Hello everyone, been awhile since I've posted, but have been browsing from time to time.

Well, I left my car door open for a few days and the battery drained completely. It's an Optima red top battery and it's only a year old. I've had to jump it three times even after driving for awhile to let the alternator charge it up. It seems to be slowly regaining a charge and it started on it's own after the last jump and drive around, but it was a very slow start. Just wondering if it is normal to take this long for the alternator to charge a battery after it's completely drained. Or is there maybe a problem with the battery or alternator?

Any comments? thanks.

There is no "normal".

"Rule of thumb" is: If it holds a charge it's not damaged, and if it doesn't, it is FUBAR. In reality, its condition can be anything in between, depending how far it was depleted.

A battery test (by someone who knows how to do it) might give an estimate of its condition.


Since they are not related to the discharge, and the system has been charging the battery, it's highly unlikely.

Norm

Hey Coupe, thanks for the reply.

It was depleted competely...didn;t even power the interior light.

Tried starting again this morning and she didn't turnover. So I went back to walmart and they replaced it with a new one no questions asked. hows that for a return policy.

Even though it's after the fact, this may be of some interest.

There is a little more to it than what I'm about to describe, but in layman's terms-

When a battery is depleted, and left to sit out in the cold, the chemical reactions that generate the electricity stop, which render the battery useless. This would be called letting the battery "freeze"- Sometimes the electrolyte in the battery will actually freeze, and sometimes not, but both scenarios result in you getting a new battery.

Glad you got it fixed!