[kiku007]

Originally Posted by vigsom

I faced a battery run down issue last year, when it was a total shut down. No shops were open then, and I had to resort to this in an emergency, with all due precautions. A home inverter can also be used to charge a car battery.

That's ingenious.

Originally Posted by vigsom

A jump starter cable is a very handy thing, but most cables available on line are spurious - have thick insulation but very little copper.

Crooks :(

I've ordered the below one from Amazon, https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I hope it does work. I'll also oder an multimeter.

Originally Posted by Rangy62

I came to India on 3 week holiday on 9th April. I haven’t been able to go back since the 1st of May. As of now my flight is on 1st July. My car Nissan X Trail has been idle since then. Dread to think what would be status of the car now.

I disconnect the batteries if I'm going to be away for more than 3 weeks. Learnt it the hard way after my first trip when I didn't do it.

I disconnect the Dashcam power supply if I'm going to be away for less than a week. The dashcam is supposed to turn off when the voltage drops below 12V (or whichever number I choose) but I'm not sure if it does that right.

Originally Posted by Vikram Arya

My 535i is parked every year from November to May as it is purely a summer/weekend car therefore I have been using the trickle charger for a few years now. The AGM battery in this car frightfully expensive so keeping it in good health was warranted.

You are right. EFB/AGM batteries do cost more than the regular ones. Most cars in developed markets come with auto start/stop which I think need this type of battery. With increase in features and accessories it's better for people to check what type of battery their car has.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Extremely low usage and prolonged storage does takes a heavy toll on cars.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I do suspect that the lockdowns + significantly longer periods between usage (due to wfh) overall would lead to a relatively shorter life?

I wonder what the impact to things like tyres and fluids. Our Ford Aspire's usage is low and COVID-19 has taken that to ridculously low levels now. The car has done about 10K Kms in 5+ years and is on it's OEM tyres.

I guess cars need to stretch their legs at regular intervals to stay healthy. Same as humans.

[Fiestaboy]

During last lockdown I had one of my car with me in my native & I drove it inside the farms for 5km every Sunday.

The Zen was stationed in Chennai for 6 months & as expected the battery went dead.
Maruti service Centre came & helped with jumpstart & gave the bill for 800INR.
Normally they won't charge it seems & stated that due to lockdown & increased number of requests they are charging for the service rendered. I was ok with that, but thought the amount can be <500INR since the distance is less than 2km.

Coming to lockdown or idle practices, I don't run the vehicle idle, rather take it for 10-20min drive with no accessory loads on(AC, audio, headlamps etc. off) to ensure battery gets charged.
By running the car idle for 10-15min, I am not sure will get the battery charged to its saturated state, but experts here can provide some stats & I am eager to learn.

A small drive also helps to keep the clutch, Tyre & bearings etc. in good state.

[Totoro11]

Religiously following the practice of starting the car every weekend, idling for 5mins and then a short round of the apartment 300-500m at the least, again idle for 5 mins before switching off. Also tried to drive 3-4Km every weekend for groceries & supplies once we were out of lockdown.

The 3-year old replacement battery (Amaron) on i10 is holding well for now. 2-wheeler battery has been dead for 2 years, will have to look for battery replacement if i don't sell off the bike.

[jeygani]

No dead battery for me.

I disconnect the negative terminal of the battery and that's it. No issues with the battery or with the car(Honda City iVtec), so far.
This I have been following since 2016, whenever I am out of town, as no one else drives my car.

[Tgo]

Sharing a post from last year:

Originally Posted by Tgo

Having rung the car for just 200 kms since 17th March the battery gave up two days ago. Called the RSA and they jump started the car. Went for a short drive but the battery was not holding charge.

200 km in 2 months and the battery which was less than 1 year old had gone dead. Completely dead. Had to get it to Exide's nearest depot which was 65 km away. They checked it with their battery tester and put in a request for replacement.

Replacement was a "no questions asked" procedure.

[Rakeshmbalaji]

Encountered a dead battery in my 6 year old Swift running on stock Exide after leaving the car untouched for just 8 days. Thankfully Kalyani service was just 4 kms away and the RSA came in handy, doing a jump start free of charge. Replaced it with an Amaron at a good rate and 4 years warranty.

As a regular practice, I ensure every Saturday or Sunday early morning is spent on a clean wash of both the City and the Swift followed by a 10 km drive in internal roads at a slow cruise to get at least 30 mins driving time. Things have been good all along with no failed starts as such. Same goes for my two bikes ensuring no vehicle anxieties at least if there is an urgency that arises.

One observation though is the clutch of the Swift VXI which now seems to shudder a bit just when I start it on a weekly basis and becomes perfectly normal after the run. The car has run only 56K in the last 5 years of ownership so I doubt if it is a clutch wear out issue. Appreciate any thoughts or feedback here, as the service stations are all closed now and I have no way to get this checked.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by vigsom

A home inverter can also be used to charge a car battery.

Originally Posted by kiku007

That's ingenious.

Yes, that is the most obvious thing to do if one is stuck at home with a dead battery in the car, and there are no jump-starting services available. Just posting a picture from yesterday, taken while I was giving a charge to my car battery via a home inverter. It just takes an hour or two to fully charge the battery.



It is easy if you have a smaller inverter unit that is not integrated into a big bulky box with the inverter battery and all. Just take it, put it near the car, connect to the battery either directly or using a jump start cable, and run it for a couple of hours, or wait for this message in the inverter's display:



So many people might have gone ahead and bought a new battery after facing this scenario during lockdowns.

