Fabia Park Lights Battery Drain?

[Trevor33]

The wife accidentally left the park lights (indicator position up) on in our drive for about 7Hrs. I noticed this, turned them off about 8pm thinking nothing of it. Next morning the battery was dead?!

I thought the point of park lights is that you can leave them at least over night for safety reasons?

 

We have a 2010 Skoda Fabia Estate 1.2, so I'm thinking what's normally ok on healthy batteries isn't on a 6yr old battery?

 

Any other ideas?

[rum4mo]

That might just have been the final straw to exposing that battery as being a bit long in the tooth - also, maybe its previous run was really short?

[Trevor33]

Hmm. Yeah it was parked for a couple of weeks without much use due to holidays etc.

What's the best course of action for batteries of this age?

[cheshire_cat]

try a long charge for pref' on a smart charger 

[SuperbTWM]

Get a new battery, especially if you need your car to start reliably in a morning to get to work. Remember Winter is coming and battery performance decreases with freezing temperatures.

Edited 24 October, 2016 by SuperbTWM

[PetrolDave]

Get a new battery, especially if you need your car to start reliably in a morning to get to work. Remember Winter is coming and battery performance decreases with freezing temperatures.

And even the best car batteries only get specified to have a 5 year life, so after that you're on borrowed time.

[Rooted]

It is not just an older battery issue.

On a pretty new Mk2 Fabia vRS with Parking lights on, so one Front Sidelight, one Rear and the one number plate light that stayed on the battery could be flat if these were left on over night.

Edited 24 October, 2016 by Offski

[Trevor33]

Thanks for the replies. Any recommendations for solid battery brands and/or professional sites to buy from?

I still don't understand how a safety feature like this would drain an 'ok' battery overnight ..

[SuperbTWM]

It is not just an older battery issue.

On a pretty new Mk2 Fabia vRS with Parking lights on, so one Front Sidelight, one Rear and the one number plate light that stayed on the battery could be flat if these were left on over night.

 Depends what you call overnight, if you leave them on for 10 hours that's 8.3 Ah presuming each bulb is 5w. I'm not sure what rating the battery has on a MK2 VRS but its obviously a good chunk of capacity even if the battery was in a good state of charge. I don't think sidelights were ever intended for prolonged use.

 

Who even uses them anyway? I normally keep mine off when i'm Dogging 

[Rooted]

They are not Sidelights though, they are a Sidelight-Taillight used as 'Parking Lights',  Singular front & rear light on.

just there to meet Construction & Use and not much use other than for short periods for the reason you point out.

(I still have a few kicking around that you used on the outside window which you wound up to trap them & that had a white bulb to the front, red to rear ,

plugged into the cigarette lighter socket.)

 

Very many never use 'Parking Light Functions' or even read the Owners Manual or Highway Code, but that is just as with lots in the Highway Code and how or when lights like Parking Lights should be used when no street lighting.

The stupid stuff on using sidelights in lit streets in towns when driving where there are speed limits thankfully are mostly ignored and people do use Sidelights and Dipped.

http://telegraph.co.uk/motoring/4755374/Street-legal-Shedding-light-on-driving-at-night.html

(The highway code should maybe get updated and UK Laws do sometimes, but many passed a driving test when the Highway Code was read and understood and they still remember the different sections.)

 

I use the parking lights when parked up for a sleep in a lay-by or someplace (long lay-bys where HGV's and others are entering and exiting or even ones right ar the side of the road.)

where they are better than just rear reflectors and they will use less power than the Sidelights on, nearly half the power.

 

Interior light on is all that is required when waiting your turn in red light districts to show you want attention.

Edited 25 October, 2016 by Offski

[PetrolDave]

Thanks for the replies. Any recommendations for solid battery brands and/or professional sites to buy from?

I still don't understand how a safety feature like this would drain an 'ok' battery overnight ..

I always use Puredrive when I need a new car battery, quality brands at better prices than the local franchised distributor (Barden) and fast delivery http://www.puredrivebatteries.co.uk/?gclid=CNexo4Tb9c8CFcQV0wodhw4DUQ

[maccy]

And even the best car batteries only get specified to have a 5 year life, so after that you're on borrowed time.

I have an '05 Fabia Estate with the original battery.It is date stamped on the negative terminal,but will not be surprised if it gives up this winter.

[PetrolDave]

I have an '05 Fabia Estate with the original battery.It is date stamped on the negative terminal,but will not be surprised if it gives up this winter.

I only had to replace the battery (that came with a 5 year warranty) last Winter on my '06 Audi RS4, so batteries can, and often do, last longer than the warranty period - but Sod's Law says the battery will fail on the coldest morning when you are in the most hurry (that's exactly what happened on my wife's '05 Fabia 3 years ago).