Team-BHP - How long will a battery last without being used ?

I've stored my OE santro battery like this for 6-9 months at least 3 times in the last 3 years. Came back, reconnected the terminals and the engine started perfectly. No problem whatsoever. BTW, the original battery is now 6 years old and still going strong (touch wood).

Touchwood really. What brand is that battery? 6 years, really amazing..

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher (Post 498713)

if you dont have any accessory like, central lock connected a good battery can hold good for atleast a month.

with central lock and high end ICE there will be slight drain which can cause battery to loose charge over extended idle period

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher (Post 498713)

Which is your battery brand ?

Have you ever re-charged the battery during the storage season ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaggu (Post 498864)

How does it matter what load (ICE, lock, whatever ...) you have if the
negative terminal was left disconnected ?!

I have left my Santro for more than 3 months a couple of times without any disconnection of cables and with central locking in activated state. And after each time, the car started in the first attempt. Never had issues with battery in the last 6 years. But whenever I am in Bangalore, I use the car every day. I have a very minimalistic ICE setup and no other fancy lights and stuff except for 100/90 headlights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by meerkat (Post 502218)

How does it matter what load (ICE, lock, whatever ...) you have if the
negative terminal was left disconnected ?!

I was referring to, without disconnecting in my earlier post. If you disconnect its a different scene altogether.

I would remove the battery physically from the car also, if the battery is more than a year old. This will ensure that no damage is done even if a funny leak happens in the battery (you can never predict these things).

I've read in some foreign sites that a Battery Tender will be useful when storing for the winter or for those that don't drive daily.

Quote:

Battery Tender is similar to a trickle charger but will not overcharge your battery.

Batteries in storage will lose up to 50% of their charge in just 12 days! Standard trickle chargers can overcharge and permanently damage the battery. The Battery Tender puts an end to this worry. Connect the alligator clips to your battery terminals, plug it into a wall outlet, and that's it! It will maintain a 100% charge constantly: enough to ensure starting power, but not enough to boil away electrolyte and damage the plates. It even senses incorrect connections and will not charge if the polarity has been reversed.

Is the Battery Tender same as that of the charger used by the battery wallahs OR is there any difference b/w them ?

lead acid batteries used in most cars cannot be stored for long time in discharged state. on discharge sulfaction happens and when it fully covers the plates inside the battery, it has to be discarded. its internal resistance goes high enough. so always store in charged state.
this phenomena is always observed happening in emergency lights at home since its not kept online most of the them and we blame the manufacturer for its failure the fine day we need to use it.

Hi

I will be travelling for 3 months during which my Car Chevrolet Beat Petrol 2011 will be idle.
Its parked in a parking space inside in my building in Bangalore
The battery is perfectly fine as I got it checked recently.

My query is whether i should get the battery leads disconnected ?

Thanks for advising

Lead acid batteries, discharge slowly with time. That is called self discharge. The actual rates are available in the manufacturer's technical data. That said, the self discharge for healthy battery is quite low, and the battery will have enough charge to start a car even after 6 months.

Disconnecting the battery leads, will ensure that the battery does not discharge due to any connected load. That load may small (ICE which is waiting for the remote's signal, Anti theft devices, Clock or even ECU), but over time it will discharge the battery. How fast depends on the total load.

What is more dangerous is that there may be shorting due to rodent bites, which if severe enough can start a fire. So on the whole disconnecting the batteries during long term storage is a wise option.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shravank30 (Post 3816050)

I will be travelling for 3 months during which my Car Chevrolet Beat Petrol 2011 will be idle.

3 months is quite a long time for a normal car battery to be left to discharge. I would recommend you disconnect it.