[Ashpillai]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

But you said you had 10 jumpstarts in 2 years.

If the vehicle is not in regular use, rememer to have it started and driven for at least 10 KM every 5 days.

Hi!! Yeah that was me and in fact even 10 is probably a conservative estimate. I know it looks stupid but the reasons are:

1. Me and my wife were absolutely new to driving and this was the first car. She was expecting when we bought it and she would use it to commute. Come winters and morning fog would necessitate headlights and by the time you reach your office in the middle of a city, you would be in bright sunlight. As you are not used to driving let alone in fog, first few times, we just kept missing that we are supposed to check that! Moreover at a risk of sounding sexist and an MCP, pregnant women and automotive technology do not gel well!!

2. Then we were blessed with a baby boy who has taken quite a shine to the drivers seat. Leave him in the car and he will surely switch the lights on. Have paid for it at least three times myself and my wife has had the same experience at least a couple of times. But now we are careful. But sometimes he forces the maid to take to to "Daddy Car". She stays there with him, he will do his Wiper, Music system, Parking lights, Horn routine, leave the headlight on and she despite repeated instructions forgets to switch them off.

I have had experiences like my son sitting in the car, me getting out to check a suspect flat and getting in and continuing and in that one moment he has done it. then we reach wherever we are going, park have fun, come back and call the agency!!

So this is how, the Pillai family ends up having at least 10 jump starts in an year and half!!

However my concerns still remain unanswered. If any of you gentlemen could give me some inputs I would be grateful.

Is there a device that if installed, kills the headlight after a couple of minutes of locking the car???

[sudharma]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Sudharma, I'd certainly like to have a look see!

While it good to charge at small currents, does it not take forever to charge a dead battery?

This smart battery charger is designed to keep the battery in full charge condition if you don't use the vehicle daily. It will give a fault warning if the Battery voltage is below 10V ( cell damage) or voltage goes higher than 14V when connected to the smart charger ( Cell high resistance) and won't charge the battery. Once the battery voltage reaches the normal value the charger goes into pulse ( Trickle) mode and keeps pulsing the battery when the voltage drops. The charging current is only limited by the circuit and the transformer capacity.

[MileCruncher]

I had parked my car for about 2 months as we had bought another car. The battery was in good condition when we had parked it. It was being driven about once a month but when I wanted to give it for service, the battery wouldn't power the starter. Not enough juice. Somehow jump started and went. Garage guys are telling me to change the battery.


Now my point is

1. Battery when parked was absolutely healthy. Its a well maintained Exide Freedom just 3 years old.
2. Even after driving the car for about 10 Kms, the battery doesn't have enough power to crank the starter. But all other electricals are working fine.
3. While running, I don't find any missing or anything and even with the lights on runs smoothly.
4. I checked with the Battery guy and was quoted 5.5k same make/model Exide battery. Since this is the 3rd car in a family of 2, I'm not inclined to change the battery unless I absolutely have to. One may call me cheap but I believe in extracting maximum value.
5. Is there anyway, the battery can be fixed

Cheers

[Raccoon]

^^^ Seems your battery is on its deathbed. I guess the only thing you can try now is to charge it using a low current.

5.5 k for a crappy Exide?! You can get a good battery for half that. If you use your car very infrequently, a Pb Ca battery (Zero maintenance) is a better idea.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

^^^ Seems your battery is on its deathbed. I guess the only thing you can try now is to charge it using a low current.

How do you do that? Please explain

Originally Posted by Raccoon

5.5 k for a crappy Exide?! You can get a good battery for half that. If you use your car very infrequently, a Pb Ca battery (Zero maintenance) is a better idea.

Which battery?
The Exide Freedom that I already have installed is a No Maintenance Battery. What is this Lead - Calcium battery and who manufactures it?

Cheers

[Raccoon]

^^^ You would need a charger which is capable of this kind of charging. Microprocessor based chargers (which can also be set to charge at a low rate) are best as they vary the current/voltage to best suit charging needs.

