Just passing this on in case any of you guys have the same problem/symptoms I had yesterday. The cars not been used much over the past few weeks, and when it was used, short journeys.

 

Anyway, I noticed that the start stop wasn't kicking in once the car was warmed up, so I checked the state of charge (SOC) in the maxidot, and sure enough it was 60% So I put the battery on charge over-night, and the SOC reading was still at 60% this morning.

 

Long story short, I used a charger that said it would work with AGM batteries, but I noticed the cut off voltage of the charger was 13.9 Volts. Turns out that the latest generation of AGM batteries need to be taken up to 14.6 Volts to get them to 100% charge.

 

So I bought a Ring Battery charger, set it to AGM mode and auto charge, 6 hours later SOC reading 100% and start/stop working.

Thanks for the info. I expect my wife's Mini with stop-start also needs this.

I have an over 10 yr old Halfords charger so that probably is no good.

Can we have a link to the one you bought please?

Thanks for the info. I expect my wife's Mini with stop-start also needs this.

I have an over 10 yr old Halfords charger so that probably is no good.

Can we have a link to the one you bought please?

Sure thing mate

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/car-battery-chargers/ring-12a-smartcharger-charge-and-diagnose

Not cheap, but it does testing, alternator, starter crank test, memory save, capacity test. 5 charging modes, Auto, Winter, maintenance, and I forget the rest 

 

BTW It was also a Halfords 10 year old charger I used initially, says it does AGM, but obviously not the newer AGM batteries.

Useful heads up there, thank you.

another thing re halfords - if you join british cycling (~35 quid a year) then you get 10% off everything at halfords (and a few other bike shops like chain reaction) which may save you a few quid if you are shopping there regularly

How do you get the charge indicater on maxidot again?

+1 on how do you get the SOC up.....?

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I wish I could get my stop / start to stop working 

To get the SOC display. Ignition off and bonnet must be shut. Press and hold the trip reset button, the maxidot will then show TIME, keep the button held, then it will show BATTERY. Release the button and that's it, the SOC % will be displayed.

That's worth knowing.

I still have a lot of scepticism about start stop systems.

 

If I am planning on leaving the car unused for more than a week I will turn the start-stop off well beforehand so the battery can reach full charge.

I think you are all over thinking this.

The SS and charge monitoring systems are very sophisticated. If the battery voltage is too low, or the current draw is too high, SS will be disabled. Just leave it all alone and it looks after itself.

If you are charging your battery in-situ follow the guidelines in the owners manual and do not under any circumstances connect the earth lead directly to the battery, connect to the earth point on the bulkhead.

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To be fair I often over think :-)

Ive been doing a lot of short trips lately, and for the past two weeks its been below -10 degrees C. And S/S havent given me any problems at all. Although it doesnt stop the engine much when it is this cold.

These battery Voltage things are really smart. Screen told me to change the key battery last night.....

Ive been doing a lot of short trips lately, and for the past two weeks its been below -10 degrees C. And S/S havent given me any problems at all. Although it doesnt stop the engine much when it is this cold.

Exactly, no need to worry about it.

Exactly, no need to worry about it.

Nope, it just does its thing without any problems.

Handy to know. I have a MINI too and the stop start hasn't worked for ages. The car is also coming up with excessive battery discharge errors as I think the dash cam is worked wrongly so might need to invest in one of these chargers.

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To get the SOC display. Ignition off and bonnet must be shut. Press and hold the trip reset button, the maxidot will then show TIME, keep the button held, then it will show BATTERY. Release the button and that's it, the SOC % will be displayed.

Cheers well handy to know

Sure thing mate

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/car-battery-chargers/ring-12a-smartcharger-charge-and-diagnose

Not cheap, but it does testing, alternator, starter crank test, memory save, capacity test. 5 charging modes, Auto, Winter, maintenance, and I forget the rest 

 

BTW It was also a Halfords 10 year old charger I used initially, says it does AGM, but obviously not the newer AGM batteries.

Just to say thanks. I bought the slightly lower capacity (8amps I think) one as I am getting a 1.4 TSI and wife's Mini is 1.6 petrol.

Not tried it yet, hopefully connect the Mini up over the weekend.

Mine shows SOC _ _ _

What does that mean?

Car is in regular use, no battery problems.

To get the SOC display. Ignition off and bonnet must be shut. Press and hold the trip reset button, the maxidot will then show TIME, keep the button held, then it will show BATTERY. Release the button and that's it, the SOC % will be displayed.

 

How long do you have to hold the trip reset button? I've tried it before but never got past the TIME section... (I guess I didn't hold it long enough, or is it perhaps not available in Fabia III?)

How long do you have to hold the trip reset button? I've tried it before but never got past the TIME section... (I guess I didn't hold it long enough, or is it perhaps not available in Fabia III?)

 

EDIT: OK, I managed to get it display the battery charge this morning. Got SOC 80%. I suppose this is alright for a bit more than a year-old battery?