IS IT TIME TO CHANGE THE BATTERY ????
IS IT TIME TO CHANGE THE BATTERY ????
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Discussion

TOV!E

Original Poster:

2,016 posts

250 months

Thursday 14th February 2013
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Hi all, i have had the Tuscan from new (7 years now) and it has always been on a OPTIMATE charger, i was wondering as i came baek from its MOT yesterday is it time to change the battery or just keep using the OPTIMATE, the dash board readout says 14.5 volts...

S6 ROR

1,588 posts

281 months

Thursday 14th February 2013
quotequote all
Same as you with my Griff.
Still had the original battery on from new(built in 2001), but always kept on accurate when not in use and never let me down. I did however put a new battery on at last years service, even though it still seemed to be ok.
Didn't want to be away somewhere and then it decided not to play ball. I believe that when they do go, they can go fairly quickly. So it lasted 11 years and was still going strong, but decided to change it anyway.

TOV!E

Original Poster:

2,016 posts

250 months

Thursday 14th February 2013
quotequote all
Many thanks, I think when it has its service at Powers I will ask them to put on a new one, as I am doing La Mans this year and Sod's law that's when it will give up the ghost.

NCE 61

2,426 posts

297 months

Thursday 14th February 2013
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Keeping the battery on an Accumate/Optimate when not in use does extend it's life however when they fail they tend to go quickly. I change mine every five years regardless just for peace of mind.

Podie

46,646 posts

291 months

Thursday 14th February 2013
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Our Griff lives on an optimate as well. Early last year we had a long weekend away and starting the following morning (it was February!) was laboured. Sure enough a replacement battery sorted it. For the sake of £100 odd, it's not worth the grief.

swisstoni

20,167 posts

295 months

Thursday 14th February 2013
quotequote all
Trickle chargers are great but they can prop up a failing battery, which, when you really need it could let you down in the middle of nowhere.

I recently changed the very old batteries in my two everyday barges and it was surprising how many gremlins went away as a result.

glow worm

6,631 posts

243 months

Thursday 14th February 2013
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I just put a new battery on my 7 year old convertible.... But the problem was my alternator was wrecked... windings burnt out . So my bill was £372 frown .... One possible cause is that I keep it on an Accumate and that puts a constant current across the alternator even when the ignition is off !!! Well that's what I'm told... I don't understand why having it on Accumate is any different from the current from the battery. confused



Edited by glow worm on Thursday 14th February 20:34

justyr

337 posts

228 months

Friday 15th February 2013
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I've heard this said about trickle charging before and I'm not sure I buy it totally.
I agree with what someone said about propping up a duff battery. A duff battery is like a capacitor with a permanent load resistor discharging it all the time. So when you put a trickle charger on, it's the charger that supplies the leakage current. Charger taken away, you still have the duff battery.
Having the duff battery will always result in a slightly larger initial dc charging current, which means the rectifier part of the alternator (if separate) will have a regular higher current flowing through it esp at start up. This could put more heat stress on both the windings (the ac bit) and the rectifier (the dc bit) of the alternator, true.
But if the engine is not running, I don't see how the alternator/rectifier can get gubbed by a trickle charger. The only thing that could be happening is that there's reverse leakage back through the rectifier diodes and I don't see how that's a big deal.
Someone like Ferret from Ferret's Electrickery could no doubt tell us the whole story.
J

ratboiler

440 posts

207 months

Friday 15th February 2013
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I would change the battery, mine was 5 years old so just changed it which is better than turning the key on the one and only meeting you really want to attend to find the car is dead.