Suggestions for keeping a battery charged..

[Jim 1]

So my Corrado is now garaged as I have a daily.

 

Went to try and drive it yesterday and the battery was so flat, it wouldn't start. Left my booster pack charging last night and tried to jump the car with that, and there wasn't even enough juice in it to jump the car!

 

I'm going to get a new battery anyway as I reckon my current one is shot and not holding charge - but does anyone have any suggestions for keeping a battery charged up? I'm in a difficult situation where I don't have any mains power in my garage, there is no natural light in the garage (so solar chargers are not an option) and I can't really remove my battery for now because I have an old alarm with a single fob - if the alarm brain forgets what key it's coded to, I'm shagged.

 

Any ideas? (getting a new, decent alarm fitted ASAP!)

[Supercharged 2]

Leave the pack on the car for a bit mate and try it... whats the battery voltage? if it's dropped below 3v a couple of times then Lead Acid Bats will struggle to recover

 

New battery maybe? should last 4 weeks really no probs, Tim started his the other day after over 6 I think, started first turn - got to love VW's!

[Leonard 0]

New battery and then disconnect a terminal if you think you are not going to use the C for a while?

 

With no mains power I cannot really see another option :confused4:

[The_Dude 0]

^^^^What he said. New heavy duty battery too?

 

When Andy the Trim Wizard fitted my alarm he tested the electrics and told me how much of a drain on the battery I had, what was causing it and how roughly how long it would take to discharge. What a legend. :clap: You should get him to fit your alarm.

[vornwend 0]

Jim - I've had mine in the garaged since Sept and although I now use a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up I also try and get the engine up to operating temps at least once every 10 days (as I let it run for at least 20 minutes) This also seemed to be fine for the battery before I got the trickle charger. Also try and take her for at least a 30 minute spin when ever the weather allows

 

The only other thing I could suggest is to try and get a solar power charger with a long lead and site the panel on the garage roof away from prying eyes? 8)

 

I have had problems with the key fob getting unsynchronised recently - not sure if that is the key battery on the way out or just lack of use but I've taken to carrying the alarm instructions with me when I take her out just in case I need to resynchronise :?

[Jim 1]

^^^^What he said. New heavy duty battery too?

 

When Andy the Trim Wizard fitted my alarm he tested the electrics and told me how much of a drain on the battery I had, what was causing it and how roughly how long it would take to discharge. What a legend. :clap: You should get him to fit your alarm.

 

Yep - it's going to be Trimwizard who does the alarm. He won't come to me (too far away) so I've gotta get a day off work to go and see him - but I only hear GLOWING reviews about the quality of his installs so it's a total no brainer.

[Jim 1]

Am looking into solar trickle chargers - can pick up ones suitable to trickle charge a car battery, that are also weather proof for between £15-£30 quite easily. Could just poke the wires through the garage door or something - that'd do the job!

[dr_mat 0]

You need a fairly large (and expensive) solar trickle charger to deal with the drain Corrados seem to produce. I've got one and frankly it's only really capable of delaying the inevitable, and that's only in the summer. In the winter it's completely useless. They need bright, direct sunlight to produce ANY current at all.

 

I've been looking for a good solution to this myself, having had to hoik the battery out of the car and charge it from completely flat no less than four times so far this winter (fortunately my alarm doesn't give a crap about this..). I was thinking about using a "charging battery" type thing as a top-up charger.. Charge the portable battery in the house, take it out and leave it in the car for a day or so (charge through the ciggie socket) to keep the battery from going completely flat.

 

The results of my search so far have been disappointing. Problem is that the battery winds up staying low .. If you want to avoid killing lead-acid batteries you have to make sure they are FULLY charged most of their lifetime. If they do discharge that's no big deal, just make sure you charge them up as soon as you can, and right the way up. Not just 20% - i.e. "start the car and drive it for 20 minutes". Either charge it overnight or run the engine (with some revs on the alternator) for an hour or more.

 

I'm pretty sure the only real answer (particularly as you have a garage) is a permanently connected mains powered intelligent maintenance charger. Is there no way you can run power to it?

[Yandards 0]

I would guess the only option is the solar panel method but like the good Dr said they aint great. Make sure track down one that charges using light not direct sunlight only, these will be a lot more expensive though.

 

You could also try pulling some fuses to reduce the current drain, radio and clocks would be a good pair to pull, that should only leave your alarm drain and the ambient weather conditions. It might also be worth wrapping some insulation around the battery in an effort to keep it warmer - best bet would be a battery jacket as they don't like the cold.

[Jim 1]

I can run power to it, but only infrequently. I simply can't have a power cable running out of the window of my flat, and across the path to the garage - I think the other residents would object. Especially as some of them are old and would inevitably trip over it!

 

But I could (once every two weeks for example) run a cable out of the window to the garage to recharge the battery as I don't think they'd mind that.. but would continual draining and recharging affect the battery negatively?

[davidwort 0]

Well something is draining the battery, it must be the alarm/immobiliser and or radio, can't you isolate these circuits or fit a battery kill switch terminal on the battery itself to cut all power.

I don't think it causes the KE jet ECU any problems to be totally disconnected from power, it's not like it's a 'learning' ECU or anything, I'd imagine the only problems would be with radio key codes(if you have one) or being able to separately isolate the alarm/immobiliser if you only wanted to do that.

I'd expect a good newish diesel capacity battery to last a couple of weeks with the car not being run (~70Ah battery)

For a 55Ah battery you need about 0.1 amp or 1 Watt drain on the system to kill the battery totally in about 2 weeks.

