Placing batteries on a concrete floor

[Ghoste]

It's that time of year when long term storage begins for my car and this came up.

[Topher]

Make sure the case is clean. That's what drains the battery-NOT THE FLOOR. If you're puttin her away for several months, unhook the negative cable an use a battery tender and not a battery charger.

[elacruze]

Make sure the case is clean. That's what drains the battery-NOT THE FLOOR. If you're puttin her away for several months, unhook the negative cable an use a battery tender and not a battery charger.

Batteries used to have asphalt casings, which are made mostly of carbon which is electrically conductive. Concrete sweats, particularly up North which wets the casing, then dust and dirt and engine compartment mung turn everything conductive.

Modern batteries don't have the carbon problem, however if they are stored on the floor dirty they will suffer the same discharge problem to a lesser extent.

I wash batteries before long-term storage, and I do keep them above the floor just to keep them clean. A battery tender or smart-charger is critical for max. battery life.

I think I just said that batteries shouldn't be stored on the concrete...

[tan top]

 never a good idea to store a battery on a cold concrete floor  , 

[69rtse4spd]

Myth or not, I do not store on concrete.

[greasyspider]

I have never stored my batteries on anything but a concrete floor, and never had a problem 

[resq302]

The spare Mopar battery I have is on my floor in my garage which is concrete but a 2x4 separates it from the concrete floor.

[A383Wing]

it's the "cold" of the floor that kills a battery, not the concrete itself

I have had 2 Interstate batteries on the floor all summer and up 'till now, both are still good....I do have a battery charger wired to both when I'm out at the garage on the weekend...otherwise, charger is turned off

[mhinders]

It's actually better store a battery in a cold environment, it decreases the internal discharge that all batteries have.
A fully charged battery can be left in very cold environment (like -22F) without problems, since there is no pure water anymore in the battery. A discharged battery will contain water and will freeze and destroy itself.
Martin