Amaron, BOSCH, Base Terminal are currently the best batteries. Of these, the zero maintainence (upper end of the price range) Amaron batts would probably be Pb Ca. Unfortunately, it does not seem mentioned anywhere on their website. BOSCH is probably the same.

Tata Green I guess also has Pb Ca... but being quite new in the market, we don't know how good they are in the long term.

[Zappo]

You can also check out the SF Sonic batteries. I switched over to a SF Sonic truck battery (Yeah... it is a high Ah one that qualifies for trucks in their books, I guess ) some 1-1.5 years back and I feel that till date it has done pretty well. The best part is it costed me only 2800 odd bucks back then when a lower AH Exide was costing close to 5200 and Amaron was 5450. It's absolute bang for the bucks IMO. Its completely maintenance free and even has a magic eye to check the battery health though they call it a Truck battery. Comes with a 18 months warranty (yeah, no fancy 4 years warranty, but thats perfectly ok at 2800).

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Zappo

You can also check out the SF Sonic batteries. I switched over to a SF Sonic truck battery (Yeah... it is a high Ah one that qualifies for trucks in their books, I guess ) some 1-1.5 years back and I feel that till date it has done pretty well. The best part is it costed me only 2800 odd bucks back then when a lower AH Exide was costing close to 5200 and Amaron was 5450. It's absolute bang for the bucks IMO. Its completely maintenance free and even has a magic eye to check the battery health though they call it a Truck battery. Comes with a 18 months warranty (yeah, no fancy 4 years warranty, but thats perfectly ok at 2800).

Thanks Racoon & Zappo for the info! Much appreciated!

I'll first try to slow charge the battery and if it works then nothing like it. Else will look at SF Sonic. Btw where did you buy the battery and how much is the AH?

[Zappo]

I bought the battery from a most unlikely place. I bought it from Wheels at Tadbund, behind the airport runway. I had no idea that they had a few batteries for sell besides the tyres and alloys that they deal in. My friend who bought the same battery from them 3 months before that took me there. Mine is a 65 or 70 Ah battery (will need to check) and it's called Sonic Jumbo. My original Exide battery's spec was 55 Ah though. However, dealer suggested that the alternator being rated at 90 Ah and the hood being high enough to be able to accomodate this battery I should go for this spec as that will also give me some more headroom tomorrow, if so required.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Thanks Racoon & Zappo for the info! Much appreciated!

I'll first try to slow charge the battery and if it works then nothing like it. Else will look at SF Sonic. Btw where did you buy the battery and how much is the AH?

Beware - SF now belongs to Exide, unless you already know! Much has been discussed about Exides low quality in other threads, so wont repeat. Also, just replaced the SF in the car that gave below par performance. Not someting I would recommend to anyone. Also, its most likely not a Ca battery... and since you don't use your car often, its not the best bet for you (higher self discharge).

Instead, Base Terminal would be a much better option. Comparatively cheap and with a long warranty (total 50 months).

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

.... Garage guys are telling me to change the battery.

First, please get the specific gravity of each cell checked. This is a good pointer to the health of the cell.
If all cells appear to be OK, then you can go in for a slow charge at a good charging station.
If this fails to restore the battery it would be best to replace it.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

First, please get the specific gravity of each cell checked. This is a good pointer to the health of the cell.
If all cells appear to be OK, then you can go in for a slow charge at a good charging station.
If this fails to restore the battery it would be best to replace it.

Would the specific gravity ( 1.2 IIRC) be the same even if the battery is fully discharged?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Would the specific gravity ( 1.2 IIRC) be the same even if the battery is fully discharged?

Get the battery checked at a battery shop.
This article would help to keep you from asking silly questions.
Battery Tutorial | BatteryStuff.com
In a matter of minutes it can be determined whether the battery is capable of further service.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Get the battery checked at a battery shop.
This article would help to keep you from asking silly questions.
Battery Tutorial | BatteryStuff.com
In a matter of minutes it can be determined whether the battery is capable of further service.

Thanks Mathursaab!!!

I'll not ask anymore questions relating to Battery

[gigy]

good site about batteries.