Battery problems
 

Hi All,
My car has stood idle for a while due to health problems.
I was cleared to drive a couple of weeks back, so I checked the car early last week (Tuesday) & it would not start, tried but failed. So I put it on charge for about 5 hours and then on Wednesday drove for about 70 miles (35 each way).
Today I when to use the car and it didn't have enough in the battery to start again?
I replaced the battery a couple of years ago, with a Bosch Silver Plus. Battery voltage now is 12.13V (+/- multi-meter accuracy).
Nothing has been left turned on and no incar satnav to drain the battery.
Any thoughts?

Also, would getting a Ctek 5.0 charger be of any benefit as I will not be using the car regularly now.

Thanks
SteveN

Glad to hear that you appear to be on the mend.

I believe the usual advice is to charge the battery for 24 hours - but I'm far from being an expert on the matter.

A trickle charger for cars that have infrequent usage is a good idea, but you can get a similar device at Lidl (and other stores) for about 1/4 of the price of a ctek

Again sounds like the battery has died - it may be taking a charge but not holding it. It may well have 12v across it when it's off-load but not have the capacity to start the car - you probably need to take it to Halfords or auto electrician and get them to drop test it. i.e. stick a big load across it and see what the voltage drops down to. If you've got long arms or an assistant you can see what the voltage drops down to when you try to start the car, anything less than about 10v is a good indicator the battery has had it.

12.13V is not fully charged. Leave it charging for 24 hours as suggested. Then leave it disconnected overnight and check voltage in the morning. If it is still at 12.1ish volts then it is toast.

Cheers,
Glenn

I would have thought a 70 mile drive should have adequately charged the battery, unless the alternator is not charging properly?

Shame with a lot of modern batteries are sealed so you cannot check each cell with a hydrometer.

Thanks for your comments.

I can get my son to read the meter while I crank later tonight. will post the cranking voltage later.
I'll pull the battery later tonight and leave it on charge for 24hrs and test in the morning. see where we are then.

Note: my ref to 12.13v is the current voltage of the discharged battery.

Thanks
SteveN

That was my thoughts too, twas a sunny day so no lights or demister! :D

SteveN

Hi

I bought an AA solar charger for my campervan (best reviews). Unfortunately it couldn't cope with main battery and leisure batteries.
Yours for free plus postage (I would guess around £3.50) or anyone else interested
Geoff

Alternators are not very good at charging a flat battery. When I ran the battery down on my Discovery , Land Rover assistance engineer , having jump started it, said run it with the headlamps on, to increase the load on the electrical system to push up the alternator output voltage. It seemed to work but I am no expert. Below a battery state chart from another forum
.http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/albu..._SoC_Table.jpg

It's most likely that, having stood for a while in a fully discharged state, the battery is now incapable of holding a full charge.

I would just replace the battery and start from there.

On modern cars batteries are really service items with a lifespan of 5-8 years only if kept in a state close to fully charged at all times.

This one is good value

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-Exide-...UAAOSwCGVX6115