Need some help/ideas.

I have a dual post yellow top that's showing 5.5 volts. If I put an Standard/Gel/AGM charger on it alone it just displays Bad Battery warning.

I hooked a 12v regular battery up to the optima and put the charger on it. About 3 hours later it raised up to 6.5 volts on a 12 amp charge. Battery was just warm to the touch so it's not overheating or anything. I checked it every 30 minutes or so. I didn't hear any venting either so I left it over night. I came back out in the morning to see Bad Battery Warning again and it's only up to 7.5 volts or so now. I unhooked everything and let it sit since I had to go to work.

Does this mean the battery is just dead?

 

There's a good chance its just bad however it may be that your charger is just having a difficult time charging it giving it the impression its bad. Case in point I think I have had one of the worst batteries ever. I left my headlights on for like a month or so and the battery was completely dead reading only like .05V. I put my charger on it and the charger just shut of. What I ended up doing was making a charger to bring up the voltage to around 12 V before putting it up on the actual charger. My battery took a good hit on that one and was never 100% after that as batteries dont fair well after being so discharged for such long but it is usable. If you wanted to give it a try you'll need a 12v power supply, a correctly chosen power resistor, and a bit of patients but if its that or a new battery may be worth the time and effort as they are not cheap.

 

some times gel batteries can have a hard time taking a charge. if you take it to your local advance/autozone, they can charge it free of charge and test it once its ready (usually about an hour or so). used to do that all the time with the ones i had sitting around from old projects. the yellow tops are designed to be able to completely be discharged without damage (unlike the standard lead acid batteries)

 

Thanks for the sugguestion. I guess I'll drop it off by Oreily Auto Parts. I usually try to avoid AutoZone like the plague. Normally when I go in there and ask for something (Piston Stop Tool, Carb Float Set Screws, Carb Air Filter Gasket and etc) I have to explain the part to the people behind the counter then I get told they have no clue what I'm talking about (making me feel like a moron) and then told how I ask for to high class of parts.

 

haha, dont blame you. i'm a bit biased (having worked for advance for 3+ years prior to my current employer), but i don't go into autozone unless there is something very specific and advance (or 1A) doesn't carry it

 

Oreily's declared the battery dead. Guess I'll be looking for power distribution block for now.