Car battery

[PeterInSa]

Re (Takes min 8 hrs to recharge the battery in your car you didnt let it run for long enough or one of the plates in the battery has dropped out)

Agree I would put on a battery charger for 24hrs ( but a charger is another expense)

 

[Goldtarget]

I was unhappy at the $170 I paid the other day :awful:

Maybe have a chat to Holden about ways to get more out of your battery and ask if you can use those trickle charge solar kits.

Its a minefield giving advice about batteries these days, was not so long ago that cars only just had fancy fuel injection, now they have batteries sized to fit alternators and alternator charge loads, electric load, and keep the computer brains alive in them. Then you have the hybrids and the stop start cars at idle.

Those old ones (when you could pull a motor out and replace it without needing anything more than a Gregory) it was a case of getting the terminals around the right way and one big enough one for the job.

What is fine for one car may not be for another now.

 

[goody2shoes]

$185 is better than $270 in my books

Goody

 

[Nightjar]

Fell on the floor laughing when I read this;
Driving a car with a manual transmission is a little trickier than driving an automatic. However, once you get the hang of it, it can be a lot of fun and you'll have more control over the car in terms of gear changes and acceleration. But before you can drive, you'll need to learn how to get the car started - so begin with Step 1 below to find out more.
**Have never owned an automatic vehicle and probably never will.**

More laughs below, this what the future has in store. Like a young fella I was talking to recently "This is a modern car you don't need to check the fluid levels???? 8.(

https://www.wikihow.life/Start-a-Manual-Car

This does actually work with manual vehicles. (The link is archived but you can still open each page individually.)
For something to trial we actually started a diesel using a snatch strap wrapped around rear wheel jacked up off the ground. Connected another vehicle to the strap. One sitting in stranded vehicle with vehicle in 3rd gear and his foot on the clutch. Other vehicle moved off, clutch was engaged and engine started.
(If you have LSD you would probably have to jack both wheels off the ground?)

https://www.exploroz.com/forum/64934/jack-absalom-how-to-start-a-manual-car-by-hand

 

[just starting]

Mastering the hillstart . Now , i reckon i am one of the few who practices this method ,rather than rolling back into the driver behind. I did this with my boss in the work vehicle and he asked what i was doing . Told him i was doing a hillstart the correct way. I didn`t learn how to get my licence. I learned how to drive and then got my licence.

Back to the issue at hand...... You can also sometimes start a car by turning it over while it is still in second gear by letting the starter motor do the work .

 

[Wishfull]

Was just thinking about one of them portable jump start Nightjar

Might have a look around for one

Goody

I got one that will start my v8 and my diesel van no probs. Also will charge sdc batteries and phone.
Just keep the charge up on it.

 

[condor22]

Look at it from a math point of view.

The average 4 cyl car takes about 250 amps to start over an average of 3 seconds, that's about 1/4 AH, so not much, but....

That's all well and good from a new battery at around 700 CCA, so 250 amps very quickly delivered is reasonably quick to replace. Over time a start battery voltage reduces slightly and when under load even more. But that new 700 CCA battery at 5 years old aint 700 anymore it can be much lower. For arguments sake it may only hold 1/2 it's capacity and take a lot longer to charge back to whatever capacity it holds.

Also, if your car is difficult to start and you crank it for say 6-10 seconds and the battery is on it's way out, it could go flat real quick. A jump starter may well get you going, but won't fix the problem. The other thing is it not holding charge overnight, that's a bloody good indicator the battery is Cactus. You need to look at the whole picture and that's before you start looking at night driving with headlights on or even worse driving lights as well.

It's like an old fashioned clock with all the springs n cogs, if one fails, the whole thing fails.

Go to Diesel and more juice is needed than a petrol engine. Then cold ambient temps and so it goes lol.....

 

[Guest]

have on many occasions chucked the old wheat bag/blanket/ anything over the bonnet [battery area] to keep the frosts from sucking the life out of the battery,works

 

[Ridge Runner]

Goody at the start of the Lockdown I did make a post about people needing to keep their Batteries Charged because the Cars computers will drain the battery within 10 to 18 Days, I have had to charge my Battery 2 or 3 Times since the Lockdown Began,

Your battery might just need a really good and proper Charge from a good quality Charger, One thing to note is running the car for 30 minutes won't put no where near enough charge in to the battery because what power that would put in to the battery will get chewed up by the cars computers during the time it is turned off,

Also on some modern cars you have to power the Cars computers while you charge or remove the Battery,

The best way to avoid having to do this I to get a 25/30w Solar panel with a cheap PWM Charge controller and leave it hooked up to the Battery and it should provide enough power to off set what the cars computers are chewing up and just remove it when you need to use the Car,

As for the Jump packs the sky's the limit but if you want to use it to power the Cars computers while you charge the Cars battery you can get buy with a Pack that has a lead Acid battery in it from the local Auto Store but If you want to go Hi-Tech then things like the NOCO GB-70 and the GB-150 are their only models that can be used to power the vehicles electronic for up to 7 Hours, and you will also need their OBD Lead to keep things going,

The cheapest option is to buy one of the lead Acid ones from an Auto Store and hook it's leads to your battery leads and then remove the Battery Lead from the Cars Battery and then put it on Charge and sit the charger in the Engine bay and when the cars battery is Charged hook up the Cars Battery to the Cars Battery leads and then remove the Leads of the Jump Pack, Do Not remove the jump pack leads first or the cars computers will loose some of it's setting, If your car is old enough you might not even have to use a Jump pack to powers it's computers,

hope that helps,

J.

