeks but i put it down to the cold weather and her not driving far to work / heater and radio on. so she's gone in the car "'not very happy'"
anyway i just took them off and the 1 on the near side is flat.
i have a spare standard car battery in the shed which i will have to use until i can get another new one. if its powerfull enough.

which side am i better putting the car battery on.

and will it be ok if i just replace the dud one with a new one and not them both.
also if this is ok which would be the best side to put the new battery on.

hope this makes sense
thanks
sketty

[VidaMusic]

hi mate. i've just replaced both mine. the ones i took off work fine, and are running at about half of their capacity. Still loads of juice, and will easily last the winter and more. You can have them both for £40 + postage if ya want em? They're Toyota ones 760din...

[sketty]

hi
cheers but what was your reason for replaceing them.
were are you and how much would postage be.
ive just finished work so i might only be able get back to you this afternoon going bed soon
thanks

[Apache]

Get them tested as a single duff one generally pulls the other one down. If one is flat and the other is fine, that puts doubt on the connections between them as they are wired in parallel. With healthy wiring, it shouldn't matter a huge amount what side you put a single one on, but do make sure you insulate the positive terminal you aren't using!!

[sketty]

Get them tested as a single duff one generally pulls the other one down. If one is flat and the other is fine, that puts doubt on the connections between them as they are wired in parallel. With healthy wiring, it shouldn't matter a huge amount what side you put a single one on, but do make sure you insulate the positive terminal you aren't using!!

thanks
but i will be putting the good one back on and using the car battery on the other side until new ones come. they are about 7 years old and the dud one was covered in white stuff on the terminals.

[Apache]

the dud one was covered in white stuff on the terminals.

Try cleaning it all. Is it sealed or can you open the top up holes? Take a look inside and see if the plates are in good shape, and covered with acid up to the full mark. You might be able to revive it for a while.

[sketty]

thanks for the advice lads
i topped water up and cleaned connections charge for a few hours and battery is fine now but the 1 i had in the shed was 1 off my old surf ones from about 7 years ago that i forgot about.
i couldnt believe it when i checked it because it was still fully charged so i just popped it on and she fired strieght up.
so now i am leaving it on and keeping the other for a spare