Batteries left sitting on concrete?

[CincyFlyer]

I lost too many batteries sitting on cement to fall for that lie. All the experts ever say is old rubber based batteries (I've never seen one) would drain but modern plastic ones are not at risk. Yet I have had it happen to me. Those same experts say that you don't need to let your car engine warm up for more than a few seconds to get oil flowing when cold out. The problem is none of those experts will come over and pay for a replacement engine or battery. Maybe in the south it's different but up here in the cold months things left on cement get cooled down and attract moisture. In that moisture will be any minerals that were in the cement. A simple test is to place a piece of steel on a cement floor and one on a board on the cement floor. The steel on the floor will rusted like crazy in the spring.

I would guess a sealed battery is probably a lot more resistant to being damaged. Between the cement, moisture, sulfuric acid, lead, and anything else that has deposited itself on the outside of the battery you have a whole chemistry set. The lead will oxidize. The cement will create calcium carbonate (a base). I can see multiple ways a battery could be drained. The moisture could create an electrical path between the terminals and the calcium carbonate could react with the sulfuric acid and turn the electrolyte in the battery into salt water (on a vented battery) seem like the two most likely off the top of my head.

If you leave a battery on cold concrete for several months, it will indeed be dead. But it hasn't a thing to do with the concrete. Oh, and your car really only needs a few seconds before driving, but don't drive it hard until it's warmed up. Otherwise, put your battery on a layer of calcium carbonate, and it will make not a shred of difference.

 

[PILOON]

LOL, put anything on a concrete floor and you will have a nice big wet patch, it has all to do with condensation.
LOL, do U really believe that concrete will suck the amps out of your battery?
If so, have a bridge to sell to you, real deal!

Mythbusters debunked that concept some time back.

 

[Ehanson]

I believe dirty tops of batteries are a good source of leakage, Clean and dry, I trickle charge with a 2 amp charger every now and then, all good.

 

[mcfarmall]

Never had a battery go dead sitting on a concrete floor but have seen many go dead from parasitic drain across the top of the battery. Battery looked clean but I would get a voltage reading from the negative (or positive) terminal and anywhere on top of the battery. A good cleaning with baking soda and water cleaned it off and no more leakage.

A dirty battery is a dead battery! When I was a young whippersnapper, an electrician at work told me about this and I began a dialogue with him about it. He explained everything and then had me take an analog meter, place one lead on the positive terminal and the other on the dirty top of the battery case and the meter needle moved up a few volts. Enough proof for me.

Keep your batteries clean and do yourself a favor. (I still set them on boards on the floor)

 

[Jim Nelson]

When I was a teen and working in service stations and dealerships one of the first things I was taught was never set a battery on concrete as it would kill it.Once I took a really badly corroded and filthy 6 volt out of an old Plymouth and set it on the concrete floor of the wash rack to clean it up before trying to charge it, an older mechanic came running over with a piece of wood and told me to put that under the battery or the boss would fire me if he saw what I was doing.That early training stuck with me for the last 60 years or so and I still always set a battery on a bench or block of wood, even though I know it's now considered a bunch of hooey.Old habits die hard and the older you get the harder they die. The men who taught me my work habits were real good people who believed what they taught and I still respect them even if they are proven wrong, after all, I've never heard anyone say "If you set a battery on wood it will kill it".

 

[2458n]

Took a battery out of my truck and set it on my asphalt driveway. Small piece of gravel right thru the bottom of the case. Should of had a board.

 

[Pete O]

I was taught not that the battery would be discharged by the concrete, but the abrasive effect with the earth's natural vibration will cause the bottom of the battery to wear through. We see the same vibration effect with our 12,000 gallon concrete water tank, the (concrete) lid is in 4 separate sections and they move over time so that there are large gaps between the quadrants, every few years I have to get out the hand winch and pull them back into place. I always put a piece of wood or rubber under a battery if it is going to be sitting on the floor for any length of time.

 

[Redlands Okie]

I was taught not that the battery would be discharged by the concrete, but the abrasive effect with the earth's natural vibration will cause the bottom of the battery to wear through. We see the same vibration effect with our 12,000 gallon concrete water tank, the (concrete) lid is in 4 separate sections and they move over time so that there are large gaps between the quadrants, every few years I have to get out the hand winch and pull them back into place. I always put a piece of wood or rubber under a battery if it is going to be sitting on the floor for any length of time.

Heating and cooling have som affect ?

 

[bigtiller]

"earth's natural vibration"

How bad is it down there?

 

[CADplans]

"earth's natural vibration"

How bad is it down there?

Australia is an island,, so it is only loosely connected to the earths core,,

Hawaii has the same problem,, that is why the dancers have such wiggly hips,,,