 

[goody2shoes]

Thanks all for the great advice on my battery

The Nrma and the battery place both told me that the battery was at the end of life..

Most car battery only last around 5 year's from all the reading I have done on them,

I am just glad it happened at home and not on a epic trip away,

Goody

 

[condor22]

RR I don't agree, a vehicle ECU in standby mode, that is engine off, car doors closed and locked and nothing going wrong draws milli amps. It only needs to remember what it is i.e. it's asleep. It won't drain a good vehicle battery in 10-18 days unless there's something radically wrong like a relay stuck open or a bad battery.

My wife and I went to Tassie for 3 weeks a while back in my wheels (2017). Her 2012 Tojo Corolla wasn't used for about 3 days either side of that trip if not more, so a total of about 4 weeks no use. It has the original battery in it at 5 years old and it started first kick as normal.

 

[condor22]

I might add the Corolla is now 8 years old, still got the original battery. However I should note it has probably done less than 200 kms at night and only 25,000 kms since new.

We generally use mine as my wife doesn't like night driving, lol. In comparison my wheels, 3 1/2 yrs old with 56,000 on the clock.

 

[Ridge Runner]

RR I don't agree, a vehicle ECU in standby mode, that is engine off, car doors closed and locked and nothing going wrong draws milli amps. It only needs to remember what it is i.e. it's asleep. It won't drain a good vehicle battery in 10-18 days unless there's something radically wrong like a relay stuck open or a bad battery.

My wife and I went to Tassie for 3 weeks a while back in my wheels (2017). Her 2012 Tojo Corolla wasn't used for about 3 days either side of that trip if not more, so a total of about 4 weeks no use. It has the original battery in it at 5 years old and it started first kick as normal.

Modern Vehicles have a lot more going on even when the Vehicle is Locked, I think if you do a Parasitic Drain test you will be surprized as to what is going on with your Vehicles while they are not in use.

Well I hooked up my Dometic PLB-40 Lithium power pack while I was charging the Vans 80Ah / 800cca AGM Battery, and just out of a matter of interest I left the PLB hooked up for 12 hours leaving the AGM disconnected and The PLB at the start was reading 100%, 12 hours later it was reading 94% Meaning that in 12 hours the Van had eaten 6% of the PLB's Power

40Ah / 100% = 0.4Ah X 6 (%) = 2.4Ah,
2.4Ah / 12 hours = 0.2Ah Per hour,

So based on that my vehicle is chewing 200mah per hour, And having an 80Ah Battery the numbers are as follows,

80Ah @ 50% 40,000mah or 40Ah,
40Ah / 0.2 = 200 hours,
200 hours / 24 hours = 8.333r Days.

80Ah @ 80% Discharge = 64Ah
64Ah / 0.2 = 320 hours,
320 hours / 24 hours = 13.333r Days,

My Pajero / Shogun and my Brothers VW both have similar Parasitic Drains, which is why I made that post at the start of the lockdown about people needing to keep a close eye on their batteries because all modern cars do this,

As a Side Note I have just ordered another 35Ah Charger because I have so many Batteries and I am having trouble keeping up with them all, One way of coping with this was to connect up matching Batteries in Pairs and charge them as one 12v battery.

 

[Guest]

G'day

Over the years I have tried all makes and types of batteries, for starter batteries and for use with the solar set up I have to run my fridge, one thing I have found is all batteries simply have a life span all of their own and can crap themselves without notice at any time they choose, but having said that many batteries simply suffer from neglect and some regular checks and maintenance can at the very least make you feel as though you have chance of making the thing last a bit longer and may also indicate problems before they arise, last place you want a battery to crap itself is in the bush, going bush without a second battery or means of getting the car started can lead to serious problems.

I seem to have my batteries only last 2 to 3 years, and one of the major problems is they are mounted under the bonnet and the heat from the engine has a lot to do with the lifespan of the batteries as well, any issues I notice with the batteries and they get replaced, some of the places we get to are too remote to get help and you cant take chances when you are on your own either and you have to be able to have a means of getting yourself moving again.

