🚀 go-pugleaf

 
   To make a long story short, I just replaced the battery in an '81
Chevette. This was still the original battery, a Delco sealed unit, after
4 years and some months. We had a few cold mornings up here in the Boston
suburbs when the thing just barely cranked the engine and died after about
20 seconds of trying. I tried connecting a 6-amp charger overnight; this
helped some, but one morning at 0 degrees F. finally did it in. The
replacement is an Exide, recommended by the local Chevy dealership. I'm
still connecting the charger every night when the temperature is likely to
go below freezing, just to be sure it starts next morning with a full
charge. There are two things I'd like to know:
   1) The ammeter on the charger reads about 4 amps when I turn it on,
decreasing to 2 amps when the battery is presumably fully charged - this
is to be expected according to the instructions for the charger. Is there
any harm in pumping 2 amps or so into a fully charged battery for a few
hours? If all it does is generate heat, it could possibly help by raising
the temperature of the battery a few degrees. Or am I boiling off or
electrolysing some of the water?
   2) I replaced the battery clips on the charger cable with a plug to
connect through the cigarette-lighter jack. This way the unit can be
connected without raising the hood of the car. What limits the amount
of current that can safely be pumped in through the lighter jack? So
far I haven't blown any fuses. (When I went to shop for a charger,
I initially asked for one that could be connected this way. All I
got from the clerks at the auto-parts store was funny looks. I later
saw one at a discount store, but it was only a half-amp trickle
charger, much less than I thought I might need.)
   Thanks for any help from out there, and no snide comments about
the Chevette, please - it does what it was meant to do, all the more so
with a new battery!