Battery failure

[John Flynn]

April 2021 my car would not start and I called the AA. I had only driven 1200 miles as we were not allowed to drive during the covid lockdown. I was advised by the AA to have the Battery checked which I did at the local garage. According to them the Battery was not a problem.  December , I have been away on holiday for two weeks and on returning a slight emergency I had to get to the hospital, jumped in the car and it refused to start. The Battery had gone flat. Is this normal

[FROSTYBALLS]

Under usage and short journeys can adversely affect the 12 v Battery. See:

Some owners use a trickle charger - eg CTEK

[Trek]

Whilst cars are stood unused there are small drains on the system , more so now in modern cars than in the older pre 2000 cars , alarms system etc etc , your car goes into a sleep mode and is awakened by the key ( either pushing the unlock or it senses the key and unlocks etc etc, modern cars are also power hungry , electric power steering systems and  lots more electrical systems with demands etc etc

You can get  a local technician to drop test the Battery and check condition , then check Battery drain with an ammeter , a solar panel on your garage or house roof ( or the floor mounted  large fan type variety can be used to keep your car Battery topped up , or invest in a trickle charger for times when your car is out of use for long periods 

[Roy124]

As there are so many threads (loose ends) I shall jump in here. 

My neighbour has just bought a Kia eNiro.  Out of curiosity I peeped in their forum. Same issues with flat 12v batteries. 

I think the many problems post-lockdown have improved hybrid Battery care knowledge but this knowledge is still trickling slowly through to many. 

We are not alone and forums such as these are an invaluable resource. 

We live in a village with the nearest shops a 15 mile round trip.  After my post-lockdown Battery change in March the Battery has been fine.  The car is run every 3-4 days. 

Yesterday I did a long run, 4 hours, and ready mode the whole way.  I will next use the car on Monday so, out of curiosity, I plugged in my CTEK charger.  It jumped straight to #4 in its cycle monitoring voltage drop.  In other words the battery is in fine condition but I shall just leave it. 

 

 

[John Flynn]

It’s happened again with the Battery and I have now purchased a jump start device from Halfords to give me piece of mind with an unreliable situation 

crazy that I have had cars over a period of 50 years and this is a first

[Catlover]

On 12/25/2021 at 12:26 PM, Roy124 said:

Yesterday I did a long run, 4 hours, and ready mode the whole way.  I will next use the car on Monday so, out of curiosity, I plugged in my CTEK charger.  It jumped straight to #4 in its cycle monitoring voltage drop.  In other words the battery is in fine condition but I shall just leave it. 

Position 4 tells you the car should start (Ready mode).  Leaving the CTEX connected will take the Battery charge up slowly to 100%, level 4 is 80%, so it’s best to leave the charger connected longer.     
CTEX 5 is a brilliant charger.