I have an older battery (6 years?) in my 2011 RT which I try and drive once a week but sometimes it sits a little longer. Lately starts have been cranky (several cranks today but another day 8) but the other day I threw an old Schumacher charger on the battery and left it overnight. The next morning the battery was fully charged and the RT fired right up first try.

The Schumacher doesn't give you much information (charging, maintaining lights) but recently I bought a Yonhan that has a number of modes (battery types, motorcycle) and gives you great info like voltage, amps and charge level. One of the modes is Repair which I've never tried. I'm wondering if I threw the Yonhan on the RT and selected Repair mode it might help? Has anyone used this mode on a charger to revive and old battery?

 

Batterys sulfate over time..... it's pretty much unavoidable. 6 to 7 years is a pretty good run for a car battery that doesn't get used daily......

As for the 'repair' mode..... Depends on just what it is they think they are 'repairing'???

 

Agreed, I almost replaced the battery the other day but it seems there is some life left in it.

The repair verbiage is very vague: Use repair mode if the battery won't charge normally. Its high and low-frequency pulse technology helps restore and activate batteries.

 

Ok, that's theoretically to desulfate the battery, and 'extend their life'...... Will it work? No idea. Will it hurt? Probably not.

 

To my surprise it did charge normally, turned right over first try. I think the issue is two-fold: 1) old battery and 2) when I take the car out I don't drive it very long/far.

 

Yeah, it takes a fair bit of power to start the engine.... and then it takes a little while to fully charge the battery again. You just need to drive it more.