My car battery died from non-usage during the lockdown

How many have faced the dead battery situation during the lockdown? And what have you done to resolve it?

BHPian kiku007 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My dad hasn't used the Ford Aspire automatic for about 4 weeks and now the car wouldn't start. The electrical accessories seem to work fine I'm told. The car was serviced only a couple of months ago so I'm hoping it's just a battery that has gone below 12V.

Thankfully he was aware that it won't be possible to push start the car since it has an automatic transmission.

I've ordered the Jump start cable from Amazon and waiting for that to be delivered.

Meanwhile I stumbled upon this excellent thread by SS-Traveller.

So I wondered how many have faced the dead battery situation during the lockdown.

• What have you done to prevent it?
• Have you invested on Multimeters, Jump start cables, battery operated Jump starter or trickle chargers?
• Have you subscribed to Road side assistance services that help out in such scenarios?

Here's what BHPian vigsom had to say on the matter:

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 (Charging a car battery using a laptop charger!) in an emergency, with all due precautions. A home inverter can also be used to charge a car battery.

To prevent a situation like this, I'd recommend:

• Monitoring the battery voltage every week using a multimeter
• Start the car and run it for at least 30 minutes for the battery to regain the lost charge sapped by the starter motor
• Should the car need long term storage, disconnect the negative terminal of the battery.

If one must run the car at idle for several minutes, ensure that the parking area is adequately ventilated so that exhaust gases can be removed; not a good idea to run the engine for extended periods in a closed garage with no ventilation.

I'd recommend investing in a multimeter; a simple one shouldn't cost more than a few hundred rupees. A jump starter cable is a very handy thing, but most cables available on line are spurious - have thick insulation but very little copper.

Here's what BHPian Dr.AD had to say on the matter:

Our area is in lockdown since last week of April, and my cars have not been used at all since then. Even last year I had a two-month period where my cars were not used.

However, luckily, no battery issues at all (yet).

The routine I follow is this:

• Once a week, I start the car.
• Open all windows.
• Switch ON the AC in fresh air mode.
• I drive the car slowly for 10 minutes within our apartment complex itself.
• After that 10 minute slow ride, idle the car for another 5 minutes or so.
• Then switch it off and close/lock everything again.

Doing this routine roughly once a week is good enough, and is keeping my cars and batteries in decent shape so far.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

No dead batteries here.

1. I would religiously fire up all my cars minimum of once a week and let them idle for a bit. Including the media Kia Carnival demo that was stuck with me for 2 months.
2. A very close cousin (almost like a real brother) works in pharma distribution, an essential service. I'd given him the BMW for a week as these cars hate standing still; they are built to run.
3. Also, I would take them around the area for some work or the other (e.g. picking up stuff from the chemist or such essentials).

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