 

If you can give the battery a few hours boost every week, that should be OK for the battery, ideally you want to drive it for at least 20 mins every week though, you should be doing this to keep oil all around the engine anyway and to evaporate any condensation out of the engine too.

[Henny 0]

simply disconnect the battery completely and take a major (electrical) engine component off and into your flat... The battery will not go flat, and no bugger can nick the car as they'll not be able to get it to start... ;) There are even battery terminals you can get with a removable section specifically for this purpose, so you just unscrew the "link" and walk away knowing that your battery is disconnected... 8)

 

I'd be thinking about taking the fuel pump relay into your flat if I were you... it's easy to remove, and the car won't go anywhere without it... it's also not the kind of part that your average car thief carries in their pocket... ;)

 

H-YYU has been stood for over 2 years now ( :( ) and the battery has been disconnected but it has had a solar trickle charger on it at all times... this keeps it topped up to full and keeps it healthy, while stopping it from going anywhere (that and the fact the engine still hasn't been fixed!) as well as a couple of vital components missing helping her stay put... ;) :norty:

[Yandards 0]

simply disconnect the battery completely and take a major (electrical) engine component off and into your flat... The battery will not go flat, and no bugger can nick the car as they'll not be able to get it to start... ;) There are even battery terminals you can get with a removable section specifically for this purpose, so you just unscrew the "link" and walk away knowing that your battery is disconnected... 8)

 

I'd be thinking about taking the fuel pump relay into your flat if I were you... it's easy to remove, and the car won't go anywhere without it... it's also not the kind of part that your average car thief carries in their pocket... ;)

 

H-YYU has been stood for over 2 years now ( :( ) and the battery has been disconnected but it has had a solar trickle charger on it at all times... this keeps it topped up to full and keeps it healthy, while stopping it from going anywhere (that and the fact the engine still hasn't been fixed!) as well as a couple of vital components missing helping her stay put... ;) :norty:

 

Jim can't pull the battery power as he is worried about his alarm fudging up, the battery disconnect link is called a 'dis-carnect' though and they are pretty good, you cant fit a battery cover if you have one though.

 

Good point about the relay removal though, not a lot of hassle and there is no way a car theif is going to be carry one, it's hard enough getting one from the dealers! :)

[dr_mat 0]

But I could (once every two weeks for example) run a cable out of the window to the garage to recharge the battery as I don't think they'd mind that.. but would continual draining and recharging affect the battery negatively?

 

The thing that kills batteries is being discharged and then LEFT discharged. You should be fine if you can really be bothered to top it up every couple of weeks. It's letting it go flat and leaving it that way for months on end that causes sulphation.

[Jim 1]

As a side note, I bought a Halfords battery jump pack. Listed as being a 20AH unit and suitable for engines 'up to 3 litres' I thought it'd do the job. Does it hell! I charge it, attach it to the car and it cranks for about half a second and it's totally flattened!!

 

Stay away - they're sh!te. And expensive!

[Supercharged 2]

As a side note, I bought a Halfords battery jump pack. Listed as being a 20AH unit and suitable for engines 'up to 3 litres' I thought it'd do the job. Does it hell! I charge it, attach it to the car and it cranks for about half a second and it's totally flattened!!

 

Stay away - they're sh!te. And expensive!

 

Yeah,never liked those packs to be honest but if you have a knackered battery - ie it's a cell down then a fully charged Snap-On pack won't start it either.

 

Whats the battery voltage? Might be worth taking to Halfords to get it tested.

[dr_mat 0]

As a side note, I bought a Halfords battery jump pack. Listed as being a 20AH unit and suitable for engines 'up to 3 litres' I thought it'd do the job. Does it hell! I charge it, attach it to the car and it cranks for about half a second and it's totally flattened!!

 

Give it chance - let it charge your own battery for 15 minutes first. You got a voltmeter? Just check the main battery's output. If it's significantly below 12v most of the booster's current is dumped into your dead battery, not starting the car.

[Jim 1]

To be fair Steve suggested that on the last page and I was just impatient and tried again as soon as I connected it. It's charging again tonight so will connect it tomorrow evening and let it charge for a little bit before I try and jump it :)

[Supercharged 2]

The other thing that will knacker it is you keeping cranking it when it's dead!

 

Be patient man - maybe worth investing in a new battery anyway, £36 from TPS for your car although i'd get a bigger one than standard!

[Jim 1]

Well I've got some new car audio stuff going in soon so a larger battery wouldn't be a bad idea. But when I'd been using the car every day, the battery was absolutely tip top. When it got knackered after going through the water, it seriously withstood about 25 attempts to start the car over the period of an hour - but I think that spelled the end for it.. hasn't been holding charge right since then!

[colinstubbs 0]

Jim try the bottom of this page :wave:

[Jim 1]

Borrowed a decent trickle charger off my boss @ work today and hooked it up to the car when I got home. The battery had actually completely gone flat as when I hooked up the trickle charger, the clocks came back on with the time at 0:00 - luckily the alarm isn't (yet) playing up. Left an extension cable dangled out of the flat and into the garage.. so it should be charged tomorrow. Will get up early and take it for a spin!

[dr_mat 0]

Yes, that's the best way. The thing to avoid, really, is little top-up charges that are just enough to get the car started. Unless you use the car enough (and that means a couple of hours driving), the battery stays flat, or nearly flat, for a very long time and that's a very effective way to kill it.

[Henny 0]

Maplins is doing a special offer at the moment for a 12V 12W solar charger for £39.99 That should stop your car from going flat.... if it's pulling more than 1amp, when it's just sat there, there's something really, really wrong!