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Battery flat after a week of standing


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Well I've started to use my bike more now that petrol is on the up and my commutes are close enough.

I got in my car today and the battery was flat, I luckly managed to get the car to start the 3rd time. I know the LCD panel stays on, but surely that doesn't draw so much power to flatten the battery in a week?

Any tips/help?

I keep my car in a garage and that rules out solar charging unless I can find one I can keep on the garage roof 24/7. Most cheap ones dont look like they'd last outdoors for long.

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Well I've started to use my bike more now that petrol is on the up and my commutes are close enough.

I got in my car today and the battery was flat, I luckly managed to get the car to start the 3rd time. I know the LCD panel stays on, but surely that doesn't draw so much power to flatten the battery in a week?

Any tips/help?

I keep my car in a garage and that rules out solar charging unless I can find one I can keep on the garage roof 24/7. Most cheap ones dont look like they'd last outdoors for long.

Could be an interior or boot light stuck on?

Its been a long winter, get your battery on a charger then see how long it lasts after it has been fully recharged. My fabia took over 24 hrs to properly charge a few weeks ago.

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Dont have a boot light and I always keep the interior light off so I dont think its that.

I have replaced the license plate lights with LED's, but they dont show any light coming from them when the lights are off so unless they are still passing current, but not enough to light the LED it might be that, but draining a 30ah battery in a week? Dont think so....

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Dont have a boot light and I always keep the interior light off so I dont think its that.

I have replaced the license plate lights with LED's, but they dont show any light coming from them when the lights are off so unless they are still passing current, but not enough to light the LED it might be that, but draining a 30ah battery in a week? Dont think so....

Battery still could be dead after the hard cold winter, charge it and see.

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All modern cars with alarms and Immoblisers have some sort of battery drain when parked up, I have checked several of these models on the platform (Skoda/Seat/VW) and you should see approx 150-250Ma which after the ECU has shut down (approx 5Mins) when locking and leaving the vehicle.

I believe the Fabia battery is 60a in the diesels and yours is smaller so little reserve so when parked up for a duration it works out on battery drain as follows

60a dev by 150Ma = 400hrs approx to flat, but remember when the battery voltage drop below 12.06v which is 25% capacity you have very little reserve.

This is not a Fabia Platform Problem its Manufacturer wide with the bigger stuff like new Range Rovers going Flat in about 7-10days, to see an example of this see how many new cars need jump starting in Airport Car Parks, and my mate attends as a AA Engineer !

The new mercedes to overcome the problem has a dual battery system whereby the battery powering the alarm and immobliser are different to the one out of the circuit at standby to start the car.

Here are the stats for a 12v Battery which should be checked 2hrs after charging

12.65v =100% Capacity

12.45v = 75% Capacity

12.24v = 50% Capacity

12.06v = 25% Capacity

11.89v = 0% Capacity

To prolong battery life you should not let any car battery go flat as the battery will become sulphated and shorten its life 3fold, use something like a Optimate (All Bike Riders will be familair with these) to keep the battery charged if you have a electric supply near the vehicle, and unlike conventional battery chargers can be left connected to the battery all winter if needs be and will solve the problem with modern cars parked up for short periods showing this problem.

Edited by kernowVRs
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Well I fully charged the battery lastnight/today and took it off the hook at 12pm. I dont think I shall need to use the car for a while so I'll see how long it lasts, hopefully more than what it was before.

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Check the Voltage with a Digital Voltmeter and see how its progressing day by day will give you a indication of its capacity its its flat in 3days then find someone with a digital clamp meter who can check the dischange rate standing.

Do the main positive cable one first and then do the individual fuses one by one, If you need to know what circuits they are just shout I'll pull the info off ETKA for you.

Edited by kernowVRs
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No matter how much you check it you'll not be able to see a dead cell with a multimeter. Take the battery to a motorfactors and get them to do a proper check on it. If there's a dead cell, the battery is scrap.

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You don't say how old your battery is, if it's getting on for 6/7 years old it won't hold a charge as when it was new.

Mine finnally died at 7 years old and would not restart after laying idle for 3 or 4 days. Maybe it's time to open yer wallet.

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My old MK1 Octavia vRS petrol was hardly used in the winter and would be laid up for weeks on end without being started and it always started first time. 1 week sounds way to short, and if the car is still on its original battery then I would suspect that its failing.

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My Dad had this problem a few weeks back on his Mk5 Golf GTi, hes a long distance lorry driver so car can go all week without being used. He got a new battery and last week it happened again turned out that it was the wee light in the glovebox that was staying on! Wires disconnected problem solved! :)

Jodi

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1 week is not normal at all.

The mechanism in the glovebox light will be broke. Why not just fix it instead of going to the bother of taking the wires out?

If a battery is draining you should be able to measure the current draw while pulling fuses 1 at a time to see where the main draw is from. Also a fault scan will show up a short anywhere. I still suspect a dead battery cell.

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I thought it was the glove box light, but that turns off if you close the box slowly just before it catches on the clasps the light goes out.

I "think" its the original battery but I have no way to confirm it. I've had to use the car and its starting no bother now that I charged it up with the trickle charger.

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7 days is normal for a car to fail to start!

Flasing led of central locking then immobiliser etc

!

I had demo cars at work for a month and my Fabia didn't turn a wheel for the whole of February, started first time no bother.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I've been using my car every other day and I got a flat battery today in the college car park. The car started up fine, drove down and parked up. Had the radio on for about 20mins before I got out as I was pretty early.

Got in to go home and Zero, not even a single turn over.

Looks like the battery is dead, wheres a good place to get a cheap one? I'm trading the car in around December so dont want to spend a lot.

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