On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:58:28 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Mar 20, 1:12?pm, Don Foreman wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:37:44 -0500, "*" wrote:

Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote in article
0...
"SteveB" fired this volley in news:ddaab5-
:

I have heard that if you sit a battery on the ground or concrete that
it
will lose its charge faster. ?Is this true?

If the ground or concrete is cold enough to freeze it, yes. ?Otherwise,
that's just an old wive's tale.

LLoyd

It was actually true of the old hard-rubber cased batteries.

Electrons WOULD leak through the porous case to ground - eventually
discharging the battery.

It is NOT true of today's batteries.

Correct.


B.S.!
If that were true batteries sitting in a metal battery holder in the
vehicle would discharge.
My personal observation on the subject is that batteries with the
older vent caps in time built up a deposit of sulfuric acid droplets
on the top as a result of charging.
When the battery was placed on a cool surface like the ground or a
cement floor the battery cooled down and moisture condensed on it and
joined the acid to form a conductive path from the + to the --
terminal.
I verified this with my multimeter.

(Sorry Don, I enjoy your posts, you usually have the best
information.)

Engineman

Huh? Read back thru the thread. We're in violent agreement.
Batteries do not discharge faster when sitting on concrete. If
anything they discharge more slowly if the concrete is cooler than
ambient.

Cold batteries have less capacity than warm ones, but they regain it
when they warm up again. Self-discharge is a chemical process, and
chemical processes proceed more slowly at lower temperatures.