Electrical death
Discussion
Had the cerb out recently, went perfectly. The next morning- car left unlocked in garage - doors wouldn’t open, no response to fob, no sign of life. Fortunately bonnet left unlocked but no response to charge for 24h, battery reads as ‘still charging’. Haven’t been anle to check battery voltage yet but don’t think it is to blame as it seemed v healthy. Any thoughts, camerados desperados? And if anyone could DM with secret access method that would be appreciated.
Is the battery in the car or out of it?
Best DIY battery check is to remove from car and charge fully indoors (good ventilation health & safety warning), then stand indoors overnight and read the voltage next morning with a good voltmeter. Anything less than 12.4v and it's time for a new battery.
12.7 = great
12.4 = OK (but not "good")
11.7 = utterly knackered
Note: It's no good trying to read the voltage as soon as the battery comes off the charger or outdoors on a frosty morning. The readings will be useless.
Best DIY battery check is to remove from car and charge fully indoors (good ventilation health & safety warning), then stand indoors overnight and read the voltage next morning with a good voltmeter. Anything less than 12.4v and it's time for a new battery.
12.7 = great
12.4 = OK (but not "good")
11.7 = utterly knackered
Note: It's no good trying to read the voltage as soon as the battery comes off the charger or outdoors on a frosty morning. The readings will be useless.
Sent you a mail mate. Check your spam if you haven't received it.
I had to break into my Cerb on arriving at Dover on the cross channel ferry. For some reason it had issues with (I'm guessing) electrical fields that stopped my fob working. Thought I was going to spend the day going back and forth to Calais!
I had to break into my Cerb on arriving at Dover on the cross channel ferry. For some reason it had issues with (I'm guessing) electrical fields that stopped my fob working. Thought I was going to spend the day going back and forth to Calais!
Thanks, not yet, as there was a little resistance then something fell. The positive terminal of the battery is off but I don’t have the correct spanner for the negative as access tight. Voltage is 3v though - after a 20h in situ charge yesterday. It seemed to work absolutely fine until all this kicked off on Friday having been used the previous day.
DCerebrate said:
Thanks, not yet, as there was a little resistance then something fell. The positive terminal of the battery is off but I don’t have the correct spanner for the negative as access tight. Voltage is 3v though - after a 20h in situ charge yesterday. It seemed to work absolutely fine until all this kicked off on Friday having been used the previous day.
Sounds very much like a catastrophic failure of your batteries internals.Ok, so after I had charged the battery in situ for 16h the voltage was 3v. After a break I disconnected the battery and put it on charge for 24h - the charger light still didn’t turn green but afterwards the battery read 13.9v. Then after 10h and also at 20h the voltage is consistent at 13.2v. Is this still a dead battery, or something else?
Btw why do Cerberas eat batteries after 3y? If I need another that would be my third!
Btw why do Cerberas eat batteries after 3y? If I need another that would be my third!
So if I'm reading you right, after ten hours connected to nothing, your battery is losing a lot of charge?
Battery is knackered mate. But I'm guessing you're in now?
I'd suggest getting a couple of quick release battery connectors and disconnect it from the car when you park it up. That way whatever is eating your batteries, can't.
Battery is knackered mate. But I'm guessing you're in now?
I'd suggest getting a couple of quick release battery connectors and disconnect it from the car when you park it up. That way whatever is eating your batteries, can't.
I'm on my third in 15 years. 1st one died early on was replaced with a red top, which died when the body off restoration was done as they just left it stored for the year it took.
That was replaced with another, which then died/was very poorly when the engine work was done, again just being stored instead of trickle charged as they told me it would be... In hindsight I should have learnt and taken it home.
Otherwise they last well if always plugged into a trickle charger/optimiser when parked/stored.
That was replaced with another, which then died/was very poorly when the engine work was done, again just being stored instead of trickle charged as they told me it would be... In hindsight I should have learnt and taken it home.
Otherwise they last well if always plugged into a trickle charger/optimiser when parked/stored.
Turns out that it was a battery fault. The last receipt I could find for a battery was Feb 17, and so after a bit of digging, found that the Yuasa silver battery would be replaced without question, two months short of the five year guarantee! Now reinstalled (YBX5075, 60Ah 620A), and car running perfectly again. Next step 4 tyres and an MOT. Thanks for everyone’s help - had never encountered a battery going so quickly before.
DCerebrate said:
had never encountered a battery going so quickly before.
How often is the car used?Lead acid batteries really need to kept close to fully charged all the time to keep them healthy. Using a car infrequently is a great way to kill a battery.
Lead/acid batteries don't just sit quietly with a full charge - they gradually self discharge internally. A battery that's not fully charged suffers from sulphation of the plates and that gradually makes the whole thing less able to be properly charged next time the car is used.
I never use a battery tender because my cars are usually out at least once a week. but if you're leaving the car parked up for a month at a time a battery tender could be worth considering. Connect it with a quick-release 2-pin plug and socket so that if you forget to disconnect before you drive off it will just disconnect itself without any damage....
Usually once a fortnight and charge after the first week. Will be on the lookout for a prong or connector from + terminal as currently (see what I did there?) very hard to reach. As my charger is ‘non-smart’ am I right just to charge over 24h and disconnect, ie does it cause the battery any harm to be on continuous charge?
Yes, you don't want to overdo it with an unregulated charger. It will just carry on charging and cause the battery to "gas", giving off oxygen and hydrogen which, as you may recall from school chemistry, has the potential to get a bit lively. This is sometimes (wrongly) described a boiling the battery.
More explanation on this handy link,
https://cdn.thomasnet.com/ccp/30772670/204260.pdf
More explanation on this handy link,
https://cdn.thomasnet.com/ccp/30772670/204260.pdf
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