[Supervinnie40]

Originally Posted by edwardmk

I had the same problems with my 260 last year. Like you I took many readings and swapped around every fuse I could find. Because my battery was fairly young ( around 10-11 months I seem to recollect) I assumed it was OK. I invested in various pieces of test kit but got mixed results. Finally I gave up and went back to Halfords who were initially doubtful it could be faulty (fairly new battery). Their service guy appeared with a very expensive meter which gave a simple message...'replace battery'. Then they were as good as gold and exchanged it under their 4 year warranty. All my issues disappeared. I now hook up a Ctek 5a charger when it isn't in use for more than a week and it now starts first time (so far lol). Apparently batteries which are fairly new can lose a cell and cause trouble, especially if the battery has been run very flat. SD1 and Colvert were both very helpful at that time too. And it is technically correct that electrons travel from negative to positive.

In my case the battery is only a few months old. And I've dealt with the seller before. They are going to give me a very hard time probably. So, if it doesn't turn out to be a drain, then I'm still out of 100 bucks for a new battery .

Originally Posted by vitesse

Your post prompted me to have a look at two of my spare batteries in the garage. I probably last charged them about 2 or 3 months ago on a standard (non-clever) charger. At the time my son-in-law had problems starting but it always started with a freshly charged battery and then eventually wouldn't start at all. But it was the starter solenoid at fault so I kept the batteries charged until I replaced the solenoid which was probably in April. They haven't been charged since.
The Bosch battery read 12.7v / the Tudor just over 13v.

Regards

That worries me. Mine didn't go higher then 12.45. And that was freshly from the charger.

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Vinnie.

Item 2/ in my post.

The fact that your charger goes into TRICKLE mode does not, unfortunately, mean your battery is fully charged.

All that charger is telling you is that the part of your battery that is healthy enough to take a charge has been charged.

If your battery is almost at the end of its useful life and the plates are beginning to fail that charger just says---I've done my best with what's left of your battery plates. The resistance they put up when I'm tying to charge them says to me they are fully charged so I relay that message to you. BUT it's very rarely true.---

You could be fighting a losing battle with a battery that's on its last gasp.

Nowadays when the acid in a battery can't be got at to test it the best remaining way is with a garage Drop-Tester.--

I didn't know that. I wronfully assumed that my charger (which was kinda expensive) was clever enough to tell me what was happening. According to the manual it even has a mode in which it says "Err", which means that the battery is absolutely dead. Apparantely mine is only on its way , but not there yet.

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Analogy for some clarity about battery capacity.

Two tanks of water side by side.
Both a metre in depth.
One tank a metre in diameter and the other ten metres in diameter.
Let the depth be the voltage ( 12 ) and the diameter be the capacity. ( Amps. )

Obviously the larger tank has the greater capacity but the depths ( voltages, are identical. )

It's possible to have two batteries with very similar voltages but, as the tanks described above, to have totally different capacities.

It's the capacity that's needed to do the work.

The starter motor is 12 volts but needs something like 150 amps to spin it. As a battery ages it loses capacity until it reaches the stage where it can't do what you want it to do.





PS. At my age I have intimate understanding of that feeling and it makes my wife very happy to keep telling me so.--

With my 6 months old battery I didn't really think this would be an issue

Originally Posted by SD1too

Thanks for this useful information Vinnie. It sounds to me as if your battery's capacity has been severely reduced as Colvert has just described. This has probably resulted from infrequent short journeys (40 km is not really adequate to recharge a depleted battery).

When your battery is unable to turn the starter motor it should take 24 hours or more before your smart charger tells you that it's recharged. If this happens sooner, the battery may be beyond saving.

I think the long term solution to your problems Vinnie is to use your charger more frequently.

Simon

I should've mentioned that I only once drove the car after a jump start. The other times I took out the charger to fully charge the battery.
In the beginning it could well take 2 days (at least when the sun was shining) to charge the battery. Since then, I have been trying to keep it charged. Getting it from 10 or 11v to 12v only take a couple of hours.


Although I am thankful for the help and assistance, I am also still keeping in the back of my mind that this battery is fairly new. And a new battery shouldn't discharge completely in a week. There is a chance I got a bad one, but I rather double-check it's not just a parasitic drain. I've seen a drain of 0.45 amps on the multimeter earlier last week, and in theorie that should deplete a 100ah battery in about 9.3 days. Which seems fairly plausible considering my own experience.
Take into account that the battery has been almost completely empty a few times (below 6v on the meter), the battery probably lost a fair few of those original 100 amps/hour. Maybe it only has 50 amps/hour left? That would mean it drains (with 0.45 amps) in about 4.6 days. Which is pretty much exactly what it does at the moment.
Obviously, the battery would still need to be replaced. But I want to fix any drains in the system before I throw away another 100 bucks on another new battery.
After all, a car like the 75, should well be able to stand still for a few weeks without getting a flat battery. Mine had no problems with my 19 days holiday in 2017.