Charging the battery

When I went to start my Vette a few weeks ago, after sitting for the winter, it wouldn't start. So I charged the battery.  Then I took it to the shop for inspection and left it there a couple weeks (not running). Went to pick it up, it wouldn't start.  Jumped it. Brought it home, put in on the charger.  I put it on a 10A charge till it got charged all the way, then knocked the charger down to 2A.  While in 2A mode, it would stop charging and the "Charge Complete" light would come on.  But every few minutes, the light would turn off, and it would charge again for a minute, then light came back on again and it stopped charging.  It continues to do this.  Is this normal for charging? Or is the battery draining while sitting there which causes the charger to kick on again?

Adam:

Boss you must have left a loose bolt on the carb!

 

I got news for ya....I ain't NEVER seen a Corvette that wouldn't drain the battery if it sits for very long without a charger of some kind on it...even the new ones.
Depending on what kind of charger you actually have, it may be operating normally. If it's one the "floats" the charge, it will come on/off as needed to keep the battery a a full charge. Also, in my experience(and that of others), 2 amps on a steady charge will overcharge the battery. Most chargers that are designed for "storage" charging are less than 1 amp, usually .75 amp or so.
Have the battery tested and see how it comes thru, then go from there. If you don't have one, get a battery disconnect switch for the car. You'll be glad you did.

All above is true, but the battery going dead in a couple of weeks is too fast.  Either the battery is bad, or there is too much of a leak.  If the battery checks out, or if it holds a charge while disconnected, then connect an accurate digital ammeter and start pulling fuses, etc, until the drain disappears or at least goes way down.  Then work down that circuit until you find the drain.

Larry

If you do not have a digital meter a test light can be placed between the negative battery cable and the negative battery post. If the lamp lights you have something drawing current and it will kill the battery. If the lamp does not light then more than likely it is time for a new battery.

Also, you might check the water level in the battery, if it is possible.... if it has removable caps... if it does not, then, disregard... :)  Reason saying this is that if you can check the level of the water(electrolyte) you can do a few things, one being to see if each cell has water, if it is low, then its been overcharged or if one cell is low, then it could be a good indicator of a bad cell... also, being able to access the water, you can use a hydrometer(any parts store should have them) to test the gravity of the 'water'... a fully charged battery usually reads around 1.1275-1.1300 sg(specific gravity) and it should read the same for all 6 cells,  if there is one cell that reads .0050 or more less than its probably a bad cell...  do take a little caution when using a hydrometer, dont let it drip on anything around, but dont be afraid of it either, its 65% water, 35% sulphuric acid, sooo it won't instantly dissolve I-beams or anything,  but.. painted surfaces beware ;)  and any cotton clothing...leather... nylon(makes it gooey)... etc..etc.. just keep some paper towels handy, and a box of Arm&Hammer ;)  

Also, the voltage on a fully charged battery on a voltmeter is 12.6 to 12.8 volts(after allowing the surface charge to disapate, so if you just took your battery off charge it may read higher, like 13-14 volts, but this is not the nominal voltage... your alternator should however be charging around the 14 volt mark... ).. and when putting a load on it, like starting a vehicle, the voltage should not really drop much below 10.5 volts... obviosly the higher the cold cranking rating the less that voltage drop will be(USUALLY)...  

Just a quick question,  how old is the battery? and what make/model is it?(reason asking is if its a JCI battery, there is a hot stamp code that can tell me(and you) the age of the battery/date of manufacture)... located on the top in one of the 4 corners, a 4 digit alpha-numeric code, i.e. C9RO...the first two letter/number represents the month and year C=April, 9=2009 (as long as you know its within 10 years, cause, they repeat the same alpha/numeric each decade, so, the 9 could be 1999... but you get the idea.. ) wow, i've rambled enough for a while..

Adam fixed the discharging issue - he sold his Vette!!

ohhhh yeah... he did sell it didn't he....  geesh,  been a long day at the warehouse, must have sweated out those particular brain cells that lent themselves to memmmm .. ummm.. forgot what i was going to say....

[QUOTE=stingrayjim]ohhhh yeah... he did sell it didn't he....  geesh,  been a long day at the warehouse, must have sweated out those particular brain cells that lent themselves to memmmm .. ummm.. forgot what i was going to say.... [/QUOTE]