Best guess, dumb question.

[GPster]

The other night I tried to turn over the Chevy with the battery I,ve had laying around. It turned it over a week ago but even with the plugs out it wouldn't do it this time. I got to investigating and even though the solenoid pulled in (12V) and the starter is only 6V it wouldn't turn the motor. The motor turned easily enough by hand and the starter motor just sings along when it's jumped around the solenoid because the gears are not connected to the flywheel. First thought was that the solenoid had gone bad and wasn't making good contact to power the starter, but it's new and has worked since being under water. Took the battery in to put it on the charger and it immediately started charging at over 6 amps, which used-to-be an indication that the battery was near dead. I took this to be a valid point because it would not take much 12V battery to turn an un-loaded 6V starter motor, so I left it charge. It's been on the charger for days and according to the gauge on the charger it has never dropped below a 3 amp charge rate. Now the battery is a Die Hard that has never been on a daily driven car and is about 10 years old and has spent much of it's life on the shelf in my garage. The charger was under water during the flood but it was not shorted and when I put it on this battery it appeared to be acting the same way it always has. The question was would you think the battery is bad or the charger? I am asking because sometimes when I see my question it print I see something that I have obviously forgot, also I valueother peoples' ideas sometimes more than my own. Plus there is a wealth of experience on thus board, there are house-painters here with better understanding of these things than me. GPster

[47wood]

Well I'm no house painter but I'll bet one of them is bad.  I'd say it's the battery ...so I'd try another one first.  10 years is a long life for a battery (even a Diehard).  I'm glad you said it's been on a shelf since batteries that sit on concrete have their lives cut short.  There isn't a lot in the charger to go bad but I have seen electronic components that had their value changed after water damage and operated intermittently or different.  Others may have more experience to offer.  Good Luck.  

[MrMopar64]

My guess would be the battery........ It's also my understanding that a 6v motor (starter,fan etc) draws twice as many amps as a 12v motor would. So if the battery was low that could account for not turning the motor.... If I am wrong about this someone will let us know  

MM64  

[GPster]

We are all right. I was correct in that I would get smarter if I wrote it down and you guys are correct that the battery was shot. Never thought about my neighbor because he was out of town for the weekend. He runs an auto repair garage next to his house and he has a load tester for car batteries. I took the battery of my charger and carried it over. It wouldn't even make a nudge to the yellow maybe line. So now I know what to replace. Thanks for the answers and the space to be windy. GPster