Battery warranty!

[mak]

So today i pulled the old gal out the garage, literally, the batt was dead as a dodo,zip, zilch, not even an ignition light, the batt has been running a little slow over the last few month's so i new it was dying. The car does not get used very often but i expect after 2 weeks of non use it will still start, any way, i tuck the said batt (4 year warranty, 2 year old, 100 squid ) back to halfords today for my new free replacement and was told, sorry chap we cant test it, its to low on charge, i said, yes, thats why i've bought it back, its flat and faulty, no they say, not using your car is battery abuse! We will charge it, then test it to see if its faulty. To cut a long story short i have bought another battery because i really can't be assed messing about but shorely if a batt doesn't hold its charge is it not knackered?

[bobfather]

It's not only how often you use it but also how long the battery is on alternator charge. Starting the engine takes a lot of juice; you'll have to do a fare few miles just to get back to square one. It is very unlikely that the battery is faulty at that age, more likely that it isn't getting sufficient charge cycle and doing that repeatedly is compounding the problem. You should bear in mind that Chimaeras use a fair amount of battery reserve just sitting there, the alarm and other lesser circuits will flatten the battery. Also battery efficiency is proportional to temperature so winter starting uses a greater percentage of the available stored energy.

Edited by bobfather on Thursday 18th December 21:15

[K4TRV]

Without being "Parential", a battery is only as good as the charge put into it,

Becuse you have not driven the car and you "knew" it was low, how can you expect Halfrauds to change a discharged battery as faulty ??

If charged it appears to be capable of holding its charge - where is the problem ??

Sorry, on the side of The supplier - the fault is with the owner not the battery.

Truth hurts...........??

[V8 Animal]

Agree with halfords.
Sorry mate.

[Cider Andy]

A charged battery in good condition with normal drain on it (ie. holding up an alarm system) in a car with no electrical problems should certainly still have life in it after two weeks.

Does the car have any electrical problems? You've admitted it wasn't properly charged over the previous months but even so I'd expect you still to have an ignition light. Maybe it's faulty, maybe it's not. If it charges up ok you'll have a spare battery. If it doesn't you'll get a new spare battery...

[scotty_d]

I have seen this so often in the past few weeks on here “Flat battery syndrome” why not fit a cheap battery isolator switch. It’s pretty obvious the car will go flat if not used regularly with the immobiliser running24/7 for weeks at a time. Here is the easiest cheapest fix, my car can lie's months at a time all I do is screw this shut and it start first time every time.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Battery-Isolator-Cut-off-Swi...

Not having a go just seems a easy fix and save so much hassle for people that don’t drive it that often.

[bobfather]

scotty_d said:

I have seen this so often in the past few weeks on here “Flat battery syndrome” why not fit a cheap battery isolator switch.

You may find your alarm fob stops communicating with the alarm module. Also your insurance will be invalid because you will not have a functioning immobiliser

[mak]

I do know that if the car was used daily the battery would be fine, the car in question has no problem with aternater nor any other electrical problem just lack of use, this particular battery has had no issue's whot so ever over the last 2 year's of lack of use, but has shown degradation over the last month accumulating in a dead battery today, bear in mind this battery was used to start the car 2 weeks ago on a 200 mile (day light) trip. I am of the belief that once you start charging a battery it is flogging a dead horse and you may as well get a new one.

[scotty_d]

[/quote]
You may find your alarm fob stops communicating with the alarm module. Also your insurance will be invalid because you will not have a functioning immobiliser
[/quote]

Think you may be right about the key fob, i have had the battery disconnected loads of times with no problem but i think it is not working now since off the road for winter.

What a stupid design think i will be getting the old crappy meta ripped out and replaced with a cliford or somthing half decent. used to disconnect all my old cars no problem as i work away alot.

[mak]

Just a quick up date on the battery as tested by mr halfrauds, "error code wont hold charge" no refund as its my fault might as well spend half the price next time and get a 2 year warranty lol. Off to do some xmas shopping now as you do, happy christmas to all.