HELP! Can't get battery to hold charge

[QWKSLVR]

Just picked up a '91 a couple weeks ago & have been working on it in my garage so I'm not driving it everyday yet. I did drive her home from Boston to DC & have driven her a couple times in between here & there without problems. However, one night, I must have left the interior dome light on & the battery drained overnite. After a straight forward jump start & driving her around, I can not restart after turning off the ignition. I've since had to jump start everytime! The battery is light weight. The alternator had no problems prior. Is this typical of light weight batteries? Do need a battery tender or recharge?

 

[D'Ecosse]

Is this an Optima? Once it goes below 10.5V it's pretty much a goner & won't recover.

 

[twizted]

Odd, I have an Optima that I have drained until it was COMPLETELY dead a couple of times and it still works great :biggrin:

 

[zahntech]

Odd, I have an Optima that I have drained until it was COMPLETELY dead a couple of times and it still works great :biggrin:

Either your battery is fairly new or you got lucky...All Automotive batteries have a dislike of being drained and recharged..I too have noticed that the Gel cell batteries are even more temper mental,,deep cycle batteries are needed for applications where discharge/recharge are common...however deep cycle batteries are not proper for standard Automotive use ...if you car is going to sit for weeks on end without use, a battery maintainer is a good idea...

QWKSLVR,If you have driven the car many miles and you still can't get it to start, sounds like you need a new battery:frown:

 

[Shumdit]

To answer the original post:
Buy a trickle charger and leave it plugged in for about 5-7 days. This is the best chance to save the battery. The odds are the driving around recharge method will never fix the problem, unless you drive to Brazil without cutting the car off.