Unfortunately the cost of replacing batteries is just a part of what we do and the only other advice I could give is try not to go too cheap when you buy them as you for the most part you get what you pay for, and secondly make notes of when you purchased and fitted it, keep your receipts as you may find that you may be lucky and it might be still under warranty when it fails, usually I have found they are just out of warranty when it happens to mine in manufacturing there is a term called "inbuilt obsolescence" and the makers often know under normal conditions how long it will last for.

cheers

stayyerAU

 

[Nightjar]

Carry this little gadget under my seat at all times. RR mentioned above about keeping interior gadgets operating when battery is disconnected.
Just clip it onto the + & - leads before disconnecting battery and it saves you resetting everything when renewing battery.
Now I don't now how this would go with the modern vehicle with computers etc etc but it works a treat with my trusty Patrols through the ages, current model bought new in 2002 (Oh! how time flies)
While talking batteries, we have a bush camp and use batteries for lighting. We have never bought a new battery in 20 years. Just visit a battery recycler and we choose usually a ZZ70's that still has charge and look like it hasn't been abused and pay the man $5.00. Take it home put it in the CTEK 5.0, set it to recondition and leave it for a few days. Some of these batteries have lasted another 5+years. One that starts our diesel generator lasted 8 years.
Makes you wonder how many batteries are ditched before their time is up?

 

[Ridge Runner]

Carry this little gadget under my seat at all times. RR mentioned above about keeping interior gadgets operating when battery is disconnected.
Just clip it onto the + & - leads before disconnecting battery and it saves you resetting everything when renewing battery.
Now I don't now how this would go with the modern vehicle with computers etc etc but it works a treat with my trusty Patrols through the ages, current model bought new in 2002 (Oh! how time flies)
While talking batteries, we have a bush camp and use batteries for lighting. We have never bought a new battery in 20 years. Just visit a battery recycler and we choose usually a ZZ70's that still has charge and look like it hasn't been abused and pay the man $5.00. Take it home put it in the CTEK 5.0, set it to recondition and leave it for a few days. Some of these batteries have lasted another 5+years. One that starts our diesel generator lasted 8 years.
Makes you wonder how many batteries are ditched before their time is up?

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1414/1588120806_projecta_001.jpg

NJ, That's a great little Gadget, never seen on of those ? :Y:

 

[condor22]

RR, you make the point yourself, by adding your lithium power pack, the vehicle is not a stock standard vehicle, you have added a current drain.

The point I am making is - If you have a stock standard vehicle, with no add on and nothing operating other than the ECU "sleeping" the drain is minimal. Most of my research points to figures of ECU drain at 14 to 20 mA = approx 0.5 AH per day max.

However, the moment you modify or add to a vehicle, you also need to manage what you have, according to what has been done to it.

I have an auxiliary battery, fridge, solar, oven and the ability to add another fridge. All of these items run from the second battery, not the start battery. The Redarc charger uses the vehicles power to charge that aux. bat. but when the vehicle is off and locked, the 70 amp solenoid I fitted to provide that vehicle power isolates all of this 100% from the vehicle electrical system. I would suggest that most users that have installed a 2nd battery (or more) use some form of isolator to achieve the same result.

 

[Ridge Runner]

RR, you make the point yourself, by adding your lithium power pack, the vehicle is not a stock standard vehicle, you have added a current drain.

The point I am making is - If you have a stock standard vehicle, with no add on and nothing operating other than the ECU "sleeping" the drain is minimal. Most of my research points to figures of ECU drain at 14 to 20 mA = approx 0.5 AH per day max.

However, the moment you modify or add to a vehicle, you also need to manage what you have, according to what has been done to it.

I have an auxiliary battery, fridge, solar, oven and the ability to add another fridge. All of these items run from the second battery, not the start battery. The Redarc charger uses the vehicles power to charge that aux. bat. but when the vehicle is off and locked, the 70 amp solenoid I fitted to provide that vehicle power isolates all of this 100% from the vehicle electrical system. I would suggest that most users that have installed a 2nd battery (or more) use some form of isolator to achieve the same result.

Well that's a bit confusing because I am using the lithium Only to keep the settings in the Vans Computers so how is that any different to it's own battery powering it's Computers, Surely the power drain would be the same, Because I have not modified anything, Except he Vans Computers are being powered by the OBD Port via the 12v Lithium Pack ??

 

[Tathradj]

Agreed on that one.
Beats sitting under a tree in the middle nowhere
with a stupid look on your face with a flat battery. :8

RR, you make the point yourself, by adding your lithium power pack, the vehicle is not a stock standard vehicle, you have added a current drain.

The point I am making is - If you have a stock standard vehicle, with no add on and nothing operating other than the ECU "sleeping" the drain is minimal. Most of my research points to figures of ECU drain at 14 to 20 mA = approx 0.5 AH per day max.

However, the moment you modify or add to a vehicle, you also need to manage what you have, according to what has been done to it.

I have an auxiliary battery, fridge, solar, oven and the ability to add another fridge. All of these items run from the second battery, not the start battery. The Redarc charger uses the vehicles power to charge that aux. bat. but when the vehicle is off and locked, the 70 amp solenoid I fitted to provide that vehicle power isolates all of this 100% from the vehicle electrical system. I would suggest that most users that have installed a 2nd battery (or more) use some form of isolator to achieve the same result.

 

[Nightjar]

https://www.baxters.com.au/products/switching/solenoids.html
Have two similiar solenoids separating starting battery from auxilliary and auxilliary from accessories battery. Activated when ignition is in "start" position. Have a manual switch to isolate accessory battery from both auxilliary and starting battery. Works faultlessly. When parked up and away detecting the accessory battery is kept topped with fold up solar panels in series through a mppt regulator.