Flat Battery - best course of action?
Discussion
Left my lights on all night and my battery is 100% flat. Nothing happens when I turn ignition key, central locking is dead and so on.
Battery was not new but more than 2 years old and has never given any problems.
Is a battery that has been 100% flattened salvageable?
Should I:
A: Call out breakdown service, get a jump start and then go for a long drive - will this save/recharge my battery enough to save getting a new one?
B: Call out mobile new battery service and just get a new one fitted?
I have to park all day in an NCP tomorrow and don't want to get back to my car in the evening and find the battery has died and then have to call the breakdown service again.
What would you do?
Battery was not new but more than 2 years old and has never given any problems.
Is a battery that has been 100% flattened salvageable?
Should I:
A: Call out breakdown service, get a jump start and then go for a long drive - will this save/recharge my battery enough to save getting a new one?
B: Call out mobile new battery service and just get a new one fitted?
I have to park all day in an NCP tomorrow and don't want to get back to my car in the evening and find the battery has died and then have to call the breakdown service again.
What would you do?
Happened to me last week on an 7 year old battery.
Battery booster pack would not start it - turned over slowly but would not fire.
Tried charging it on a 4 amp "clever" domestic charger - nothing and charger said it was dead.
Called breakdown service - they started it with a bigger booster pack and said it was charging.
Went to Halfords armed with spanners and got a new battery.
Old battery had fixed itself enough in ten minutes to restart the car!
Fitted the new one anyway and the old one has charged fine with the charger that condemned it!
So I've kept it as a spare.
Battery booster pack would not start it - turned over slowly but would not fire.
Tried charging it on a 4 amp "clever" domestic charger - nothing and charger said it was dead.
Called breakdown service - they started it with a bigger booster pack and said it was charging.
Went to Halfords armed with spanners and got a new battery.
Old battery had fixed itself enough in ten minutes to restart the car!
Fitted the new one anyway and the old one has charged fine with the charger that condemned it!
So I've kept it as a spare.
Yes, it may well be salvageable but probably needs a sophisticated charger applied to it e.g a CTEK or similar. If you have no access to such a charger then just charge it up normally - a good drive might not be enough though, it probably requires around 8 to 10 hours of charging - and see how it goes. If the NCP is a multi-story, park near a 'down' ramp!
Cheers all. I haven't got any sort of charging equipment so I would have to get breakdown service out.
Just really weighing up the options in terms of:
1. Get breakdown service out and go on long drive - if it works, no additional immediate expense but would I then have problems in the NCP tomorrow.
2. Cycling to Halfords to pick up a battery (about an hour's cycle away) (£75) or a battery charger (£40 ish) - not sure which is the better option. If the battery is ruined, the money on the charger would be wasted.
3. Get a mobile battery fitter out - not sure of the cost of this at all.
I'd rather spend as little as possible but don't want to be stuck in an NCP tomorrow evening.
Just really weighing up the options in terms of:
1. Get breakdown service out and go on long drive - if it works, no additional immediate expense but would I then have problems in the NCP tomorrow.
2. Cycling to Halfords to pick up a battery (about an hour's cycle away) (£75) or a battery charger (£40 ish) - not sure which is the better option. If the battery is ruined, the money on the charger would be wasted.
3. Get a mobile battery fitter out - not sure of the cost of this at all.
I'd rather spend as little as possible but don't want to be stuck in an NCP tomorrow evening.
Just get a charger on it and get it back up to fully charged. It may well be fine (unless it was on it's way out anyway). You would have to drive for a good while to get the battery charged properly just on the alternator. Short journey's may never do it. Carry a set of jump leads with you for a couple of weeks as well.
One of my cars is still on it's original battery (just), and that's 9 years old. And taken a load of abuse - it's a vauxhall!
One of my cars is still on it's original battery (just), and that's 9 years old. And taken a load of abuse - it's a vauxhall!
