Battery drain

[laserburn]

I've been scarcely driving my Citigo, so my battery had started having difficulties starting the engine since November. Then in February after a spell of cold weather and about two weeks of non-moving, I turn the ignition key and nothing happens. It didn't even try to spin it up, I was sure it was something more serious, but when help on the road mechanic hooked on the battery boost, it started like nothing happened. So I took the car to the local garage asking for battery replacement, but the repairman said let's try to charge the old one first. After that I was determined to take a car for the spin every week, to avoid the same thing happening. First week car starts, second week car starts, third week - stone cold dead. I had the battery replaced.

 

Now, I had my share of car battery problems through the years, I still vividly remember push-starting my father's Yugo, but this is the first time I've seen battery go from serviceable to dead in a week without an external cause, so I'm curious about some things. Does Citigo have some sort of battery reading that would tell it not to try to start if battery is bellow certain threshold?

 

Has anyone encountered some bad circuitry that would drain the battery on Citigo? I've had on my Hyundai Getz a faulty open 5th door indicator that would slurp up my battery in a matter of days, made my life miserable for months until the cause was discovered.

 

Finally, what is your preferred method of battery conservation during these days of lockout? Do you take it for a spin, how often, how long? Or do you prefer to run it in place?

[Chris GB]

Once a lead acid battery has been completely discharged, or held at a low state of charge over a relatively long period, it can suffer damage. You may be lucky and find that after charging, the battery is ok, but very often, the damage done by the deep discharge will cause the battery to fail.

 

Personally, I take the batteries out of the cars and give them a day on the smart charger not less often than once a fortnight.

[freemansteve]

Yup. Regular trips help preserve a battery.

But really, these days a battery over 5 years probably needs changing.

 

[laserburn]

The battery was just about to hit its fifth birthday, so on that side, I wasn't surprised. I was just surprised how suddenly it went from operational to dead, car batteries were previously dying on me much more gradually. That got me thinking what was different this time.

 

And since I doubt I'll go back to my regular driving schedule before summer, I need to see how to best take care of the new battery.

[Gyp]

I'm a great fan of Ctek battery chargers and, in particular, their "comfort" connectors.

 

If you connect a comfort indicator to the battery you can see at a glance if the battery needs to be charged and connect up the charger. 

 

In the UK, they are very popular in car dealerships where they can check on the condition of the car batteries in the showroom and keep them topped up.

 

I don't use them on the car as it is in regular use, however I do have the connectors fitted to my motorbikes so i can check on them easily