Battery not charging please help

[jeeplover2]

I have an old nylint Jeep crawler and the battery has been dead for a few years because I didn't have the charger and now that I have the charger the battery doesn't want to charge and it has been on the charger for over 24 hours. Any help would be appreciated as I have not used my crawler for a few years. If the battery is shot what are some recommendations for a replacement battery.

[Charlie-III]

What battery (NiCD, NiMH, LiPO?)
What charger, a "wall wart" or something else?

Sounds like the battery is garbage, but we'll see if we can help.

[jeeplover2]

Its a wall wart charger. The battery is a valve regulated lead acid battery. The battery is 12 volts 4.2AH.

[monkeyracing]

So, basically, it's a sealed lead acid battery that's been parked for a few years. The "valve regulated" portion of the name refers to an over-pressure vent that releases if the battery is over-charged. What has likely happened is that the battery has "sulphated". It can probably be revived, even with the wall wart. There are a load of good articles about getting some life back into the pack if you do a search, like this

Over the long term, I'd suggest replacing it with something more forgiving, like a LiFe pack. You'll have to dig around to find one that fits correctly, but it would be worth it.

[Charlie-III]

Lead Acid batteries typically have a usefull life of ~5 years, how they are handled, charged, stored all have a play in their life. You may get 1 year out of it, you may get 9 years out of it.

Sounds like you're "end of life" at this point.

A BatteryTender is a nice unit for maintaining lead acid batteries, they are made by Deltran.

[PS, I work with lead acid batteries every day, I work for a company that does battery monitoring of large UPS batteries]

[jeeplover2]

Thanks for the help I greatly appreciate it. I'm going to leave it on the charger for awhile and see if I can get life out of it. I hope I can find a replacement if its shot because my crawler has seen very little use.

[johnnyh66]

12v?
hook a 3s lipo up and let her rip!

(fyi, that may not be a good idea)

[jeeplover2]

I want a good replacement if I need one. I just looked on Amazon and they have a new battery and charger for it but its currently unavailable so I'm hoping they will get more in stock if not I'll have to hunt around for a replacement.