Dead battery

[PACR]

Decided to go out for a quick blast today before settling down to watch my boys give the Irish a drubbing.....

 

I pushed the car out of the garage, and was attempting to fit the new tax disc when it started spitting with rain. I can take a little rain but it was a bit irritating as it had been dry and crisp all morning. Anyway, the battery was totally dead. I pushed it back into the garage as the heavens were stating to open a little more. On connecting the battery charger - nothing, it didn't kick in to charge at all. After an embaressing trip to Halfrauds I discovered that the charger worked fine but something about the battery didn't allow it to kick-in when connected. I jump started the car with a the battery from another car and after 10 mins running I then re-connected the charger - this time it burst into life and started charging.

 

It was a Halfords charger and a Banner battery (99 k series). Any ideas why the battery needed some charge before the charger would work? I don't think it would be down to the battery design.

 

So - keep your batteries topped up when not using your Seven and don't try the 'wait until there's a few people around and ask for a new charger as yours is broken' routine unless you are certain....

 

I didn't get to go for a blast and we got stuffed. Not a very good day at all really...

 

Piers

 

Edited by - PACR on 3 Feb 2002 21:17:28

[CHRIS CLARK]

I too have had this with a variety of batteries and chargers over the years (as I use 'em for radio control stuff as well, but that's another issue).

I think it's that the battery chargers just don't have the ability to overcome a totally flat battery. Ok if the thing is just getting a bit low.I have had this with 6v batteries too and found that a quick blast of 12v was enough to get it to accept the 'normal' charge after that.

 

Get a battery conditioner and the problems don't occur again!!!

[Simos]

Piers,

fully discharging lead/acid batteries harms them (some of the lead sulphate does not change back to lead/h2so4 each cycle so the more you produce the more capacity is lost) and leaving it discharged will kill it REALLY quickly. If twere discharged for a while you'll find that the capacity of your battery is a fraction of what it once was although it'll be fine for most situations.

 

The trouble will come if you do any slow (town) work at night with headlights which will discharge faster than you're charging it. If you stall it... addios !

 

I suggest on such trips you pack a set of jump leads as essential equipment.

 

Cheers, Simon.

[Bangers quotNquot Mas1697456953]

Piers

 

I fitted a simple RS components audio plug into the panel, when I put the car away I just plug it into an "Optimate" charge lead hanging from the ceiling. Maintains the battery in A1 condition automatically.

 

I, like you, got fed up with knackered batteries.

 

 

 

Andy Marks

VHPD7@aol.com

[Flying kiwi]

Just attached a trickle charger for my car, What suprised me was how low my battery was when i initially connected the charger. I am pleased to say that now it is fully charged, so touch wood my battery should remain in top condition. Price for charger was £42.00

 

 

Mark.

[Big T]

I have found a few times that when the battery is completely flat, some chargers will charge, others won't. It seems to depend on the size / quality of the charger and if it will start with a very small charging current.

 

Tony

[Pierre Gillet]

Andy,

which "panel", please?

Cheers,

 

Pierre

[Red SLR]

I think the problem is some chargers dont have a good enough current output to charge a totall dead battery, mine was flat the other day and the cr@p £9.99 joby would not charge it, got out the decent charger and brought it back to life straight away.

 

 

 

X777CAT

[Phil]

I sell battery chargers and charge battereries for angry customers who believe the battery to be faulty, severall years ago after being told by the boss that we as a company had one of the highest return rates for faulty batteries i did some research. After using what I had learnt and educating fellow members of staff we know have the lowest return rate for batteries, far fewer angry customers and a lot of happy ones. The problem is a simple but not obvious one. It is all down to bad connections, you would not earth directly to a rusty piece of metal, in the same way corrosion on lead makes the terminal look dull and creates a bad connection, in some cases even though the battery is connected properly and the terminal is tight, it may not be excepting all the charge from the alternator and as a result the battery can go flat very quickly sometimes within two to three days of regular use, the same applies with the charger often connected on to the battery clamp showing the battery to be taking a charge but not a lot and taking a lot longer to charge than the average 8 hours from flat of a 44ah battery, so disconnect those terminals [check first with book if imobiliser fitted] clean them up and charge that battery. If storing the car for say winter, charge the battery and if removed from the car do not store on a cold surface, keep a min of 2 inch away from the wall and on a piece of wood if on the garage floor. If left on the car do not worry about imobilisers as they take very very little power.

 

Some battery chargers have a light to say when they are fully charged, this detects that the battery will not take anymore charge and lights up, if you have a bad connection the resistance tells the charger that the battery is full and lights up giving a false reading, so again get cleanibg.

 

Thanks for listening and any comments will be appreciated, Phil.

[Phil]

me again just to say that as an honest retailer, all the batteries we charge no matter what the size are all done on a simple 4amp charger with a decent connection. And most of the time I will if asked sell the customer a 4amp charger as this is all that is needed. Only when the customer is short on time or has more than one battery to charge etc will I sell him/her a larger unit. All batteries we sell leave with

the terminals sanded down now. Avoid garages who quick charge batteries as this can damage them, they will give enough energy to start the car but will fail again soon after.