Battery Drain ?

[J4CKO]

Going to move the cars round so it is near my garage and put it on charge, suspect the battery isnt getting topped up due to low use, coupled with the current draw and the cold weather.

 

[eddieedmo]

a good battery should stand ok mine hasn't been used for over a week and been outside because garage full at moment and fired up no problem at -4 c yesterday morning.
Either battery is poor or you have an unusual draw on the battery when stood.
Hope you find it.

Nick []

 

[Copperman05]

I've just replaced mine for a Bosch S5 007 as the previous one was repeatedly letting me down, unfortunately once they have been run flat completely a couple of times (as mine had) they are never the same again. This new one is the biggest one in the right size for the car, at £84 from euro car parts it wasn't too expensive either.


Edd

 

[J4CKO]

I got it tested and apparently only 25 percent charged, said it was good but flat according to the very impressive digital tester he used, so whilst there I bought a battery maintainer thingy, 40 quid and stuck that on, moved it so it was near the house and set it up , went to it this morning and it fired up instantly. So, not a great problem to leave that on, suspect I could probably remove it once it has a full charge and it will just start, cold days, not going very far and the slightly higher than ideal current drain seem to have flattened it. I have to take the cover off it anyway and stick it in the garage so its a 2 minute job to remove the charger, I installed some wires it came with so it is easy to attach.

 

[944 man]

ORIGINAL: Copperman05

I've just replaced mine for a Bosch S5 007 as the previous one was repeatedly letting me down, unfortunately once they have been run flat completely a couple of times (as mine had) they are never the same again. This new one is the biggest one in the right size for the car, at £84 from euro car parts it wasn't too expensive either.


Edd

A good conditioner (the brand escapes me) with a 'recovery' mode should be able to counter the sulfacation and restore the batterys function.

 

[Copperman05]

Simon, I have an Optimate, great bit of kit, but this battery was beyond recovery it would seem...


Edd

 

[Veerzigzag]

I use a CTEK MSX 3.6 smart charger which I find excellent. Our family cars typically do short runs and I charge them overnight every few weeks. Looking at the charging time, it would appear that the batteries do get run down rather a lot, as even modern alternators can't keep up on short runs. I guess a modern battery will start the car even if only 25% charged, and topping it up to 100% from time to time has got to be a good thing. Lead-acid batteries like to be fully charged, or the plates get coated in sulphate and the internal resistance rises. I have to say from experience that once that happens, even an anti-sulphating charger like the CTEK will not give you a new battery. Surely batteries are basically disposable items, and not that expensive. I don't think starter motors like low power either - can't be good for them to half-engage. Given the hassle resulting from a car not starting because the side-lights were left on briefly, a replacement at the 5-7 year point is surely a wise precaution rather than trying to eke out the last few months.

 

[J4CKO]

Took a look today and it is in "Float", i.e. fully charged, it does then ten days and starts the cycle again.

 

[Copperman05]

I would have thought 10 days in this weather with a 944 is pretty normal. If your leaving the car for sometime between uses then you need a battery maintainer.


Edd

 

[J4CKO]

Starts like a champ now with the creek battery thingy on it, was worried at only 0.8 amps it wouldn't be upto the job, I didn't check and was the only one in the shop but over a few days it did the trick, if it is flat can use my normal charger,min fact have left it off after acdecent run the other day to see how long it takes to discharge.