Winter battery advice
Discussion
How do you look after your car battery in the winter?
My two dailies do a lot of short runs really, which isn't exactly ideal for batteries. Once a week each one gets a full day on charge throughout the winter when I have the lights / climate / heated screens / heated seats on from start up.
My neighbour made a comment about me being totally overcautious about this, and that they'd be fine without.
Comments?
My two dailies do a lot of short runs really, which isn't exactly ideal for batteries. Once a week each one gets a full day on charge throughout the winter when I have the lights / climate / heated screens / heated seats on from start up.
My neighbour made a comment about me being totally overcautious about this, and that they'd be fine without.
Comments?
I have a different approach; not saying who's right or wrong.
My Vel Satis's original battery gave up the ghost yesterday after 10 years. It had been used and abused over short school runs and standing for months doing nothing for the last 4 years of my ownership.
I knew the battery was on the way out as I had monitored it's performance on starts and how it was recovering. So when it finally let me down yesterday I only had myself to blame because I knew it needed replacing weeks ago and I knew exactly what the problem was.
My point is, you may be masking the true condition of your batteries or the charging system by propping them up with a regular charging program.
My Vel Satis's original battery gave up the ghost yesterday after 10 years. It had been used and abused over short school runs and standing for months doing nothing for the last 4 years of my ownership.
I knew the battery was on the way out as I had monitored it's performance on starts and how it was recovering. So when it finally let me down yesterday I only had myself to blame because I knew it needed replacing weeks ago and I knew exactly what the problem was.
My point is, you may be masking the true condition of your batteries or the charging system by propping them up with a regular charging program.
my understanding is that you're more likely to get 10 years+ from a battery if you care for it - regular charging to keep away sulphation. if you regularly store the car for 2 or 3 weeks the battery will age prematurely and conditioning after prolonged abuse will just mask any problem. Hence people who use conditioners regularly report battery life over 10 years. Swisstoni may have been lucky or maybe he was actually charging quite regularly? On average though, regular charging good, regular inactive periods bad. Also, modern systems may only need a few miles to recharge (not with heated seats et al on though). That's why i think solar chargers are good - they help keep a battery healthy in airport car parks etc, but they won't fix a bad battery.
Robert Elise said:
my understanding is that you're more likely to get 10 years+ from a battery if you care for it - regular charging to keep away sulphation. if you regularly store the car for 2 or 3 weeks the battery will age prematurely and conditioning after prolonged abuse will just mask any problem. Hence people who use conditioners regularly report battery life over 10 years. Swisstoni may have been lucky or maybe he was actually charging quite regularly? On average though, regular charging good, regular inactive periods bad. Also, modern systems may only need a few miles to recharge (not with heated seats et al on though). That's why i think solar chargers are good - they help keep a battery healthy in airport car parks etc, but they won't fix a bad battery.
As far as I know my batteries are good and show no sign of problems.However I do regular trips of <2 miles on a cold engine and there's nothing I can do about it. I need the car to carry heavy stuff with me. The most it drives in one go for an average day is probably 5 miles or so.
SebastienClement said:
As far as I know my batteries are good and show no sign of problems.
However I do regular trips of <2 miles on a cold engine and there's nothing I can do about it. I need the car to carry heavy stuff with me. The most it drives in one go for an average day is probably 5 miles or so.
5 miles might be ok tho.However I do regular trips of <2 miles on a cold engine and there's nothing I can do about it. I need the car to carry heavy stuff with me. The most it drives in one go for an average day is probably 5 miles or so.
i lost one battery after 3 years without care. only 15k miles covered in 3 years on longish trips and idle rest of time. Sister lost her 'school run' battery and garage suggested she stop using heated seats with engine off... good advice! surprised the Lexus allowed it tho. Thing is, looking after it is less faff than buying/installing a new one
Robert Elise said:
my understanding is that you're more likely to get 10 years+ from a battery if you care for it - regular charging to keep away sulphation. if you regularly store the car for 2 or 3 weeks the battery will age prematurely and conditioning after prolonged abuse will just mask any problem. Hence people who use conditioners regularly report battery life over 10 years. Swisstoni may have been lucky or maybe he was actually charging quite regularly? On average though, regular charging good, regular inactive periods bad. Also, modern systems may only need a few miles to recharge (not with heated seats et al on though). That's why i think solar chargers are good - they help keep a battery healthy in airport car parks etc, but they won't fix a bad battery.
I agree. The original Mustang battery was deemed a fairly poor quality item but mine has been on a conditioner over 7 years and is still in great shape.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff