I'm not sure if this belongs here,but------ I have a question for you guys up North. I had this driver,I live next to a semi truck service business,tell me his batteries froze and split open! Have any of you ever heard of this? If so,what do you use for antifreeze in them? I always thought heat is what kills batteries!
A battery will freeze after it is dead. whether it brakes or not you do not want to recharge or reuse a battery that froze due to the plates inside are now distorted or shorted.
The chemical reaction in a live battery will help keep it from freezing. If its dead and cold long enough, it will freeze. Had a friends motorcycle battery freeze and split that was out of his bike.
I was taught in my early days of running a tow truck, to pull the caps and check for a frozen battery before putting the starter pack to it. If it was froze, it could blow up from the high current of the starter pack. Back then there was no such thing as a sealed for life battery, they all had caps. Don't know how true it is, but as a young punk, it scared the hell out of me.
As long as the battery is charged it will not freeze unless it gets below -40F. The reason you add water to a battery is because the water is the only part of the acid solution that evaporates. As long as the battery has not been tipped over you only add water. If it has been tipped over then you match the acid level by mixing it with water to make it the same specific gravity. That is the only time you add acid to a battery.
If it was dead then it is deader now! If it had a charge on it then you might be ok. Bring it in, warm it up, and check the voltage. If it shows more than 12.5 volts then put a slow charge on it and see if it will take a charge. If it starts fuming, sputtering and/or getting hot then it is toast.
Thanks much,guys! I have never heard of this before! It got to 19°F here in that last cold shot we had! Sorry,but orange juice is going to go up a little. I keep my batteries charged,about every 2 weeks,if I haven't driven the vehicle,so all is good there! I did research on electrolyte and found that a fully charged lead acid battery won't freeze until -92°F!!! When it gets that cold I'm leavin!!!
