Flat battery problems - how bad are they?
Discussion
As you will see, i am not a regular contributor to these boards but intend to become more so! 
I am a fairly regular 'lurker' though.....
i have read much on here about flat batteries in TVR's and indeed have a close freind that was constantly plagued by this problem (TVR now sold
).
The question is, how bad is this? and which cars suffer from it? Is there an easy cure?
I am a fairly regular 'lurker' though.....
i have read much on here about flat batteries in TVR's and indeed have a close freind that was constantly plagued by this problem (TVR now sold
). The question is, how bad is this? and which cars suffer from it? Is there an easy cure?
I never had a flat battery problem with my Chimaera. But the AA became a familiar sight during my Tuscan years. At the time I lived in Liverpool and working in London so it would go 5/6 days without being driven, and 8 times out of ten the batter would be flat when I arrived back home. TVR even replaced the battery to no avail. After further investigation by the factory it turned out to be the alarm draining the battery, to this day no one knows why exactly
That was the problem with my freinds i think. He was a pilot, would drive to the airport off on a trip, come back (usually in the depths of winter and middle of night) to find the battery flat.....which i think they decided was the alarm and was something he had to 'live with' 
Never did manage to fix it and had to put it on trickle charge all the time....there must be a way around that surely?
Never did manage to fix it and had to put it on trickle charge all the time....there must be a way around that surely?
Hi,
If you go to Forums & search flat battery there's loads of comment.
An alternative is:
www.noflatbatteries.com/
which some call Priority Start device, that's an alternative maybe for some.
Trev McM
If you go to Forums & search flat battery there's loads of comment.
An alternative is:
www.noflatbatteries.com/
which some call Priority Start device, that's an alternative maybe for some.
Trev McM
It's not really a big problem .. but it's normally caused by a lack of usage over the winter .. TVR's commonly being second or third cars .. they all have alarms .. casing current drain .. so this light usage and constant battery drain does mean the battery lasts about 3 or 4 years ..
You can buy battery optimisers .. which plug in while the car is garaged .. this resolve the problem..
The other issue is that TVR batteries are sited in the best place for vehicle handling .. low down and near to the cars center of gravity .. passenger foot well !
So when they go .. they can be tricky to get out .. tales to peole being ahead down in the footwell are common.
Do let this ever put anyone off buying or being driven in a TVR - it's a great experience
>> Edited by rev-erend on Wednesday 14th July 13:53
You can buy battery optimisers .. which plug in while the car is garaged .. this resolve the problem..
The other issue is that TVR batteries are sited in the best place for vehicle handling .. low down and near to the cars center of gravity .. passenger foot well !
So when they go .. they can be tricky to get out .. tales to peole being ahead down in the footwell are common.
Do let this ever put anyone off buying or being driven in a TVR - it's a great experience
>> Edited by rev-erend on Wednesday 14th July 13:53
We've had about 15 months of trouble free motoring out of the chimaera, but came back on Monday after 3 weeks away to a dead battery. It wasn't a problem - was easy enough to jump start from the escort.
It leads me to agree with the other posts though, that's it just a problem if you don't use them for long(ish) periods. Ours is normally driven every day, in fact the longest it's been left standing in the past was a week and it was fine then.. The three weeks was just too much for it
It leads me to agree with the other posts though, that's it just a problem if you don't use them for long(ish) periods. Ours is normally driven every day, in fact the longest it's been left standing in the past was a week and it was fine then.. The three weeks was just too much for it
Modern cars have constant current drain by alarms, ECUs and assorted other gubbins, even when the ignition is switched off. On my Cossie, it was a couple of hundred milliamps, which would flatten the battery completely in a couple of weeks. The real problem is that car batteries do not "like" being flattened, and will subsequently not accept a charge. I used to get 8 months or so out of a battery until I bought a battery conditioner, at which point they last more-or-less indefinitely.
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