Rav 4 Battery Drain. Battery Isolator Switch Needed ?

[blackbear]

Hello All,

My 1999 Heat stands idle these days and I was wondering if anyone has any experience

with Battery Isolators and could recommend one that I could fit inside the car on the front panel .

I have a Ctek Battery Charger that anchorman recommended in 2010 and it is brilliant . I am 78 now

and forget to charge up when I leave it standing for a week or so. If I remember I have no trouble. When I leave it and my good lady goes out without checking . She has to call my children or my breakdown service. I would like to avoid this happening again but the old grey cells let me down now and again when I have to go out to the garage in the cold and set it up Soooo!! I thought an isolator would do the trick. Can anyone advise ??? Thank you BJ

[crofter]

Hi BJ,there are many things that can cause a Battery to discharge and you will have to consider what is causing that effect.

A Battery will lose some of its charge even if it is disconnected completely.

How old is the Battery and have you had it checked by a battery supplier.

A battery that has say one weak cell will start your car if it is just taken off charge

I mean by that a company that specialises in batteries and is liable to have decent test equipment and staff that know how to us it

Is the battery clean and dry on top as this can create a path for flow to occur between the poles.

So you can see that is not always the car that is draining the battery so fittng an isolator will not cure it unless there is a considerable drain being taken by the car when it is not running

I hope this bit of info helps you with your problem

Keep us informed as what you find out as it may help others on here.

Del

L

[doujoy1944]

Hi to all,

I have had a problem very like this gent is having but some time ago now, it turned out to be the heated rear screen that was the

cause, draining the Battery over two or three days.

Because I was running out of idea's as to the cause I disconnected the rear screen and the problem was cured.

If you get someone to check the power to the heated rear screen when it is switched off you may find it is still being fed through a faulty switch.

Doug.

[gjnorthall]

It's a little impractical to fit a Battery isolator since using this would clear the ECU memory, stop the dash clock and clear any stored radio stations (and would affect the alarm function if fitted). Cars have a small Battery drain to satisfy the aforementioned duties but this should not exceed 50mA. At this level, it shouldn't have a great effect on the Battery and a battery isolator wouldn't really be helpful. It's worth getting the battery drain measured - if it's significantly higher than 50mA then there is something amiss which is causing excessive idle battery drain - this needs investigating. A fully charged battery in good condition should be fine for several weeks. If it isn't, get the battery checked. If the battery is OK, often the problem is low usage of the car - theres not enough opportunity for the alternator to fully recharge the battery so eventually it becomes flat.The only way of dealing with this operating scenario is to trickle charge the battery on a regular basis.

[blackbear]

Hello All,

Thank you for the information, it has been very helpful and interesting. When I posted I had put my Battery which is fairly new a Toyota Optifit 45 AH on charge with my Ctek. As usual it charged it up and I checked it with a Voltmeter and it gave me a reading of 12.70. and it as usual started up with one click. It is as you have suggested " very low usage" and I will just have to be more vigilant and keep it charged up as an when it needs it. I have a gadget from Ctek that you attach to the terminals and it acts like a set of traffic lights Green for charged Amber for reduced charge and Red for very Low and needing charged up.

I am glad I asked about the Isolator as someone had mentioned it for cars lying around in the classic mode and not in use. I just thought if I had one fitted it would save me another task in the cold mid winter. Ces@la vie. Thank you all BJ.

Other than the Battery This is one great motor car !!!! and I have driven a few in my time !!

[Guest]

It is recommended on motorcycles if you leave them laid up for a while or over winter to have a Battery optimiser permanently connected up to keep the Battery charged up and in general good fettle, as a result of doing this over a number of years I now do the same for the Rav as like you I leave the Rav unused at times for a period of time, I also purchased the CTEK for the car along with the CTEK quick connect kit and I have the quick connect kit installed so it is a simple matter of connecting the CTEK plug when I have finished using the Rav, I have it set up so I do not even have to lift the bonnet to connect up. This may not help you to remember but will make it easier to connect up when you do.

I know the older Rav's have issues with the Battery discharging relatively quickly.

Gus