[mohitchalla]

Never had any issue with dead battery. Lockdown or not, if my car is not driven much, i routinely fire up the engine, let the engine temperature rise to the normal level, operate all the electrical components in the car, drive it around a bit if possible and keep the engine running for 10-15 minutes before I park it back, turn off and lock everything.

[greatgyan]

No dead batteries here, have a 4.5 year old Diesel Creta and I make sure to fire her up at least once a week and keep the car running at idle for 10-15 mins. Meanwhile I check the blow of my tyres using the portable tyre inflator. I also switch on the A/C and headlights for a few mins. This routine helped me to avoid dead batteries in 2020, so following it in 2021 as well.

I had left my car idle for about 4 months towards the end of 2020 while I was at my in-laws place. Had removed the battery before leaving and installed it back once I returned. Was hesitant if the car would startup after lying idle for 4 months but faced no issues whatsoever, car started up in the first crank itself.

The Activa though did suffer a dead battery in those 4 months but we have a kick starter there. Did have to give it a good 30-35 kicks to fire her up again. Thereafter, have made sure to startup the Activa also about once a week.

[navin_v8]

The new age MF Sealed Lead Acid AGM batteries have a very slow discharge rate as compared to old batteries. The best way to maintain them is to start the car and run it for at least 2-3 kms two to three times a week. I am not sure if mere idling would charge the battery unless one presses the accelerator pedal to build up revs that can effectively charge the battery. Besides running it for a couple of kms will also keep the tyres, engine, brakes and other moving parts in working condition.

There are some who have suggested investing in a car battery charger and/or jump starter. I am not sure if this would be economical as these devices (especially branded) are relatively expensive and the ROI would take a long time to recover. Instead investing in good quality heavy duty jumper cables would be advisable (unless one is hesitant to ask for help from others to help them jump start their car). This is considering a local battery shop will charge the discharged battery or jump start it for around 200-300 bucks.

Unless one is a DIY'er handling the battery for charging can be unsafe. Besides accessing and removing the battery from its bay is not as easy as shown on YouTube. If one owns multiple vehicles with dedicated parking space with access to electrical point, then investing in a battery charger makes sense.

[Dr_MNC_SK]

Team BHP is the place for the correct thread at the correct moment.

Got busy with Covid duties and preferred to take the car everyday. Motorcycle was neglected. It ran out of juice. Jump started it from the car and used it sparingly making sure to start it everyday or every alternate day. But if i miss for few days it goes kaput again. My motorcycle is less than a year old (RE Himalayan BSVI). Is the battery spoilt or does it behave like that? Temperatures here are on the lower side (below 20 deg C mostly)

[abdverma]

Yes.

My Dzire 2019 AT was a little more than 1 year old when the lockdown started last year. After 50 days when I cranked the engine, it didn't start. With no availability of nearby shops to jump start the battery, took the battery home and charged it using home inverter (disconnected old battery and home load as precaution from inverter). Within 2-3 hours, it had enough charge to crank the engine.

Thereafter I noticed that the battery drops to 11.7V within 20 days of last good driving. After a lot of deliberation, I realized that this is due to MapMyIndia Tracker that is installed which drains the battery faster.

My cousin bought Jeep Compass 4x4 AT this year in March and he had to face similar issues. Instead his troubles were a lot severe than mine. Jeep's battery used to drain out in couple of days after driving. Initially we thought some light / acc. could have been left ON but repeated instances made us doubt something else. We couldn't imagine that a brand new car would develop this issue that if you leave a car for couple of days, it would not crank the next day. Being a top model, there are no accessories installed in the Jeep. Since the service centers were closed here in Delhi from mid of April, they also didn't help.

He bought a 70Mai portable car jump starter from Amazon and it came to his rescue. It can also act as power bank and is really compact and can be kept easily in car.

Once the lockdown eases, would take Jeep Compass to service center to diagnose the issue.

[DieselAnna]

Just yesterday our Tiago refused to start. I was using the car once every week before that. However, as yesterday I wanted to take the car out, it was dead. I called the battery person and got the battery checked. The current battery came stock and the car is 3.5 years old.

Now I have asked quotes for a new battery. I don't wish to get an expensive one as the running of the car has reduced drastically. My Scross and activa are working fine. The activa was unused for 15-20 Days as I was regularly using the Scross in the lockdown.

[MadScientist468]

My experience with vehicle batteries is mixed. The stock battery on my Pulsar is dead. I replaced my battery and gave my bike to my cousin who is a doctor. So one problem solved there.

I religiously start my freestyle every Sunday and either idle it or go on a 5 km ride so that I avoid battery discharge and bald spots on tyres. So car battery is still strong.

I would like to point 2 things for people owing new gen Fords:

1. If car is still has electrical warranty, please change the battery only at ASS. Else your electrical warranty will be void.

2. Ford cars have an inbuilt voltmeter. You need to press the engine start key and MID toggle key together for 5 seconds. MID will show up information which is essentially in coded form. Now let go of engine start key but keep pressing MID toggle key to see your current battery voltage.

Best,
MadScientist468

[UP!!!!]

No dead batteries fortunately.

My BMW was standing still for almost 2.5 months since I was in India. I had asked a friend to start the car for 5 minutes every week but in reality, it could only happen twice in the entire 2.5 months period.
When I came back, I was able to start the car without any issue but got a notification that battery is extremely low. I took it for a 100 KM long drive and no more notification for low battery.

The car at home (Ecosport) was continuously on run since there was not a hard lockdown in UP this time and we travelled frequently between our two homes. Even last year during hard lock down, the car was started every week for 15 minutes to avoid these situations.