Stopping Battery Drain
Discussion
You TVR guys seem to have more than your fair share of battery drain problems, I'm looking for something to stop the problem on my Caterham and having done a search on "battery master switch" I found this automatic jobbie that sounds pretty good. Does anybody have any experience of it?
www.noflatbatteries.com
www.noflatbatteries.com
Yep, you might save the battery (partly) but there'll be no alarm or immobiliser. Your battery will also still lose charge naturally though, esp in cold weather. I use a battery conditioner - Airflow - which is NOT a trickle charger but far more subtle, and works perfectly. Luckily my cig socket is always live so I can plug it into that when the car is tucked up. 
Recommended.
Recommended.
It probably would disconnect the alarm system too, unless you connect the alarm staight to the live battery post, but the battery is going to go flat anyway if the alarm is draining it so I'd rather come back to something I could start.
In my experience a totally isolated battery takes weeks to discharge especially in cold weather - it's actually warmth that damages a battery in storage because it speeds up the chemical processes that cause sulphurisation of the plates.
In my experience a totally isolated battery takes weeks to discharge especially in cold weather - it's actually warmth that damages a battery in storage because it speeds up the chemical processes that cause sulphurisation of the plates.
Hmmmmm - can't quite see the problem here though unless I'm missing something. Shirley, if there's a drain on the battery then everything is going to go down, alarm, starting, the lot. If the drain has been stopped then I get into the car and can start it without having to find some jump leads and another car, or somebody to push me. I don't think flattening a battery right down does it any good does it?
I've looked at solar chargers before and reckon the charge they supply isn't enough to overcome some parasitic currents - especially if something has been left switched on overnight.
It's horses for courses I expect. I like the totally automatic switching idea, nothing to remember!!
"Reg"
I've looked at solar chargers before and reckon the charge they supply isn't enough to overcome some parasitic currents - especially if something has been left switched on overnight.
It's horses for courses I expect. I like the totally automatic switching idea, nothing to remember!!
"Reg"
I've got the priority start system on the V8S - its sold by a TVRCC member who advertises in the back of Sprint. Nice to know that no matter how long I leave the car, whether or not I leave the lights on, how much the alarm mucks up, whatever electrical faults there are, there will always be enough juice to start the car when I get back to it. It does exactly what it says on the box, and its saved me a lot of inconvenience as well as avoiding knackering the battery by running it flat.
Yes I know its the same thing! Just pointing out that you can buy it via a club member for extra browny points!
It leaves everything connected as normal until it senses the battery is going flat, then it isolates the battery. This means your alarm stops working too, unless you've wired in a supply direct from the battery. But as long as your battery doesn't get run down, you'll never know its there.
It leaves everything connected as normal until it senses the battery is going flat, then it isolates the battery. This means your alarm stops working too, unless you've wired in a supply direct from the battery. But as long as your battery doesn't get run down, you'll never know its there.
regmolehusband said:
In my experience a totally isolated battery takes weeks to discharge especially in cold weather - it's actually warmth that damages a battery in storage because it speeds up the chemical processes that cause sulphurisation of the plates.
In my experience a battery is much more likely to die in cold weather - the rate of chemical reactions halve with each 10 deg C and eventually there's not enough grunt to start the engine. But the main thing is that both of us have the problem fixed to our satisfaction!
The colder the storage the more likely it is that there won't be enough grunt to turn the engine (cold viscous oil too), the warmer the storage the faster the sulphation and the greater the long term damage.
Can't win eh?
I might give one of those PriorityStart units a try anyway.
"Reg"
Can't win eh?
I might give one of those PriorityStart units a try anyway.
"Reg"
I have used the priority to start for nearly 6 months now and it really does work. It also does not hinder the alarm as some posters seem to think. Yes, the battery disconnects when the voltage drops due to a leakage. However, when a demand is detected such as the alarm triggering, either through the on/off or break in or the ignition being activated then the battery reconnects. Even with the battery disconnected you can still open the doors via the remote. All clever stuff that actually works. The only drwback is that the clock stops and the radio memory dumps. Small price to pay though. See my thread in Chimaera/ batteries again.
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