Storing a Vantage in a garage (with no power)

Storing a Vantage in a garage (with no power)

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Discussion

jimmybell

Original Poster:

588 posts

117 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Looking at keeping my future V12 Vantage in a garage without any power for a battery conditioner.

Any opinion on the best way to avoid the battery going flat if left for a few weeks (and thus any of the electrical issues/gremlins it may cause)?

I've heard of people using battery cut-off switches (do these exist in the Vantage? I think i read they're in the DB9?), or just manually disconnecting it?


Glasgowrob

3,245 posts

121 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Cheap solar panel on the roof?

bogie

16,385 posts

272 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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A few weeks should be fine....ive gone 2 months before and my V8 started without issue. If battery is in good nick and theres no extra drain on it, shouldn't be an issue.

Maybe you can get a lithium battery charge pack and leave that plugged into the trickle charge port .....

V8 Vantage GT

1,569 posts

106 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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I see a lot of solar power battery conditioners on Amazon.

Greg Vos

29 posts

88 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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bogie said:
A few weeks should be fine....ive gone 2 months before and my V8 started without issue. If battery is in good nick and theres no extra drain on it, shouldn't be an issue.

....
I agree with this mine starts right up after 12 weeks no issue just don't leave the key inserted I use no charger

jimmybell

Original Poster:

588 posts

117 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
quotequote all
Sadly i don't think a solar charger is an option due to the garage location. I do actually own one of these i once used on my Z4 (not in this garage, diff situation), i'm not convinced it does much (i should probably test it with my voltmeter).

I guess i could just have a charger pack ready to go - i just dont like the idea of a car running flat without understanding what consequences there may be beyond simply not being able to start it.

DavidV12V

150 posts

159 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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I have sometimes left my V12V for circa 6-8 weeks without a trickle charger attached and on the odd occasion it did 'just' spring into life....Worth not letting the battery run down as on the one occasion that the guys storing the car accidentally disconnected the charger and the car was totally dead when I got to it, it turned out to be pain in the arse with things like folding mirrors not working etc. etc. etc.

Btw - I think, not based on fact, that it will be the alarm and any tracker type stuff that will cause a slow drain of the battery - as for an isolation switch never found it but didn't look either....


DAVIDOXE

494 posts

114 months

Sunday 26th February 2017
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Mine goes flat within 3 weeks could the battery be on the way out?

bogie

16,385 posts

272 months

Sunday 26th February 2017
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DAVIDOXE said:
Mine goes flat within 3 weeks could the battery be on the way out?
Possibly...how old is it ?

Mine went from lasting 8 weeks easy to struggling after 4 weeks so I replaced it. That was at about 8 years old on original battery.....

DB9VolanteDriver

2,612 posts

176 months

Sunday 26th February 2017
quotequote all
jimmybell said:
Looking at keeping my future V12 Vantage in a garage without any power for a battery conditioner.

Any opinion on the best way to avoid the battery going flat if left for a few weeks (and thus any of the electrical issues/gremlins it may cause)?

I've heard of people using battery cut-off switches (do these exist in the Vantage? I think i read they're in the DB9?), or just manually disconnecting it?
Buy the largest portable battery pack that is practical for you and simply plug in to the port in your boot. This will greatly extend the time you can go before the combined system voltage drops too low to maintain the various car systems.

DAVIDOXE

494 posts

114 months

Monday 27th February 2017
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bogie said:
DAVIDOXE said:
Mine goes flat within 3 weeks could the battery be on the way out?
Possibly...how old is it ?

Mine went from lasting 8 weeks easy to struggling after 4 weeks so I replaced it. That was at about 8 years old on original battery.....
Its an 59 plate which i have owned for 2 years so assume its the original.

bogie

16,385 posts

272 months

Monday 27th February 2017
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DAVIDOXE said:
bogie said:
DAVIDOXE said:
Mine goes flat within 3 weeks could the battery be on the way out?
Possibly...how old is it ?

Mine went from lasting 8 weeks easy to struggling after 4 weeks so I replaced it. That was at about 8 years old on original battery.....
Its an 59 plate which i have owned for 2 years so assume its the original.
Well could be on its way out...thing is you really dont know, until you try.

If you dont already have a lithium jump pack, certainly worth having one around and you can leave it in the boot acting as a trickle charger

The Surveyor

7,576 posts

237 months

Monday 27th February 2017
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What would happen if the OP simply disconnected the battery?


Handyman2009

165 posts

103 months

Monday 27th February 2017
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I will let you know in a month or so as I disconnected mine on 11 Nov 2016 and will connect it back in early April 2017. From what I am guessing, my seat, windows, radio and redo the misfire learning. Might also have lost my garage door opener code.

jimmybell

Original Poster:

588 posts

117 months

Monday 27th February 2017
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Handyman2009 said:
I will let you know in a month or so as I disconnected mine on 11 Nov 2016 and will connect it back in early April 2017. From what I am guessing, my seat, windows, radio and redo the misfire learning. Might also have lost my garage door opener code.
would be keen to hear! effectively this is the most basic option i have.

Handyman2009

165 posts

103 months

Tuesday 28th February 2017
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I am also looking forward to see what happen but from what I read, people disconnect their battery to do work on their cars all the time without any issues so I thought that unplugging the battery for 3-5hrs or 3-5 months what is the difference. I will post back as soon as I have an answer for you, should be around early to mid April before the weather is good enough to take her out of storage.

Handyman2009

165 posts

103 months

Sunday 9th April 2017
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So the time came today to go and retrieve my car from storage and I had disconnected the battery around mid November 2016. I open the door with the metal key as I locked it before leaving it, connected the Negative wire (the only one I disconnected) so far so good, sat in the driver seat put the key in, I heard lots of what sounded like a CD player looking for a CD... possibly the radio, not sure... put my clutch in all the way along with the gas pedal, crank the engine until the oil light goes away, remove my key and re-inserted it and this time only clutch in and started right away :-)

- my passenger window was good and didn't need reprogramming but my driver window needed it
- my driver seat didn't need reprogramming to my surprise, didn't check the passenger seat yet
- my radio had all its stations still programmed in
- my garage door opener in the rear view mirror was still working when I got home, sweet
- my clock in the car needs to be set as it is now 12 noon...
- didn't get any warning lights but probably will need to redo the misfire programming

So all and all it wasn't as bad as everyone makes it to be, my car is a 2009 Vantage with the FOB as the key that you push into the center stack. If, like me, you find a good place to store your car but it doesn't have any power, it's all good

Francis