Jump starting and driving it to charge is pointless and a waste of fuel, a battery charger overnight is a better option.I've had a battery left for months and totally flat, a good overnight charge and it was fine so it depends on the condition of the battery before total discharge. Wet cell batteries operate best if they are kept fully charged at all times.
If you have breakdown cover just call them out.
If you don't have breakdown cover (madness if you don't) you can buy it with a known call out its marginally more expensive.
A two year old battery will still be in warranty. I only use Bosch they have 5 years warranty after 5 years I put the old battery into our second car bin that older batter and get a new one for my car (always know a family member with same battery so makes sense. I cannot afford for flat battery issues need reliable car.
If you don't have breakdown cover (madness if you don't) you can buy it with a known call out its marginally more expensive.
A two year old battery will still be in warranty. I only use Bosch they have 5 years warranty after 5 years I put the old battery into our second car bin that older batter and get a new one for my car (always know a family member with same battery so makes sense. I cannot afford for flat battery issues need reliable car.
I did this on New Years Eve (though I'd left the interior light on about 5 days prior!). Went to Argos, bought a mid-price charger, gave the battery a couple of hours charge and still made it to a houseparty!
Was pretty worried as after charging I had to do a 10 min drive to the nearest petrol station to fill up, was worried it wouldn't start again after that but no problems. Then did a 2.5 hour drive to the houseparty and haven't had any problems since, even when the car's been sat for a week.
It's the original battery from a 2003 MX-5, looking on the internet there's a lot of horror stories about people charging those batteries and ruining them, I've had no problems.
Was pretty worried as after charging I had to do a 10 min drive to the nearest petrol station to fill up, was worried it wouldn't start again after that but no problems. Then did a 2.5 hour drive to the houseparty and haven't had any problems since, even when the car's been sat for a week.
It's the original battery from a 2003 MX-5, looking on the internet there's a lot of horror stories about people charging those batteries and ruining them, I've had no problems.
Welshbeef said:
If you have breakdown cover just call them out.
If you don't have breakdown cover (madness if you don't) you can buy it with a known call out its marginally more expensive.
I would have done this if I hadn't let my membership lapse. At least with the RAC it's not marginally more expensive - I was quoted in the region of £200 for call out and membership.If you don't have breakdown cover (madness if you don't) you can buy it with a known call out its marginally more expensive.
Alucidnation said:
Buy a new one.
If you rely on the car and its the only one, no other option, especially as its a few years old.
Batteries only tend to last around 5 years nowadays.
My battery decided to die overnight, and had been working perfectly the night before.
what!??!If you rely on the car and its the only one, no other option, especially as its a few years old.
Batteries only tend to last around 5 years nowadays.
My battery decided to die overnight, and had been working perfectly the night before.
take battery out, charge for 24 hours and plug back in. sorted. going flat once won't kill it.
5 years, you say? my last cars was 11 years old before needing to be replaced.
*Al* said:
Jump starting and driving it to charge is pointless and a waste of fuel, a battery charger overnight is a better option.I've had a battery left for months and totally flat, a good overnight charge and it was fine so it depends on the condition of the battery before total discharge. Wet cell batteries operate best if they are kept fully charged at all times.
this 100%martinalex said:
This might be a daft question but .... can you use the Halfords 1800cc charger on a 1300 engine?
They also have a charger for up to 1200cc and one where they don't specify the cc but which is more expensive than the other two.
the 1800cc one will fine. more important than the engine cc rating is the Ah rating it can charge to. i had to get a more expensive charger as some of the cheaper ones don't charge to the 110Ah my battery has (it's a big old bThey also have a charger for up to 1200cc and one where they don't specify the cc but which is more expensive than the other two.
d!!)Jump starting the car and leaving it running for an hour or so,even in neutral should work fine, discharging the battery shouldn't have done any damage. If you have anybody nearby that you can rely on for a push, just push start it, shove it back in your drive and leave it running for a while, or depending on the length of your commute, just drive it to work or wherever you're going, and that should be sufficient
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