Richard, I got your message the first time, & I agree with your
speculation.  mcneely

On Fri, May 7, 2021 at 8:14 AM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

>  Hi Alistair, I recently posted "my theory" to the List but I guess it
> never made it.  I cut and pasted from my Sent message, and here is what I
> said:
> Here's my theory:  Vibration and Shock
>
> Walmart battery was only 5 years old at the time, I typically get 8 years
> or more.  BUT, I mostly do long roadtrips on smooth asphalt and concrete.
> Now, imagine over time that plates inside battery are gently corroding and
> getting coated with sulphates, this is perfectly normal.  But structure is
> weakened internally.  Next...go down to Baja....down to see the gray
> whales.  Even though the road is way better than before, it's miles and
> miles and miles of washboard.  Since battery is rigidly attached to Vanagon
> frame, each and every bump is felt by battery.  These take their toll.  A
> little crack here, a little crack there.  You make it home....but the
> damage is done.  Now, the corrosion stuff can really get inside those
> cracks.  Everything is fine until suddenly one day it isn't.  Voltage drops
> from 12.3 VDC to 10.0 VDC...mechanical failure inside one of battery
> cells.  No amount of charging will fix this.
> My theory anyway.
>
>
>
>     On Friday, May 7, 2021, 7:43:24 AM PDT, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca>
> wrote:
>
>  Richard,
>
> My hobby horse when it comes to battery maintenance is…
>
> Regular external charger charging of it. A good charger, like ctek or
> Noco. I plug in once a week during winter even though van is daily driver.
>
> I do have a big aux battery in the system (and an ACR), I’m mainly
> concerned about keeping the aux battery topped up. But I think reg charging
> of the starting battery , especially if you don’t drive daily, is a good
> thing.
>
> Alistair
>
> > On May 5, 2021, at 6:05 PM, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
> >
> >  You are correct Dave, 0% chance of battery freezing in garage in San
> Diego.  But I've got some ideas on what happened and why battery gave out,
> and may be helpful for all.  I'm having some difficulties posting to the
> Vanagon List, so will wait until things get back to normal.
> >
> > Rich
> > San Diego
> >
> >    On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 5:44:38 PM PDT, David McNeely <
> davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > It is very unlikely that the battery froze in San Diego, like dead
> certain
> > that it did not.
> >
> >> On Wed, May 5, 2021 at 3:02 PM Jack R <jack007@comcast.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> A battery with a low charge or no charge, and is allowed to freeze in
> the
> >> winter, will typically die.
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> >> Of Richard Koerner
> >> Sent: Tuesday, May 4, 2021 8:42 PM
> >> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >> Subject: Bad battery?
> >>
> >> Was all set to go for a nice cruise today in Vanagon.  Instrument
> cluster
> >> lights ok, but no familiar sound from fuel pump.  No crank, no click, no
> >> nothing.  Parking lights work, but no headlights.  Voltmeter says 10.0
> VDC;
> >> makes me assume 1 dead cell.  Walmart Group 41 battery is exactly 6
> years
> >> old, I'm used to getting much longer life, but with Covid I will admit
> not
> >> too much long distance driving these days.  Tried PepBoys, NAPA,
> O'Reillys,
> >> Walmart via computer...these Group 41 batteries are getting harder and
> >> harder to find.  But local Autozone has one; I called....the guy
> checked in
> >> the back to physically confirm the thing exists; no idea of Manufacture
> >> Date.  My plan is to take old battery to Autozone and have them check
> out;
> >> assuming it's dead will immediately buy new one and install.  I will add
> >> that I recently in last month replaced old alternator in Subie EJ22
> motor
> >> with a new one; no issues, but the old one was at least 160K miles and
> >> replaced as a preventative measure; wondering if the renewed voltage
> coming
> >> into old battery kind of pushed it over the edge, don't know, probably
> just
> >> a coincidence.  Old Walmart battery was $100; new batteries are $150,
> just
> >> the way it goes.
> >> Rich
> >> San Diego
> >>
> >
>
>
>