Radio turning on by itself and battery voltage

[mcntosh]

I’ve had two incidents recently where the car radio on my Auris hybrid has switched on by itself (while driving). Not sure what to make of this. The fuse for radio looks OK so I figure it’s either wiring or the Battery.

The 12V Battery voltage this morning is 12.25V, which seems a bit on the low side even at 4 degrees Celsius.

Some stuff I’ve seen online suggests that a voltage of 12.2V indicates that the battery’s SoC is about 50%. I had the car out yesterday for a 20 mile run so that SoC seems low.

When the radio came on this morning, I had the air con and the heated seats on, and the VSC engaged momentarily - next thing, the radio springs to life. I’m wondering if all of this is a coincidence or a sign that the Battery is starting to struggle under load

Any thoughts/advice appreciated. The battery is at least 4 years old; however,  I suspect it is in fact the original battery and therefore nearly 9 years old, it might be best to just replace it.

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

radio likely to be turned on via the steering wheel buttons pressed by mistake, can happen even without realising that. 
Battery voltage of 12.2v its ok and no need to worry about it. If you would like to extend the Battery life best to use smart charger once a month or so and charge and condition the Battery. Age even of 9 years old its not a reason to change the battery before really dies completely.
My one is 12 years old and still working fine, voltage very similar to yours., it survived two lockdowns, yearly holidays of week plus without any use and the big freeze last week. The plan is keeping it until refusing to unlock, then purchase a new from the local dealer, get my Neighbor to jump start the car and I will go to the dealer to grab the new one, probably change at their car park and give the original one to them to take pictures with  and recycle it. 🔋😂👌

[mcntosh]

Hi @TonyHSD,

Thanks, never thought of the steering wheel controls…

It’s reassuring to hear that there may be more life on the Battery yet. I’ve also been fortunate and have never had any problems with the Battery, even during lockdown and taking no precautions other than firing it up for 20 minutes if it hadn’t been driven for a week. Maybe it’s time to pamper the Battery a bit in its old age.

[AisinW]

12.2 V Battery in winter is normal. I had mine 12.2 V since 3 years ago and never have issue.  12.2V is when the Battery is still connected to the car, it is not 50% SoC.  You need to disconnec the Battery to properly measure the open voltage.    But my battery is only 7 years old. 

[mcntosh]

12 minutes ago, AisinW said:

12.2 V battery in winter is normal. I had mine 12.2 V since 3 years ago and never have issue.  12.2V is when the battery is still connected to the car, it is not 50% SoC.  You need to disconnec the battery to properly measure the open voltage.    But my battery is only 7 years old. 

Thanks, I think I’ll just keep an eye on the Battery and maybe recondition it as Tony suggested. There seem to be no other electrical gremlins lurking about.

 

[AisinW]

Regardless we have new or old Battery, we should have a jumper cable in the car or a tiny lithium jumper Battery pack.  Hybrid only needs 60A to start the car, any Battery pack work fine.  You can buy a cheap LIDL/ALDI charger and it has a good controller that will charge the battery with a nice curve.