Second battery in under three years!

Is it that these cars eat these things? I put a new battery in mine less than three years ago (Bosch S5) and it is now dead. The car did sit for many months between October and August the previous year, and hardly got any use this winter down to a combination of salt fear and a trip in front of a Magistrate which I'm guessing plays a part, however would I be correct thinking something else may be up with it? Alternator? :dont know:

Normally I turn the battery off under the hood when I park it, and I have been doing this yet even with this precaution the turn over was week last weekend, and refusal to start after driving it 10/15 minutes to the gas station led to a bump start and a new battery given Euro Car Parts was on my route.

With the USA road trip imminent I'm beginning to sweat like Fred West on Time Team. It took me an hour to resolve when it happened on the forecourt of Shell and knowing I could get a battery nearby despite it being Sunday. Stuck along the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado may not be so easy!

To be honest I've never expected to get more than 2 to 3 years from a battery with mine. I used to buy "Porsche" batteries in Kuwait and they too only lasted a couple of years. I then went over to Varta E44 and have stuck with them. I think the main reason is lack of use as I've only ever done around 4000 to 5000 Kms a year in mine since I owed it. I now use a solar cell plugged into the cigarette lighter to keep mine in good health and so far it seems to be working.:thumb:

ATB

That's comforting decgraham. Hopefully the new one will hold up. I could only get my hands on a Lion but if I am honest I love the way it looks as it's all black and matches the trunk.

With some luck, it will start after being on a ship for 10 days.

Just make sure that the battery is fully charged before the car is loaded into the container. The battery will have to be disconnected for the journey and just ensure that the cables are well clear of the battery terminals. My car was at sea for 3 weeks when it came from Kuwait and started up OK when it reached the UK. :thumb:

ATB

I'd suggest you always leave the battery connected to a battery conditioner (C-Tek or similar) when the car's not in use. Will pretty much guarantee you it's ready to go every time. I suspect just disconnecting the battery won't have the same charge retaining effect as leaving a conditioner on.

That's why I always used to buy from Halfords ........ I had two new batteries from them over a 5/6 year period ....... :thumb:

Might be a good idea to fit a battery cut-off switch. A good thread here for more info: http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=22...start=16&sid=b01165622c1fb782a8904fe8e22b0da4

One of my older BMW's has a Banner Battery which has proven to be the most robust unit I've come across. The car can go 3-4 weeks stood still and it fires up no problem. It has also gone flat on more occasions than I can remember over the last few years and a night on the battery charger/conditioner and it's good to go again for the foreseeable. :thumb:

C.

madalaa said:

That's why I always used to buy from Halfords ........ I had two new batteries from them over a 5/6 year period ....... :thumb:

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I usually buy mine from eBay so cheap as chips :thumb: With a battery conditioner I've never had a problem.

I got 14yrs out of the factory battery on my Audi commuter that never had a trickle charge. I once left it for 6 months outside with a £15 solar charger on the dash and plugged into the fag. Starter a treat on return. Getting the rust off the discs was a different matter :roll:

Thanks all. Would seem from opinion here to be classic TADTS.

Hadn't realised the shippers disconnect the battery once loaded. Should help.

I suspect that lead acid batteries are designed relative to their expected requirements in service, and I suspect that a "garage queen" lifestyle plays no part in that design process, less so with small current drain over long periods of time.

I have a similar situation at present with a lead acid battery circa 4 years old and has perhaps performed a handful of starts over that period of time with little running other than to get oil circulating and water up to temperature and generally keep the old thing alive.... For the majority of time it has been on a C-Tec though when away for a couple of weeks I switched it off.

After being found flat, the battery took a charge held voltage enough to show up as 100% efficient on my tester when off load some time after being taken off test.... but could only manage a couple of consecutive starts before giving up completely, requiring a further period of charge to return to 100% indication..

NOTE there were no long runs between the starts to give the alternator much of a chance to replenish what had been taken out during the initial cranking/starting process...

Had my car been put on the road with this battery it would have been a bit of a tightrope walk as to whether it would manage a restart in a variety of situations due to it`s now proven marginal capacity to hold charge.

The longer the engine might run between initial start and re-start, the more chance the alternator has to restore the level of charge, on the other hand, the longer the lay up period between starts the more the discharge effect of the low current parasitic losses, which can be made up of the battery`s own internal losses,(which increase with age/maltreatment) combined with immobiliser/ alarm or whatever else is connected and drawing current.

The idea of an intelligent charger is that it will make up for all those losses and maintain the battery in a state of readiness... PERHAPS..!

It seems since we have entered an age where ever more vehicles can enjoy a garage queen existence that components will suffer in varying degrees relative to their initial design criteria, perhaps none more so than batteries..?

In general daily/weekly use I might be happy to fully depend on a battery for three years. Sure you can get much more, how much more, might depend upon how much risk you think is worth taking before it fails, or do you hope and expect that you will detect a drop off in battery performance before it fails thus there will be some warning given..?

For a garage queen lifestyle, and given just how much vehicles utterly depend on battery power... a new battery at the start of each season perhaps seems a reasonable expenditure for some to avoid depending on a battery that may be less than efficient due to operating well outside it`s design criteria... ? In terms of cost benefit analysis, I suspect a battery replacement might be thought of as relatively cheap Insurance against the cost implications of a breakdown due to a duff battery...?

tyinsky said:

Thanks all. Would seem from opinion here to be classic TADTS.

Hadn't realised the shippers disconnect the battery once loaded. Should help.

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Hi tyinsky,

I think they disconnect it for safety, to avoid a possible elecrtical fire. Good practice in my book, you never know what the weather will be like and you won't be wanting a Titanic event. :nooo:

ATB

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...l-carrying-2-000-cars-sinks-coast-France.html

I saw this after I had paid the deposit on the shipping!

tyinsky said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6828463/Italian-container-ship-bound-Brazil-carrying-2-000-cars-sinks-coast-France.html

I saw this after I had paid the deposit on the shipping!

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I saw that too. That's why we have Insurance tyinsky :lol: but wouldn't want that happening. All the more reason to disconnect the battery :thumb:

ATB

tyinsky said:

I put a new battery in mine less than three years ago (Bosch S5) and it is now dead.

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Don't S5 batteries have a 5 year guarantee?

I bought a Yuasa Black from Halfords with a Lifetime guarantee

https://www.yuasa.co.uk/2015/10/halfords-launches-the-new-yuasa-black-lifetime-guarantee-range/

Funnily enough they don't do them anymore. :grin: