Battery Life. How Long?

[gairo1]

How long should a new car battery last, a good one that is? I had a good 069 size high performance one put in in Feb and today it is dead as a dodo.

Have not used the car for six weeks so upped the boot and put the charger on it. The charger does not even register a charge going through it. Have disconnected the battery and again put the charger on it and the same. Checked on another battery and the charger registers (charge light comes on)

A little suprised it has died so quickly or am I doing something wrong?

Cheers, Jerry

[img][IMG]http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q73/roadstone/TR012.jpg[/img][/IMG]

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Jerry,

Even a brand new battery can develop a bad cell rather quickly.

If it is new, you should be able to get it replaced for free if you still have your receipt.

Once you have the new battery in, go out in the dark and look under the edge of the boot lid. If there is a faint glow coming from the left license plate light, then the stop on your boot lid for the boot light has loosen and the boot light is staying on.

Have fun, drive fast & safe, be kewl,

jclay

[windy one]

Yes. You must have a drain somewhere possibly. The longest I have had a battery last is (I think) 6-7 years. But we have hot summers, and cold winters here (PA). I think thats why I only get 6-7 years out of one.

Johnny

[FI Spyder]

If your battery is too low the draw from your battery charger may be too high causing it to cut out (to protect itself). Put on a trickle charger (available for about $10) till it is charged up enough maybe 12 hours. Then you can put on your regular charger to do a quicker charge to top it up.

A battery can fail at any time but typically last 3 to 5 years or even longer depending on a number of factors.

It sounds like you have a parasitic draw as you should be able to leave it over the winter and still have it start in the spring.







TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

[Sondar]

I went through a few batteries due to a power drain that I just couldn't find. Finally found it when I stripped out the interior and discovered a bare wire grounding on the metalwork behind the centre console... the moral of that story is that the damn thing could be anywhere!

Other than a power drain, I guess it could be a tired alternator or a fault in the charging circuit.

Sondar

[cliff]

Jerry,  I would suggest that you determine whether or not that you have a dead cell before you spend a lot of effort chasing a phantom power drain. If the battery is ok then look for a power drain. GL
Cliff

Don't use force, get a bigger hammer!!

[gairo1]

Thanks for the advice Guys. It took 18 hours on charge before any sign of life and another 6 or so before any attempt at starting the car.
Cells look okay so now watching for a leak!

Cheers, Jerry

[Odd]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Have not used the car for six weeks so upped the boot and put the charger on it. The charger does not even register a charge going through it. Have disconnected the battery and again put the charger on it and the same. Checked on another battery and the charger registers (charge light comes on) ...
... Thanks for the advice Guys. It took 18 hours on charge before any sign of life and another 6 or so before any attempt at starting the car. Cells look okay so now watching for a leak! <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> Jerry, you don't say anything about what kind of charger you've got there. If it's one of those 'old' heavy
transformer thingies - I'm not the least supprised for such a behaviour. If, on the other hand, it's one of
the modern primary switched and intelligent/controlled ones (like the CTEK Multi [for you downunder:
http://www.ctek.com/EN-AU/Default.aspx]) I'd say you not only have a 'sucked dead' battery,
you have a faulty charger.

Remember, with the most modern chargers you can leave it connected onto the battery for the entire
non-driving season (with no ill effects to the battery) and have a fully charged and 'kept healthy' battery
when you need it again. And, as long as there isn't a true short for a 'leak', the leaks/drains are compensated
for as well... Personally I use a Multi7000 and never have any battery problems.

<font color="red"><b>My two 1980 Wedges...</b></font id="red">

[andyf]

Jerry, assuming the battery is not a sealed type, take it back to the store you purchased it from (when charged). They should have a tester which puts a heavy load on the battery. If one of the cells bubbles when you do this, the battery is faulty.
You can do the same test at home. Remove the battery tops, disconnect an electrical connection to stop the car starting, and get a helper to crank the engine. If you have a bubbling cell, faulty battery.

If the cells do not bubble, you have another fault.


1980 persian aqua DHC

[cliff]

Jerry, if you use Andy's method please uas a face shield for eye protection. An exploding battery is not a pretty thing to experience.  To check for a power drain, disconnect the - cable and place an AMP meter between the - cable and the battery lug/terminal. Any reading on the meter over what it takes to maintain the clock and an after market radio w/clock must be identified and corrected to make life good again. Hope this helps find the gremlin.Cliff

Don't use force, get a bigger hammer!!

[andyf]

Thanks Cliff. I should have mentioned that - safety first.


1980 persian aqua DHC

[gairo1]

Again thanks for all the replys.

It ahs taken 3 days but the battery is now fully charged, so I'm going to watch it like a hawk!

Cars starts now, which is the most important thing!

Cheers